Three Area Teams Advance to 3rd Round of CIF Playoffs

Three area teams advance to the third round of the Southern Section CIF high school football playoffs Friday night.

St. John Bosco (12-0) is at home against Fontana (12-0) in a Big Five Conference game at Cerritos College. Lynwood (8-3-1) entertains Santa Ana (11-1) in a Southern Conference encounter and Valley Christian (10-1) visits Tehachapi (11-1) in an Inland Conference contest.

All semifinal games begin at 7:30.

Coach Bill Friedrich of St. John Bosco predicts a close score against the Steelers.

“I expect a real blood bath,” he said. “It could be a one-pointer, or who knows? Fontana has an excellent football team.”

12 Consecutive Wins

Valley Christian was knocked out of the playoffs a year ago by Tehachapi, 14-0. It was the school’s only loss after 12 wins. Crusader Coach Mike Wunderley said his team won’t be bent on revenge.

“Their newspapers are billing it as a grudge match,” he said. “But we don’t look at it that way. We look forward to the game. We’ll take them one at a time.”

After having its 35-game San Gabriel Valley League unbeaten string snapped by Paramount in the final regular-season game, Lynwood has bounced back with upset wins over Capistrano Valley, 20-15, and previously unbeaten Loara, 16-0. Santa Ana, the defending conference champion, upset Lynwood a year ago in the opening round of the playoffs.

“To win Friday we have to play a near perfect game,” Lynwood Coach Larry Anderson said. “We have to run our option, but we may have to throw more on first and second down to keep the defense honest.”