La Habra, Sonora Win Coin Flips for Playoff Berths

After La Habra, Sonora and Buena Park finished in a three-way tie for second place in the Freeway League, two coin flips awarded the league’s No. 2 seeding to La Habra and the No. 3 seeding to Sonora for the playoffs, Sonora Coach Mark Takkinen said Saturday.

According to Takkinen, school principals met late Friday night after the games and conducted two coin flips. Only two of the three automatic playoff bids remained--league champion Troy has the other--for the Southern Section Division VII football playoffs that begin next week.

“All three schools flipped a coin first and Buena Park was the odd one out,” Takkinen said. “Then La Habra won the flip with us for the second seed. I told the kids, we lost (Friday), but we won because we made the playoffs.”

For Sonora, the coin flip put the Raiders (6-4, 3-2 in league) into the playoffs for the first time since 1985.

La Habra (4-6, 3-2 in league) defeated Sonora, 24-7, to move into a second-place tie. Buena Park, which defeated Fullerton, 35-14, would have made the playoffs as the third-place team if Sonora (6-4, 3-2) had defeated La Habra.

The Coyotes (3-7) can only make the playoffs with an at-large berth.