Emotions High for This Final

It’s unlikely there will be a more emotional game played on Friday than the one between top-seeded Corona Centennial (10-2) and fourth-seeded and defending champion Riverside North (9-3) at Riverside Norte Vista High.

The Division V final is a rematch of last year’s quarterfinal game, won in an upset by North, 35-28. Centennial went into the game top-seeded and unbeaten, including a 42-18 victory over North.

“It’s payback time to get the ring we didn’t get last season,” said linebacker Brett Martin. “We have to stay focused like it’s another game, even though we wanted to play these guys from the get-go.”

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Los Alamitos (12-0-1) hasn’t played in a title game since 1993, when the Griffins completed a perfect season with a 39-21 victory over Huntington Beach to win the Division II title. It was their third in a row, though they shared the 1992 title with Anaheim Esperanza.

John Barnes, Los Alamitos’ coach, is enthusiastic about his team’s opportunity against Santa Ana Mater Dei (10-3) on Saturday at Edison Field for the Division I title because of one very big reason.

“We haven’t been this healthy all year,” Barnes said. “We had a lot of injuries. Luckily, we had the depth to get through.”

Barnes said that among seven offensive linemen, only one played all 13 weeks.

The ironman was Chris Orozco, a 6-foot-4, 255-pound left tackle, but perhaps the most valuable was Steve Snyder (5-11, 255).

“I didn’t think [Snyder] would play much for us, but I thought he would work hard and be a great program player for us,” Barnes said. “By the second game he was a starter and he ended up being All-Sunset League.”

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Phelan Serrano advanced to its first section championship with a 37-36 triple overtime victory over Cathedral City. It’s the first time Serrano has been past the quarterfinals after losing in the second round of the 16-team field for six consecutive years.

One reason for Serrano’s victory was the play of quarterback Jon Edmiston, who completed 11 of 23 passes for 149 yards with no interceptions. It’s notable because the Diamondbacks rely heavily on Chris Vega, who normally carries the ball 25-30 times per game.

“The strength of our team is its running game, and the strength of Kaiser is its defense,” Serrano Coach Ray Maholchic said. “We’ll have to mix it up a little more than normal. We’re kidding ourselves if we think we’ll run the ball down Kaiser’s throat.”

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The Division IV championship football game between Westlake Village Westlake and Ventura St. Bonaventure will be played at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Moorpark High. The game had been originally scheduled for Ventura High. Also, the site of the Division VII game between Walnut and West Covina South Hills has been changed to Cal State Fullerton. The 7:30 p.m. game Saturday had been scheduled for Covina District Stadium.