Playoff Fever : Serra Must Win Friday Night to Reach Finals for First Time Since ’80 : Preps: Coach Leo Hand’s squad, with the powerhouse backfield, will face Notre Dame of Sherrman Oaks in the semifinals.

Serra High fumbled twice in the fourth quarter in last week’s second-round 32-25 victory over Arroyo Grande in the Southern Section Division VII playoffs.

But don’t look for the Cavaliers to be so charitable at 7:30 Friday night when they travel to Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks for a semifinal game.

“The team that makes the fewest mistakes in championship games will win,” Serra Coach Leo Hand said.

It also helps to have a backfield that has scored 57 touchdowns in 12 games, all victories for the Cavaliers. Quarterback Fred Safford and running backs Dennis Gerard, Lamont Daniel and Jerald Henry have been nearly unstoppable in the regular season and playoffs.

Gerard has gained more than 1,500 yards and scored 26 touchdowns, including two last week. Daniel rushed for 207 yards last week, a career high.

Notre Dame (11-1) counters with Errol Small, who has rushed for 1,404 yards and 25 touchdowns. But the running back has been slowed by an ankle injury suffered in the Knights’ playoff opener. Kicker Chris Afarian is another scoring threat, having converted all 53 of his extra-point attempts in addition to seven field goals.

Serra missed four of five conversions last week, all two-point tries.

Last week Notre Dame beat defending Division VII champion San Marino, 17-7. The San Fernando Valley League champion’s only loss was to Division II semifinalist Canyon of Canyon Country.

If Serra wins, it will reach the CIF finals for the first time since 1980 when it lost to Schurr in the Southeastern Conference title game, 21-13.

Following are rundowns of L.A. City Section quarterfinal games involving South Bay teams. All games start at 7:30 p.m. Friday:

Kennedy (5-6) vs. Carson (8-1) at Veterans Stadium--After a week off, Carson opens defense of its 4-A Division championship against a team it beat in last year’s playoffs, 53-0.

“I hope we’re ready,” Carson Coach Gene Vollnogle said. “I’m not a person that likes byes. We already had a bye, and that was good for us, but I don’t like them now.”

That bye came in the third week of the season. It didn’t slow Carson, which came back and routed Washington, 52-0.

Vollnogle said fullback Jim Lincoln is suffering from a severe thigh bruise and probably will not play. The passing game, in the capable hands of quarterback Armin Youngblood, will carry the team, as it has all season.

Youngblood has thrown for 1,927 yards and 24 touchdowns, which ties a school single-season record. Carson’s all-time leading receiver, Michael Ross, has caught 39 passes for 765 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Youngblood might have his way with the Kennedy defense, which has given up an average of 287 yards a game. But the Carson defense will have its hands full with running back Ontiwaun Carter, who leads Kennedy with 1,301 yards rushing and eight touchdowns. Carter rushed for 219 yards and two touchdowns in last week’s opening-round win over Manual Arts.

Vollnogle said Kennedy has changed some of its offense but that his defense should be ready to adjust.

Westchester (9-2) at South Gate (10-0-1)--Westchester heads into a rematch of last year’s City 3-A final won by South Gate without starting tailback Tim Holliday, who suffered a knee injury in the Comets’ final regular-season game, a 29-27 loss to Venice.

“We came out of the Venice game in a worst-case scenario,” Westchester Coach Larry Wein said. “We lost the game, we lost the No. 2 seeding (for the playoffs), and we lost our best player.”

Holliday, who had rushed for a season-high 274 yards in three quarters against Venice, will be missed against the 3-A’s No. 1 seed. He leads Westchester with 1,115 yards.

“The only thing that could be worse is if we show up at South Gate and they already have 14 points on the board,” Wein said.

Wein said Holliday’s injury will prevent him from matching skills with South Gate’s Ivan Wilson, who rushed for 196 yards in last week’s playoff win over Reseda. “He’s a guy who can break one for 70 yards any time he gets the ball,” Wein said. “It’s a shame for the fans, because they were going to see two of the best running backs in the City. They could have competed and seen which was better, but these things happen.”

Westchester beat Belmont last week, 13-3, but Wein said the Comets were not at their best without Holliday: “We went from a strong offensive team to a struggling team. We will try hard, but we lost a big weapon.”

San Pedro (5-5) vs. Garfield (8-1-1) at East Los Angeles College--San Pedro will don high-top tennis shoes for its 3-A quarterfinal game on the artificial turf of Weingart Stadium.

“It will be the first time our coaches have ever walked on turf,” San Pedro Coach Henry Pacheco said. The team practiced on the field Wednesday to become familiar with the traction.

The Pirates are treading on other unfamiliar ground as well. If San Pedro wins, it will reach the semifinals for the first time, according to Pacheco.

Garfield has played five games on the turf at East L.A., its home field.

Last week against Sylmar, San Pedro quarterback Arnie Madrid rushed for 138 yards and two touchdowns and threw a 53-yard touchdown pass to Herb Whitaker.

San Pedro will have to stop Garfield’s Hilario Espinosa, who has rushed for 1,826 yards and 21 touchdowns. Espinosa carried the ball 45 times in Garfield’s first-round win over Wilson.

“They’re a very exact team,” Pacheco said of Garfield. “They don’t make any mistakes.”

Gardena (5-6) vs. Franklin (10-1) at L.A. Wilson High--Gardena is looking for about 26 points worth of revenge Friday night. That’s the margin by which Franklin beat the Mohicans in the second game of the season, 34-7.

“Naturally, we’ll have to play a lot better pass defense than we did last time,” Gardena Coach Mike Sakurai said. In the first meeting, Franklin quarterback Santiago Alvarez threw for 330 yards.

Last week, Alvarez passed for 208 yards in a playoff win over Huntington Park but left the game with a knee injury. He is expected to play against Gardena.

Gardena’s defense turned in a strong performance in last week’s 28-14 win over Grant, led by linebacker Prentiss Parker and tackle Alex Martinez, a two-way starter. Receiver-running back Manley Woods scored touchdowns on a pass reception and a run.

“We’ll have to play our best to stay in the game,” Sakurai said.