PREP WEDNESDAY: SOUTHERN SECTION FOOTBALL PLAYOFF PREVIEWS : Division VIII : Woodbridge Not Expecting Rerun of 1987

Could history repeat in the Division VIII football playoffs? Woodbridge High School hopes so.

Like last year, the Warriors (9-1) are in the playoffs. And like last year, they lost their last regular-season game.

Last year, the loss cost them the Pacific League title, but they went on to win the Desert-Mountain Conference championship with a 13-10 victory over Chaminade.

This year, a 17-13 loss to Trabuco Hills cost the Warriors the No. 1 seed in the division playoffs. They are unseeded and play host to Cabrillo (6-4) in the first round.

But in this tough division, (three teams have 10-0 records, three are 9-1) Woodbridge Coach Rick Gibson says he doesn’t expect his team to repeat.

“We don’t score any points,” he said. (Woodbridge averages 18.6 points a game.) “How can you win if you don’t score points? Our defense has done well, but if I had to pick someone who wasn’t going to repeat it would be us. It’s not modesty, it’s truth, it’s reality.

“I would have to go with Atascadero (10-0) or El Segundo (10-0), and you can’t leave out Santa Clara (10-0). They have a really, really good passing game. Their kid (junior Tim Gutierrez) in one game threw for more than 500 yards. I don’t care if you’re playing a JV team, that’s hard to do.”

(Actually he was playing Calabasas and threw for 389 yards, completing 22 of 24 passes. He has 2,159 yards for the season.)

Lamentations aside, Woodbridge’s chances of repeating are not so dismal. Gibson acknowledges the loss in the final regular-season game couldn’t have come at a better time.

“I think the players were so used to winning they thought it would just naturally happen no matter what they did. I think it might be something we needed in order to shake us up.”

The Warriors have three strengths--defense, an outstanding passing game in a division dominated by teams used to running and defending the run, and scouting.

The division is spread from Orange County to San Bernardino County to north of San Luis Obispo.

The distances make scouting almost impossible for many teams. But Woodbridge will have two experienced scouts watching other first-round games.

Trabuco Hills (8-2) knocked off Woodbridge to earn the No. 1 seed from the Pacific Coast League and the opportunity to play Yucaipa (4-5-1) at home.

The Mustangs made the playoffs for the first time last season and lost to La Sierra, 41-6.

Trabuco Hills Coach Jim Barnett said he thinks Woodbridge is a favorite. “I think they’re capable of going all the way,” he said. “If nothing else, I don’t think they’ll be overconfident. Nobody’s going to sneak up on them.

The Mustangs are no slouch, either. They racked up more than 2,000 yards passing in the regular season.

Costa Mesa (5-4-1), the third county team in the division, plays at Bloomington (9-1) of the Sunkist League in the first round.

“I like our draw,” Coach Tom Baldwin said. “I don’t think I could have drawn it up better myself. We could be going to Atascadero or Paso Robles, so we feel real fortunate to only have to go to the Sunkist League. It is the closest to us and I honestly believe it is a team we can beat.”

Atascadero (10-0), a running team that would play at Costa Mesa should both teams win their first-round games, is seeded first in the division, a fact Coach Larry Walsh downplays.

“Every team has an Achilles’ heel out there,” he said. “I don’t care who they are, they have that one guy that if he goes down, it would be devastating to the team.”

Perhaps the cautious attitude is to ensure there is no repeat of last year’s 40-0 drubbing at the hands of Woodbridge in the semifinals.

Walsh refused to discuss the possibility of a Woodbridge-Atascadero rematch in the final. “All I know is I hope I get a chance to play Bloomington or Costa Mesa (in the quarterfinals). That is our only concern right now.”

Rob Kern leads the Atascadero ground attack. He has run for 1,501 yards and 21 touchdowns.

Santa Clara has a spectacular passing game with Gutierrez, but the Saints play in the less-than-strenuous Frontier League. If it’s an Atascadero-Santa Clara final, Santa Clara’s passing game might be enough to take advantage of Atascadero’s weakness--its secondary.

DIVISION VIII IN A BOX

Formerly known as: Desert-Mountain Conference

Defending champion: Woodbridge

Top teams: Atascadero, Woodbridge, Trabuco Hills, El Segundo and Santa Clara.

Dark horse team: Cabrillo.

Best draw: Trabuco Hills (8-2) gets Yucaipa, the only team with a losing record (4-5-1), then the winner of the St. Monica--Santa Paula game, two No. 2 representatives.

Worst draw: Santa Ynez (6-4) won an at-large berth, but has to play top-seeded Atascadero.

Key players: Running back Rob Kerns (Atascadero), quarterback David Lowery (Trabuco Hills), running back Eric Evans (El Segundo), running back Manny Bonilla (Costa Mesa), quarterback Fred Schweer (Woodbridge) quarterback Tim Gutierrez (Santa Clara).

Noteworthy: The leagues in this division are so far apart many of the coaches have no opportunity to see their opponents aside from game films.