Banning, San Pedro, Palisades, Lincoln land City Section Open Division top seeds

The City Section unveiled its football playoff pairings on Saturday using this season’s results while relying on CalPreps.com‘s power ratings to place teams in playoff divisions. Wilmington Banning received the No. 1 seed for the eight-team Open Division, followed by No. 2 San Pedro, No. 3 Palisades and No. 4 Lincoln.

The seeding process was complicated by waiting to see which schools might have to opt out if they did not have at least 18 fully vaccinated players. The Los Angeles Unified School District is requiring students who want to participate in sports be fully vaccinated by Sunday. One school that was uncertain of having enough players, Crenshaw, was included in the Division I pairings.

Although Banning earned the No. 1 Open Division seed thanks to a Marine League championship and a win over No. 2 San Pedro, the Pilots won’t have All-City running back Jakob Galloway, who has been lost for the season because of a knee injury. The Pilots have been preparing for several weeks to rely on new players to fill Galloway’s role.

Another uncertainty involves Lincoln, which is 10-0 and won the Northern League title. Quarterback Ivan Plancarte served a one-game suspension Friday. He might not be cleared to return for the Tigers’ opening playoff game.

The eight-team Open Division field begins on Nov. 12. The 16-team Division I, II, III and eight-man brackets begin Friday.

Dorsey is seeded No. 1 in Division I, El Camino Real is No. 1 in Division II and Taft is No. 1 in Division III.

A finals site has not been decided. Several junior colleges are under consideration. The championships will be Nov. 26-27.