3 County Teams Seeded No. 1 in Playoffs

Mater Dei, Santa Margarita and Rancho Alamitos received the No. 1 seeding in their divisions when the section football playoff pairings were announced Sunday.

The Monarchs and Eagles, defending champions of divisions I and V, begin this year’s playoffs with 10-0 records and are favored to repeat.

Mater Dei, which brings a 24-game winning streak to Friday’s first-round game against Bellflower St. John Bosco, is considered to have the more difficult path to their championship game. The 16-team bracket is one of the strongest playoff groupings in recent memory.

“It’s a nightmare,” said Esperanza Coach Gary Meek, whose team plays Mission Viejo. “At least eight of the 16 can play with any team in the country, not just the county. And anyone of the 16 can beat you.”

Mater Dei Coach Bruce Rollinson, whose team is seeking to be the county’s first repeat Division I champion since Servite won Big Five Conference titles in 1982 and 1983, said he expects all the Division I games to be close.

“It will come down to who is healthy going in and who can stay healthy through the playoffs,” Rollinson said. “We are healthy, and I am pleased.”

Although Santa Margarita sailed through its regular season, Coach Jim Hartigan said the Eagles cannot just show up and expect to win.

“We are the defending champions, and I think people have to be concerned with us,” Hartigan said. “But emotion, health and how you’re playing at the time has something to do with [who wins].”

Rancho Alamitos, which reached last year’s Division VIII semifinals, is also 10-0 and has a legitimate shot at winning it all.

Coach Doug Case remembered his team was unbeaten through the regular season last year, and how bitter the upset semifinal loss to Pacifica was.

“We’ve been using that as a reminder to the team all season when they needed an emotional boost,” said Case, whose team opens the playoffs against defending champion Aliso Niguel.

“Are we better than last year? I think we’re just as good. And we have more experience.”