Loyola Knows What’s Ahead

Top-seeded teams in all of the Southern Section and City Section divisions won their playoff openers over the weekend, setting up some marquee quarterfinals.

One of the most interesting is the Southern Section Division I game featuring two-time defending champion Long Beach Poly (9-1) against Los Angeles Loyola (7-2-1) in a rematch of last year’s championship game.

Poly won the final, 16-13, in overtime at Edison Field for its third title in four years.

Poly defensive end Manuel Wright does not expect it to be as close this year.

“Their star attraction is gone,” Wright said in reference to former Loyola quarterback and safety Matt Ware, a starter at UCLA. “I don’t think we’re going to need overtime.”

Poly’s only defeat this season was a 29-15 loss to Concord De La Salle, the top-ranked team in the nation. The Jackrabbits, who are 63-2-1 the last five seasons, are coming off a 61-23 victory over Fountain Valley.

Loyola defeated Rialto Eisenhower, 28-14.

“It will take a monumental effort by us to win, but it’s a great opportunity to play the second-best team in the nation,” Loyola Coach Steve Grady said. “They come at you in 55 different directions.

“They are as good or better than they were last year, and we are probably not as consistent. On paper, it’s not a game, but we’ll see what happens. We have to bring our A game and hope they bring their B.”

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End of an era: The loss to Loyola was Tom Hoak’s final game as coach of Eisenhower, where he compiled a record of 152-69-2 in 19 seasons with the Eagles and won the Division I title in 1993.

“I had a great time, coached some outstanding young men and have nothing but good memories,” Hoak said. “The first couple years were draining, but once we got a staff together and the players began to understand what was expected of them, we took off.”

Hoak, 53, said the Eisenhower program turned the corner in 1986 when the Eagles defeated La Puente Bishop Amat in the Big Five Conference [Division I] quarterfinals. Eisenhower became a nationally recognized power in the 1990s and advanced to the Division I semifinals in 1999 and 2000.

“I’ve been a head coach or assistant for 28 years, so to say what it’s going to be like not being a coach, I can’t tell you,” Hoak said. “Right now, I need a break, whether it’s for one year or five years.”

With a new high school set to open in the Rialto area in the next year or two, Hoak did not rule out the possibility of returning to high school coaching.

“Who knows what’s going to happen?” he said.

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Odds and ends: Underdogs fared well Saturday in coin flips to determine home teams for Southern Section quarterfinal games. Teams seeded among the top four in the section’s 13 divisions went 13-16 in the game of heads or tails.

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Making an impression: How much effect does the game between USC and UCLA have on local recruiting for the schools? Long Beach Poly’s Wright was one of several Southland high school players attending Saturday’s 27-0 Trojan victory at the Coliseum. He said it left a big impression.

“It shows how coaches and players prepare and play in big games,” Wright said. “It seems like USC was ready. UCLA didn’t look like it was ready to play that game.”

Wright said he was looking at UCLA and USC before the game. Afterward?

“If I choose a school in Southern California, it will be USC,” said Wright, who is also considering Miami and Florida State.

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Booker watch: USC and UCLA are among the schools being considered by Lorenzo Booker of Ventura St. Bonaventure, who became the state’s all-time leading rusher by gaining 186 yards in the Seraphs’ 80-13 Division XI victory over Calabasas.

Booker broke the record of 7,761 yards set last year by Dominique Dorsey of Tulare. Booker has scheduled recruiting visits to Washington and Texas. He has already visited Florida State and said he remains interested in Notre Dame.

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Easy as 1-2-3: Several teams wasted little time taking the lead in their playoff openers. Jermaine Moore of Los Angeles Dorsey raced 71 yards on the first play against Wilmington Banning, and the Dons went on to a 34-22 victory in the City Section first-round game.

Frederick Collins of La Quinta took a pitch from quarterback Sammy Chavez and completed a 69-yard touchdown pass play to receiver Ryan Burt on the first play of a 62-24 Southern Section Division VIII victory over Riverside Rubidoux.

Rialto wingback Dramayne McElroy scored on a 76-yard run on the first play in a 43-30 Division I loss to Santa Margarita.

Huntington Beach Edison waited all of two plays before scoring on a 76-yard touchdown pass play from Tommy Grady to Denny Flanagan en route to a 56-34 Division I victory over Bellflower St. John Bosco.

Then there was Compton Dominguez, which did not get on the scoreboard until the third play of the game, a 70-yard touchdown pass play from quarterback Justin Wyatt to receiver Jason President.

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Milestone victories: Buena Park, Corona Santiago, Fontana Kaiser and North Hollywood Campbell Hall earned their first postseason victories. Buena Park’s 27-21 victory over Anaheim Western was the Coyotes’ first in its 43-year history.

Santiago, playing in its first playoff game in its six-year history, beat Colton, 45-14, in Division V. Kaiser, in its second varsity season, defeated Apple Valley, 48-0, in Division VIII, and Campbell Hall defeated Lucerne Valley, 41-31, in Division XIII for its first victory in its 16-year history.

Pomona’s 24-15 Division VII upset of Gardena Serra was the Red Devils’ first postseason win since 1981. Riverside Arlington’s 41-7 Division V victory over Yucaipa was its first since 1990, when it won the Division IV title. San Bernardino Cajon defeated Hemet, 36-7, in Division V for its first postseason victory since 1995. Van Nuys Birmingham, the top-seeded team in the City Section playoffs, defeated No. 16 San Pedro, 33-21, for its first victory over a Marine League team in decades.

Last year, Birmingham lost to Carson, 52-7 in the quarterfinals.

“Our kids didn’t back down. I’m so proud of that,” Birmingham Coach Ed Croson said. “How many times has a Marine League team lost to a Valley team? I think the monkey’s off our back. Now we know we can play with the Marine League.”

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Second time around: When the teams scrimmaged a week before the season began, Colton outscored Corona Santiago, four touchdowns to two. On Friday, Santiago had to weed out the ballcarrier from Colton’s single-and double-wing offense, but won.

“It’s so hard to replicate that offense,” said Santiago first-year Coach Steve Mitchell. “We brought the JV up, and they did a great job. The JV had their own practice, they watched Colton’s films. They gave us a good look. The timing wasn’t the same, but they get an assist.”

Mitchell said Santiago was also helped a week earlier when it played rival Corona Centennial to determine the Mountain View League champion. Santiago lost, 55-13.

“I [saw] a very different squad because of last week,” Mitchell said. “Last week we had playoff intensity without playoff finality.”

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Times staff writers Ben Bolch, Martin Henderson and Eric Sondheimer and correspondent John Klima contributed to this report.