SOUTHERN SECTION FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS : Sea View League’s Wealth Spread Around : Division IV: The four schools are in different brackets, setting stage for league’s top two finishers to meet in title game.

Fact: No one sheds tears for the Sea View League.

In last year’s playoffs, the league had four teams reach the quarterfinals. Three reached the semifinals. Two reached the final.

Irvine won it all--for the second year in a row.

Without a doubt, it is the toughest league in the division, maybe in Orange County.

And here’s how the playoff committee dealt with four of the division’s best teams:

--Put each in a different bracket, so all four could conceivably reach the semifinals.

--Seeded two, No. 2 Irvine (9-1) and No. 4 Corona del Mar (7-3), setting the stage for a title meeting between the league’s top two finishers.

--Matched one, Irvine, against a league champion (Foothill, from the Century League) in the second round if favorites win. It would be the only second-round meeting between league champions.

--Matched the at-large team, Newport Harbor--which finished fourth in the Sea View League--at Baseline League champion Glendora (7-1-2), seeded No. 3.

--Matched third-place Santa Margarita (8-2) at the second-place team from the Baseline League, La Verne Damien (7-3).

The most intriguing quirks in the process involved Santa Margarita and Newport Harbor.

The two played each other Friday for third place and an automatic qualifying berth. Santa Margarita won, 19-0. The Eagles were ecstatic and the Sailors were understandably depressed.

But when the playoff brackets were released, it seemed Newport Harbor might have won for losing.

“If there’s a plus to the whole thing,” Santa Margarita Coach Jim Hartigan said, “it’s that if we beat Damien, we get Canyon Springs at home.”

That would be No. 1 Moreno Valley Canyon Springs (9-1), a match-up Hartigan was none too thrilled about. After all, his team had a better overall record than Corona del Mar, and had the same league record as the Sea Kings, although they lost in the head-to-head meeting. The Eagles could have been the seeded team.

Coulda, shoulda, woulda.

Like Damien, Baseline champion Glendora won seven games. And if Newport Harbor beats Glendora--third-place Santa Margarita beat first-place Glendora in the first round last year--the Sailors would face a second-place team in the second round. In the long run, Newport Harbor made out better than the team that gave it some anxious moments Friday night.

“It’s almost been as if the at-large team has come out better than the other guys,” Sailor Coach Jeff Brinkley said. “University, two years ago, reached the semifinals. We were second (in league) that year, but we had to play (top-seeded) Valencia in the second round. Last year, Corona del Mar went in as an at-large team, and they had a better draw than us (the second-place team): They went to (fourth-seeded) Chaminade, but we ended up with (top-seeded) Rubidoux in the second round.

“The second- and third-place teams in our league sometimes scratch their heads. For a couple of years we were on the other end: We finished higher than the team that went in as the at-large team, yet our team had to travel through the No. 1 team in our division.

“It’s pretty typical of the way they’ve bracketed this thing.”

It may be some consolation to Hartigan--since history seems to repeat itself in this division--that Santa Margarita is starting from the same position Newport Harbor started last year, where the Sailors (then 8-2) beat Damien in the first round, knocked off the unbeaten top-seeded team in the second, and defeated Corona del Mar in the semifinals.

They eventually played the second-seeded team, Irvine, in the final.

Fallacy: Santa Margarita is in an impossible spot.

Division IV at a Glance

Defending champion: Irvine, second-seeded.

Top teams: Moreno Valley Canyon Springs (9-1), Irvine (9-1), Glendora (7-1-2), Corona del Mar (7-3).

Dark horse: Newport Harbor. The Sailors were in the finals last year. They will face third-seeded Glendora in the opener, should beat their second-round opponent, and played No. 2 Irvine tough, losing, 29-21.

Top players: A.J. Blackmore (La Verne Damien), Jabbar Craigwell (Sherman Oaks Notre Dame), Adam Crecion (West Hills Chaminade), Brad Finneran (Santa Margarita), Brian Finneran (Santa Margarita), Darrell Franklin (Moreno Valley Canyon Springs), Orlando Garces (La Verne Damien), John Garcia (Sherman Oaks Notre Dame), Jason Giovannitone (West Hills Chaminade), Steve Gonzales (Newport Harbor), Kevin Greco (Foothill), Adam Hoover (Canyon), Greg Jacobs (Canyon), Adam Louderbach (Riverside Poly), Lei Malieitulua (Sherman Oaks Notre Dame), Tony Mathis (Irvine), Ward Mathis (Glendora), Carlos Meeks (Playa del Rey St. Bernard), Geoff Noisy (Irvine), Joey Orlando (Sherman Oaks Notre Dame), Grant Pearsall (Villa Park), Mike Phelps (Irvine), Jesus Reyes (Chino), Tramel Robinson (Foothill), Bob Schult (Glendora), Chris Speh (Glendora), Wade Tift (Newport Harbor), Marcelle Williams (Moreno Valley Canyon Springs), Derek Yankoff (Santa Margarita).

Best draw: Irvine (9-1). First-round victim West Hills Chaminade lost, 40-7, to a team (Playa del Rey St. Bernard) that couldn’t beat Century, the fourth-place team from the Pacific Coast League; probable second-round opponent Foothill, the Century League champion, didn’t beat the fourth-, fifth- or sixth-place teams from the Sea View League, which Irvine won without blemish.

Worst draw: Santa Margarita (8-2). Must play at La Verne Damien in first round, then face the No. 1-seeded team in the second, and would likely get No. 4 Corona del Mar--which beat the Eagles in the regular season, 14-7--in the semifinals.

Notes: Foothill’s outlook was bleak: Knights were 0-3 and lost running back Ethan Taub, one of the fastest 400-meter runners in the state, with a broken right tibia in a 14-3 loss to Newport Harbor. But Knights are 7-0 since Taub’s injury. He got out of his cast on Nov. 3 and could be back in uniform midway in the playoffs. . . . Foothill Coach Tom Meiss was disappointed about being the only league champion that could play another league champion in the second round. He can’t feel well that the champion he gets comes from the Sea View League: Tustin lost all three preseason games it played against Sea View opponents, including at-large Newport Harbor, fifth-place Woodbridge and sixth-place Tustin. . . . If it comes down to a field goal, you have to appreciate Irvine’s chances with Tommy Louie, who has five this season. . . . Santa Margarita’s Brad Finneran has seven interceptions and Foothill’s Kevin Greco has six. . . . Damien has been in the playoffs 16 times since 1975. . . . Chino Coach John Monger reached the 150-victory plateau. His record is 153-66-2 over 22 years, averaging seven victories per season. . . . Corona del Mar’s Dave Holland reached the 100-victory mark, improving to 106-91. . . . Damien lost, 8-6, to Santa Fe Springs St. Paul (ranked ninth in Division I), but averaged 32.8 points in its five games previous to its 20-7 upset loss to Claremont. In those same five victories, they allowed 25.0 on average. . . . Santa Margarita already has beaten Mission League champion Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, 24-10. Notre Dame could face Corona del Mar (which beat Santa Margarita) or Villa Park in the second round. Notre Dame and Santa Margarita are on the same side of the bracket. . . . Riverside Poly lost two of its final three games after allowing only 23 points in its previous four games.