CV football goes for .500, spoiler role
Though the Crescenta Valley High football team will not participate in the CIF Southern Section Southeast Division playoffs, there’s still plenty of motivation for the Falcons in their season finale.
Crescenta Valley will indeed be in line to have a say in which teams qualify for the playoffs next week. For the Falcons, they would like nothing more than to keep archrival Arcadia out of the postseason, while ending the season at .500.
Crescenta Valley will have that opportunity when it meets Arcadia in a Pacific League game at 7 p.m. Friday at Arcadia. Crescenta Valley is 4-5, 2-4 in league. Arcadia is 4-5, 4-2.
The top three teams from the league earn automatic playoff berths.
“There’s that motivation,” said Crescenta Valley Coach Paul Schilling, whose team ended a three-game losing streak Friday with a 21-19 league win against Hoover. “You have 10 games to play and 5-5 sounds a lot better than 4-6.
“Since we are not going to the playoffs, we’d like to even up our record and try to knock Arcadia out.”
Muir is in first place in league at 6-0, followed by Burbank (5-1). Arcadia and Burroughs, both whom shared the league championship last season, are 4-2.
There are several playoff scenarios concerning Burbank, Burroughs and Arcadia. If Crescenta Valley beats Arcadia and Burroughs beats Burbank on Friday, Muir, Burroughs and Burbank will advance to the playoffs. If Crescenta Valley beats Arcadia and Burbank tops Burroughs, Arcadia and Burroughs would finish tied for third, but Arcadia would own the tiebreaker by virtue of its 18-8 win against Burroughs. If Arcadia defeats Crescenta Valley and Burroughs beats Burbank, a three-way tie would exist between Arcadia, Burroughs and Burbank and would result in a coin flip today with the loser likely missing out on the playoffs.
According to Schilling, there’s one available at-large playoff spot in the division.
Schilling, who led the Falcons to an appearance in the playoffs last season, said the Falcons match up well in some areas against the Apaches, who posted a 31-7 win in last season’s meeting at Moyse Field. Arcadia has won six of the last eight meetings and the last two, with the Falcons hoping to get their first rivalry win since 2009.
“Our offensive line is one of the best parts of our team,” Schilling said. “Arcadia has a lot of skilled kids who can catch and run, but we think we are better up front on the line.”
Schilling said Brian Gadsby will start at quarterback. Gadsby made his first start at the varsity level against Hoover, completing two of four passes for 90 yards and one touchdown. He originally began the season on the junior varsity team.
