8 Area Football Teams Reach Second Round of CIF Playoffs

Eight area high school teams will enter second-round action at 7:30 p.m. Friday in the CIF Southern Section divisional football playoffs.

In Division I, Moore League champion Poly of Long Beach (8-3) plays Citrus Belt champion Fontana (10-1) at Veterans Stadium, and Poly’s league rival Wilson of Long Beach (7-3-1) hosts top-ranked La Puente Bishop Amat (11-0) of the Del Rey League. Poly opened the playoffs last week with a 10-3 win over St. Paul of Santa Fe Springs. Wilson defeated host Antelope Valley, 24-10.

Dominguez (9-2), which came from behind on the last play of the game to defeat Saugus last week 38-33, hosts second-ranked Esperanza (10-1) of Anaheim in a Division II game. Esperanza finished second in the Empire League.

Champion Bell Gardens (9-1) was the lone Almont League team to survive first-round action, defeating Agoura, 14-3. The Lancers play Bay League champion Peninsula (9-2) at Redondo Union in Redondo Beach.

Whitmont League champion Whittier and runner-up Santa Fe advanced in Division VI. Whittier, which has not allowed an opponent to score in nine quarters, defeated Hacienda Heights Wilson, 31-0, last week. The Whittier Cardinals (10-1) meet Arroyo (10-1) of El Monte, the runner-up in the Mission Valley League, at California High near Whittier. Santa Fe (9-2) plays at Rosemead (6-4), the third-place team out of the Mission Valley League. Santa Fe advanced by defeating Hacienda Heights Los Altos, 31-15.

In Division VIII, Bellflower (8-3) will host Sunkist League titlist La Sierra (10-1) of Riverside. The Bucs, third-place finishers in the Suburban League, upset Camino Real League champion Serra of Gardena, 36-8. La Mirada (7-4), the Suburban League co-champion, hosts Trabuco Hills (10-1) of Mission Viejo, runner-up in the Pacific Coast League. The Matadores defeated Pasadena Blair, 35-14, last week.