PREP FOOTBALL PLAYOFF CAPSULES

The Southern Section football playoffs provide a king-size buffet for local football fans; there are 28 games Friday featuring Orange County teams, and there’s one for dessert on Saturday.

In a year that had the Rams leaving Anaheim, fans can watch football that isn’t play-for-pay, but play-for-pride.

Division V is nothing but Orange County games and offers an intriguing matchup featuring the county’s leading rusher and scorer, Eric Shine of Savanna (7-3), against one of the county’s highest-scoring offenses, El Toro (8-2). It also offers Irvine (6-4) Saturday in its first postseason appearance since winning three consecutive section titles taking on Santa Ana Valley (7-3), which won its first league title in 17 years.

The big boys are in Division I. Though most are looking forward to a Mater Dei-Los Alamitos matchup in the second round, the parochial showdown between Bellflower St. John Bosco (7-2-1) and Mater Dei (9-1) at Santa Ana Stadium is worth a look, too. So is San Clemente (8-2) at La Puente Bishop Amat (8-1-1) and Capistrano Valley (8-2) against second-seeded Long Beach Poly (10-0) at Long Beach Wilson High.

Los Amigos Coach Roger Takahashi was absolutely giddy about his draw in the Division VII bracket; the Lobos (8-2) finished second in the Garden Grove League and face a third-place opponent, Santa Maria Righetti (4-6); a victory would probably give them an equal chance of playing host to third-seeded Beverly Hills (9-1). And fourth-seeded Fullerton (9-1) finds itself playing host to Covina Northview (4-5-1).

Laguna Hills and University have home games in Division VIII. Fourth-seeded Laguna Hills (9-1) plays host to La Puente (6-4) at Mission Viejo High, and University (8-1-1) takes on Duarte (6-4) at Irvine High.

Orange Lutheran (7-3), which lost a heartbreaker to top-seeded Cerritos Valley Christian in the final game of the regular season, hopes to reach the finals for a possible rematch. The Lancers begin by playing host to San Pedro Mary Star of the Sea (5-5).

But if you want to see Division XI, you’ll have to travel: Capistrano Valley Christian (4-3) is playing at Anza Hamilton (9-1), and St. Margaret’s (3-7) is at Cambria Coast Union (7-3).