Prep Football Playoff Games to Watch : Loyola Plays Fontana in a Match Thick With Tradition

Loyola High School of Los Angeles will play host to Fontana in the quarterfinal round of the Big Five Conference playoffs Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Glendale High.

The teams have two of the most successful traditions in Southern Section history. And this season has been no exception for either.

Loyola (9-2) was the third-place team in the tough Del Rey League. Fontana (10-1) was the Citrus Belt League champion. The Steelers’ only loss was to Wilmington Banning, the top-ranked team in the country, according to USA Today.

Loyola quarterback George Paton has completed 57% of his passes for 1,103 yards and runs the Cub option offense to perfection. Punter Paul Stonehouse has averaged 42 yards a punt.

Santa Ana (10-1) vs. Anaheim Esperanza (9-1-1), at Placentia Valencia, Friday, 7:30 p.m. This is yet another matchup of good running backs. Robert Lee of Santa Ana rebounded from a slow start to help the Saints into the Southern Conference quarterfinal game. Mike Miscione of Esperanza finished the regular season as the third-leading Southern Section rusher with 1,665 yards. Against El Dorado Oct. 31, he gained 348 yards in 24 carries and scored 4 touchdowns. Santa Ana is the defending conference champion.

Bellflower St. John Bosco (11-0) at Long Beach Millikan (9-1), Friday, 7:30 p.m. Millikan’s defense has been unflappable, but its offense has been less impressive. Millikan relies on one person to generate its offense--running back Raoul Spears. St. John Bosco runs a balanced offensive attack. The passing of quarterback Jim Sterner and the running of tailback Oscar Meza tend to keep the opposition guessing. Millikan gave Long Beach Poly a challenge for the Moore League title this season, and Bosco won the Del Rey League, toughest in the Big Five this season.

Canyon Country Canyon (10-1) at Thousand Oaks (10-1), Friday, 7:30 p.m. Canyon easily beat Thousand Oaks, 26-7, in the third game of the season, but the Lancers were without injured quarterback Robb McKinnon. Thousand Oaks has won eight in a row leading up to this Coastal Conference quarterfinal game. Thousand Oaks likes to grind it out with backs Marc Monestime and Mike Moore and rely on its stingy defense. The Lancers, however, will have to be at their best to stop Canyon quarterback Ken Sollom, the Southern Section’s second-leading passer. He has thrown for more than 2,250 yards and 27 touchdowns.

Encino Crespi (10-1) at Colton (8-3), Friday, 7:30 p.m. Colton and tailback George Hemingway won their battle with Long Beach Poly and Leonard Russell. But that was just a warmup to Hemingway vs. Russell White, Crespi’s super sophomore. Hemingway was the Southern Section’s leading rusher with more than 2,000 yards. White was fourth with 1,600. A senior, Hemingway leads a Colton offense that runs to the outside about as often as it passes--seldom. This is a straight-ahead, stay-on-the-ground football team. Crespi offers more variation, often using White as a decoy for fellow backs Jeff Kellogg and J.J. Lasley.

Verbum Dei (9-1-1) vs. Newhall Hart (10-1), at College of the Canyons, Friday, 7:30 p.m. The question in this Northwestern Conference quarterfinal game is not whether Verbum Dei can slow down Jim Bonds, the leading passer in the Southern Section, but can Hart keep up with Verbum Dei? Last season, Hart lost the Coastal Conference championship to speedy Muir. Verbum Dei has that same kind of speed and runs an option offense with quick quarterback Derrick Billoups, who has scored 23 touchdowns. Bonds, who has passed for 32 touchdowns, finished the regular season with three straight 300-yard games, but Hart rushed for 240 yards in beating Arroyo Grande in their opening-round game.

La Verne Damien (9-2) at Riverside Ramona (10-1), Friday, 7:30 p.m. Predictably, Ramona, the top-seeded team in the Eastern Conference, breezed in its opening-round game. Damien had to hustle to beat Nogales of La Puente. In both cases, running backs led their teams. For Ramona, LaVon Edwards had two long touchdown runs in the 54-14 rout of El Rancho of Pico Rivera. Eric Henley scored on two long runs to lead Damien.

Tehachapi (10-1) at Whittier Christian (7-4), Friday, 7:30 p.m. Tehachapi is the defending Inland Conference champion, but to get past Whittier Christian, the Warriors must slow running back Chris Martin. He has gained more than 1,500 yards this season, providing most of Whittier Christian’s offense. A victory for Tehachapi would put the Warriors on track to meet Bishop in the Inland championship game.