A Real Upset Is When 1-9 Team Beats 9-1 Team

A look at the football playoffs, which kicked off with 99 games last weekend:

Upset I--Santa Maria, a power in the 1960s and 70s, was 0-9 entering its regular-season finale against cross-town rival Righetti on Nov. 11. The Saints pulled out a 20-12 victory, and three days later found themselves in the Southern Section playoffs thanks to an unusual tie-breaking system in the Northern League.

At 1-9, Santa Maria had the worst record in the playoffs and thus was rewarded with a first-round road game against 9-1 Culver City, the top-seeded team in Division VII.

“When I found out we were in the playoffs, I told my staff that I hoped we’d draw the top seed in the first round because I knew they’d probably be looking past us,” Santa Maria Coach Frank Bentz said. “I knew we were playing better (than our record), so this is exactly what we needed.”

Culver City was obviously making plans for its next game, as the Centaurs fell behind, 33-14, early in the second half. They rallied in the fourth quarter, but their final drive ended with four incomplete passes as time expired and Santa Maria hung on for a 33-29 victory.

Culver City Coach Robert Moore and his players were speechless after the game, the victims of one of the biggest upsets in Southern Section playoff history.

“Their public address announcer started talking about who they were going to play in the quarterfinals, semifinals and championship,” Bentz said. “Our kids just stood on the field feeling a little disgraced but plenty motivated.”

Culver City suited up 48 players for the game, including highly-recruited quarterback/receiver Damon Williams. Santa Maria suited up 21 after losing its captain, linebacker Tom Yamamoto, to a knee injury last week.

Bentz, in his ninth season at the school, said his roster changed from week to week because of injuries, grade problems and because several players had to get jobs to support their families. Of the three starters who returned this season, only running back Alfred Concepcion remains. He rushed for more than 100 yards and scored two touchdowns against Culver City.

“It sure was a short bus trip back to Santa Maria,” Bentz said. “I can’t remember feeling this good.”

Upset II--Anaheim Loara finished the regular season 4-6, fourth in the Empire League. Coach John DeFries was collecting equipment last Wednesday when a call came in from the Southern Section office informing him that his team had made the playoffs.

The last-minute invitation was made possible when Placentia El Dorado, one of the Empire League’s three Division V playoff teams, had to drop out after it was discovered the team had used an ineligible player all season. With the bracket already set and first-round games two days away, the league and section’s solution was to replace El Dorado with Loara and move the scheduled contest against Anaheim Canyon from Friday to Saturday.

With only two days’ preparation, Loara pulled a shocker with a 10-9 victory. Junior Rob Crabtree’s 18-yard field goal with 13 seconds to play lifted the Saxons to the improbable victory.

Double standards: El Dorado administrators withdrew their football team from the playoffs after learning of the ineligibility problem, but La Mirada did not receive the same punishment for making the same mistake.

Administrators from La Mirada, the Southern Section’s top-seeded Division VIII team, discovered on Friday that the school had used an ineligible player all season.

The Matadores compete in the Suburban League, and it is up to the principals of that league to select playoff entries. Since the principals could not meet Friday to discuss the matter, the section decided to allow La Mirada’s first-round game against Irvine University to go an as scheduled that night. La Mirada won, 24-0.

The principals met Saturday and decided to keep La Mirada in the playoffs, saying nothing positive would come out of the team not going on. The player in question, a transfer student who was a part-time starter, did not play against University.

La Mirada’s record goes from 11-0 to 1-10. It hosts Duarte Friday night.

That game could change, however, if University has its way. The school is appealing the decision to allow La Mirada in the playoffs and a hearing is scheduled at 1 p.m. today at the Southern Section office.

Scheduling conflicts: Squabbling over where playoff games should be held is normal, so it comes as no surprise that administrators from La Puente Bishop Amat and Fontana were bickering Monday concerning their Southern Section Division I quarterfinal showdown Friday.

Since both schools won first-round games at home, a coin flip decided who would host this week’s contest. Bishop Amat won and elected to hold the game at its stadium, which holds about 5,000.

Anticipating a large crowd, Fontana wants the game moved to Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, which holds 12,000. Bishop Amat is not receptive to the idea.

Expect Bill Clark, Southern Section associate commissioner, to make a decision today to move the game to Mt. San Antonio College. The section gets half the gate receipts and does not want to see anybody get turned away.

Times’ Top 20 Football Poll

The Times’ top 20 high school football poll, with teams from the City and Southern Sections.

School Sect. Div. Rec. LW 1. Bishop Amat SS I 11-0 1 2. Los Alamitos SS I 11-0 2 3. Mater Dei SS I 11-0 3 4. Hart SS II 11-0 4 5. Sylmar City 4-A 11-0 5 6. Westlake SS III 10-1 6 7. LB Poly SS I 10-1 7 8. Loyola SS I 8-2 9 9. Canyon Springs SS IV 10-1 8 10. Peninsula SS II 10-1 14 11. Bloomington SS VIII 11-0 13 12. Fontana SS I 8-3 17 13. Newport Harbor SS V 11-0 15 14. Ant. Valley SS II 8-2 18 15. Trabuco Hills SS I 9-2 NR 16. St. Paul SS I 7-3 16 17. Paramount SS II 9-2 NR 18. Montebello SS III 10-1 20 19. Ayala SS III 10-1 19 20. Claremont SS VI 10-1 13