FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS : 2 Winning Traditions to Clash in CIF Final; South Gate in Semifinal Match : Paramount vs. El Toro

The Paramount Pirates will try to capture their second consecutive CIF Division III championship and the Chargers of El Toro will be going after their third championship in the last four years and their fourth championship in the 1980s when the two teams meet Saturday night at Cerritos College. Both teams have a strong tradition. Paramount is 8-1 in the playoffs over the past three years and El Toro is 11-1. The last time these two teams met in the playoffs, in 1986, the Chargers defeated the Pirates, 28-8. The Pirates got to the final by defeating Capistrano Valley, 36-35 in overtime last week. Paramount will rely on a balanced attack. Their stingy defense, led by senior linebackers Dan Godfrey and Floyd Caine, allows a mere 11.8 points a game. On offense, the Pirates will look to senior quarterback Jack Manu, last year’s CIF Player of the Year, who has thrown for 1,054 yards and 16 touchdowns, and has rushed for another 650 yards. The top running back is Leon Neal, who has carried the ball 152 times and gained 1,539 yards. The key to the Chargers is their offense, which features a strong passing attack led by quarterback Steve Stenstrom, who has completed 117 of 180 passes for a remarkable 65%. He has thrown for 2,074 yards and 18 touchdowns. The top running back for the Chargers is Jerome Oakman, but he is doubtful for the game since sustaining a knee injury in the third quarter of last week’s game. So the Chargers will start last week’s hero, Danny Maestas, at running back. Last week, Maestas scored the winning touchdown and intercepted a pass on the last play of the game to ensure a 28-21 overtime victory over Mission Viejo.

Saturday, 7:30 p.m. at Cerritos College.

South Gate vs. Franklin

Coach Gary Cordray and the South Gate Rams will try to keep their chance of back-to-back L.A. City 3-A championships alive when they meet the Panthers of Franklin in a semifinal game. South Gate will once again put the game in the hands of their senior running back Ivan Wilson. Last week, Wilson rushed for 133 yards and 2 touchdowns as the Rams ousted Westchester, 26-0. During the regular season Wilson rushed for 1,423 yards and 21 touchdowns. To win, South Gate must find a way to stop Franklin quarterback Santiago Alvarez. Before last week’s 24-0 victory over Gardena, Alvarez had thrown for 3,260 yards and 46 touchdowns. The winner of this game will meet the winner of Locke vs. Garfield for the L.A. City championship.

Friday, 7:30 p.m. at Los Angeles Wilson.