Taft Gains Top Seeding in City Playoffs

Woodland Hills Taft High, which finished unbeaten in the Northwest Valley Conference for the second consecutive season, is the top-seeded team in the City Section 4-A football playoffs that begin Friday.

Taft (9-0), a 22-20 loser to San Pedro is last year’s championship game, will play host to No. 16 San Fernando (6-4) in the first round of the 16-team tournament. The championship game will be played Dec. 12 at the Coliseum.

Westchester (10-0), the Coastal Conference champion, is the second-seeded team, followed by Southeastern Conference champion Fremont (10-0) and Valley Pac-8 Conference champion Sylmar (10-0).

San Pedro (9-1), the winner of the Southern Pacific Conference, is seeded sixth behind Northern Conference champion Franklin (8-2).

In a move seemingly driven by economics rather than logic, the seeding committee matched San Pedro against Southern Pacific rival Harbor City Narbonne (5-5) in a first-round game. San Pedro defeated Narbonne, 17-14, last Thursday.

Wilmington Banning (4-6) was given a spot in the 4-A playoffs even though the Pilots had to forfeit three victories, including two in the Southern Pacific Conference, for using an ineligible player. The committee decided Banning’s 4-3 record in the rugged conference was good enough for 4-A. Banning will play at seventh-seeded Van Nuys Birmingham (8-2).

Carson (3-5-2) is the top-seeded team in the 3-A division.

*

Staff writer Mike Lazarus contributed to this story.

* PLAYOFF PAIRINGS, C18