Crenshaw Tops City Playoff Pairings

Crenshaw High played a competitive nonleague schedule, won the tough Coliseum League and finished the regular season with a 10-0 record.

That combination helped the Cougars become the top-seeded team for the City Section football playoffs in pairings announced Friday.

Sylmar (10-0) is seeded second, Westchester (8-2) is third and defending champion Carson (7-3) is fourth in the 16-team Championship Division playoffs.

Gardena (6-4), which finished fourth in the Marine League, is the top-seeded team in the Invitational Division for teams ranked 17 through 32 by the playoff selection committee.

Championship games in both divisions will be played Dec. 8 at the Coliseum.

Crenshaw, which lost to Carson in last year’s championship game, will play South Gate (5-4-1) in a first-round game Thursday.

“I’m grateful to be the top seed, but it really doesn’t matter who you play,” Crenshaw Coach Robert Garrett said. “I would rather be No. 1 than No. 16, but the bottom line is you have to be ready to play.

“We think we’ve played the kind of schedule that prepares us for this.”

Unlike last year, when teams that won or tied for league titles automatically were put in the Championship Division, the selection committee this year was required to place only one team from each league.

In addition, the selection committee was not required to seed the top teams from each of the section’s eight leagues as Nos. 1-8. Instead, overall record and strength of schedule were determining factors.

That helped teams such as Jefferson (7-3) and Dorsey (7-3), the Coliseum League’s second and third-place teams, respectively. Jefferson is seeded 10th, Dorsey 13th.

The format however, didn’t do much for South Gate, which won the weaker Eastern League and is seeded No. 16.

Wilmington Banning (4-6) is the only team in the Championship Division with a losing record. Last year’s selection format cost the Pilots a spot in the Championship Division playoffs and they begrudgingly went on to win the Invitational title. This year, an arduous nonleague schedule and third-place finish in the Marine League earned the Pilots a No. 11 seeding and a first-round game against No. 6 Granada Hills Kennedy (8-1-1).

“I think what we did last year opened up some doors for us this year,” Banning Coach Ed Lalau said. “We really want to be in the City Championship Division. This is where we feel we belong.”

Correspondent Mitch Polin contributed to this story.