Previews for nine of the Orange County teams — Villa Park, La Habra, Beckman, Irvine, Brea Olinda, Pacifica, Woodbridge, Saddleback and Anaheim — playing in the semifinals of the CIF Southern Section football playoffs Friday, Nov. 21:
DIVISION 4
San Jacinto (9-3) vs. Villa Park (8-4), at El Modena High, Friday, 7 p.m.
Outlook: Villa Park’s defense held Great Oak to under 200 yards of total offense in its 30-6 win in the quarterfinals. Sean Byrnes, Maverick Declark, Ethan Hedrick and Turner Hughes all recovered fumbles for Villa Park. The Spartans recovered three fumbles deep in Great Oak’s territory which helped the offense build an early lead. Coy Collins ran for 115 yards and Matt Smith threw for 158 yards with a touchdown pass and a rushing touchdown. San Jacinto edged Charter Oak 29-27 in overtime last week and both of its playoff games have gone to overtime. Jordan Bernard had 144 yards receiving with two touchdowns and Jomini Ransom ran for 101 yards with two scores. Both teams lost to Yorba Linda this season.
Player to watch: Matt Smith, Villa Park: San Jacinto allowed 374 passing yards in its first-round game against Bishop Diego and 212 passing yards in the rain against Charter Oak last week. Smith threw for over 150 yards in both of Villa Park’s playoff wins and should be able to make some big plays against San Jacinto.
La Habra (9-3) at Oaks Christian (6-6), Friday, 7 p.m.
Outlook: La Habra running back Kevika Mata’Utia-Martinez and quarterback DJ Mitchell have been a lethal combination through the first two rounds of the playoffs. Mata’Utia-Martinez has run for 300 yards in the playoffs with two touchdowns. Mitchell has rushed for 179 yards with three touchdowns and thrown two touchdown passes. La Habra held Cathedral to 115 yards of total offense last week after Cathedral scored 40 points in the first round. Noah Barajas leads La Habra in tackles and tackles for a loss. Oaks Christian is 4-0 since USC commit running back Deshonne Redeaux returned from injury. Redeaux ran for 264 yards with two touchdowns against Paraclete last week. Oregon commit Davon Benjamin returned an interception over 100 yards for a touchdown against Paraclete.
Player to watch: Kevika Mata’Utia-Martinez, La Habra: Mata’Utia Martinez will need to go toe-to-toe with Redeaux rushing the ball for La Habra to win this game on what might be another rainy night. Mata’Utia-Martinez also led La Habra in tackles last week and will be tasked with slowing down Redeaux.
DIVISION 8
Palm Desert (9-3) vs. Beckman (9-3), at Tustin High, Friday, 7 p.m.
Outlook: Beckman has the longest winning streak in Orange County (8) and cruised to a 30-13 win over Lambda League foe Fullerton in the quarterfinals. Mahki Czaykowski has rushed for 345 yards with three touchdowns in the team’s two playoff wins. Noah Nam threw two touchdown passes against Fullerton and Zak Hazboun led the defense with eight tackles and two for a loss. Palm Desert is the top-seeded team in Division 8 and dominated Beckman’s league rival Marina 31-7 in the first round. AJ Rivera Jr. threw a go-ahead touchdown pass to Jonah Toland in the fourth quarter last week in a 46-33 win over Patriot. Rivera threw 25 touchdowns with just three interceptions during the regular season.
Player to watch: Xavier Musselman-Cano, Beckman: Palm Desert has scored at least 31 points in each of its last six games. Beckman will need to force some turnovers to slow down the Aztecs. Musselman-Cano leads Beckman with six interceptions and has two fumble recoveries this season.
Irvine (9-3) at Brea Olinda (9-3), Friday, 7 p.m.
Outlook: Brea Olinda ran for 349 yards with six touchdowns last week in a 41-28 win over St. Monica. Quarterback Gavyn Nicholson ran for 186 yards with three touchdowns and Kolotolu Liti had two rushing touchdowns. Nicholson has run for 318 yards in the playoffs and Nolan Santana has 21 tackles to lead the defense. Irvine beat Temecula Valley 14-0 last week without completing a pass. Sina Saferzadeh led the Vaqueros in rushing and was one of the leading tacklers on defense. Will Walters and Cole Reidel were other leading tacklers for Irvine in the shutout. Brea Olinda last reached a CIF championship game in 2018 and last won in 2001. Irvine most recently played for a CIF championship in 2000 when it beat Newport Harbor 14-0.
Player to watch: Mason Pruce, Irvine: Brea Olinda runs the ball well and teams have not been able to slow down Nicholson recently. Pruce is a big junior on the defensive line that can eat up double teams and make things difficult for Brea’s offensive line.
DIVISION 10
Pacifica (9-3) at Hillcrest (7-5), Friday, 7 p.m.
Outlook: Pacifica is in the Division 10 semifinals for the second consecutive season. Prior to last week’s 13-7 win over Liberty, Pacifica had won five of its previous six games by 21 points or greater. Ma’kai Brown ran for over 120 yards with two touchdowns against Liberty and Mike Lee had a big game running the ball as well. David Carlsson didn’t record a reception last week due to the rain, but had 1,028 yards with 13 touchdowns in the regular season. Kole Chapman and Tyler Alvarado lead Pacifica’s defense which has held teams to 14 points or fewer during its 7-game winning streak. Matthew Ramos threw three touchdown passes and ran for another last week for Hillcrest in a 27-13 win over St. Margaret’s. Reyez Ortiz ran for 103 yards and Dylan Bailey had an interception. Pacifica last reached a CIF championship game in 2007.
Player to watch: Ma’kai Brown, Pacifica: Pacifica coach Kyle Murphy called Brown a workhorse after the Mariners beat Portola to win the Omicron League championship in week 10. Hillcrest allowed 204 rushing yards to St. Margaret’s last week thanks to two big runs of over 74 yards. Brown will get at least 20 carries and has a chance to break off some big runs.
Fryer on Football: Previews and predictions for Friday’s CIF-SS semifinals
DIVISION 13
Woodbridge (4-8) at Saddleback (10-2), Friday, 7 p.m.
Outlook: Saddleback was 0-9 just two years ago and has now won its first playoff games since 2006. Andre Scott threw for 224 yards with three touchdowns last week against Santa Rosa Academy. Chris Romero had 17 tackles to lead the defense and now leads the county in tackles with 174. Andrik Valenzuela has 12 receiving touchdowns and leads the team in interceptions with five. Woodbridge began the season with seven straight losses but has won four of its last five games. Kayjahn Pitts ran for 100 yards with two touchdowns last week in Woodbridge’s win over Buena Park. David Bosley ran for the game-winning touchdown late in the fourth quarter. Woodbridge is seeking its first CIF championship appearance since 1998.
Player to watch: Chris Romero, Saddleback: Romero is a tackling machine with 37 tackles through the first two rounds of the playoffs. Woodbridge will try to establish the run with Pitts and quarterback Wylan Stone so Romero will have plenty of opportunities to add to his gaudy tackling numbers.
DIVISION 14
Pioneer (6-6) vs. Anaheim (7-5), at Glover Field, Friday, 7 p.m.
Outlook: Anaheim held Alhambra to 54 yards of total offense in the quarterfinals and had 12 tackles for a loss. Jayden Sanchez led the defense with 10 tackles and Xavier Aviles had an interception. Anaheim ran for 159 yards with two touchdowns with Isaac Anaya leading the Colonists with 113 yards. Jacob Campos is a dual-threat quarterback who averages 164 yards per game with 20 passing touchdowns and 9 rushing touchdowns. Pioneer beat Godinez in the first round of the playoffs and beat Trinity Classical Academy 14-6 in the quarterfinals. Steven Roman and Damian Salguero are the leading rushers for Pioneer and Jose Rosas leads the defense with 120 tackles. Anaheim is seeking its first CIF championship appearance since 2006.
Player to watch: Xavier Aviles, Anaheim: Pioneer has thrown 15 interceptions this season and lost two fumbles. Aviles is the turnover creator for Anaheim’s defense with four forced fumbles and two interceptions. Five of Anaheim’s six interceptions this season have come in its last four games and the Colonists may need to force some turnovers to beat Pioneer.
Video: Fryer and Albano make their predictions for CIF-SS football semifinals