Five of the eight teams in the CIF-Southern Section Division 1 playoff bracket are from Catholic schools, testimony to the continuing strength of those institutions in one of the country’s most competitive gridiron playgrounds.

Altogether, 25 Catholic school teams qualified for the playoffs in nine of the 14 CIF-SS divisions, including league champions Mater Dei (Trinity), Bishop Amat (Mission), St. Paul (Del Rey), and St. Pius X-St.Matthias (Santa Fe). The Angelus and Camino Real Leagues saw ties for the title.

As expected, defending CIF-SS, state and national champion Mater Dei drew the No. 1 seed in D-1 and will face eighth-seeded Bishop Amat in the opening round Nov. 15. Also playing that night will be second-seeded St. John Bosco hosting No. 7 Calabasas, No. 6 J.Serra at No. 3 Centennial/Corona, and No. 5 Servite at No. 4 Mission Viejo.

All other divisions (2 to 14) are 16-team brackets and will commence playoff action Nov. 8, as follows:

D-2: Santa Margarita at Sierra Canyon; Notre Dame/Sherman Oaks at Vista Murrieta; Chaminade at Norco; Serra at Rancho Verde.
D-3: St. Francis at Cajon; Tesoro at Cathedral; Alemany at Paraclete.
D-4: Loyola at Palos Verdes; Damien at Camarillo.
D-5: Bishop Diego at Culver City; El Modena at St. Paul; St. Bonaventure at Oxnard.
D-6: Dos Pueblos at Crespi.
D-9: La Salle at San Dimas; Newport Harbor at St. Anthony.
D-13: Rim of the World at Cantwell Sacred Heart; Santa Monica at St. Bernard.
D-14: Santiago/Garden Grove at St. Pius X-St. Matthias; Fairmont Prep at Mary Star.

A closer look at the playoff matchups will appear later this week in Angelus News.

Regular Season Finales

Again, as expected, Mater Dei and St. John Bosco posted easy victories in the regular season ending games last Friday. The Monarchs rolled to 10-0 with a 41-17 win over J.Serra, while the Braves (with just one loss at the hands of Mater Dei) smothered Santa Margarita 56-10. Servite beat Orange Lutheran 34-14 as all six Trinity teams made the playoffs (Santa Margarita and Orange Lutheran in D-2).

St. Pius X-St. Matthias also ended its regular season unbeaten (9-0) and gained the Santa Fe League crown (3-0) by beating Don Bosco Tech 56-0. St. Bernard downed Verbum Dei 52-0.

Bishop Amat completed a perfect 5-0 Mission League campaign, beating Loyola 38-10. Chaminade beat Serra 24-14, and Alemany got by Notre Dame/Sherman Oaks 35-29. 

In the Angelus League, St. Francis blanked Cathedral 38-0 while Crespi overwhelmed Salesian 70-7. The results left St. Francis, Cathedral and Crespi tied at 2-1 in league.

Other results:

Del Rey: St. Paul ended its league season 4-0, beating St. Genevieve 38-3; La Salle fell 30-27 to Harvard-Westlake; and St. Anthony was idle.

Camino Real: St. Monica stopped Cantwell-Sacred Heart 48-19 and Mary Star eked by Bishop Montgomery 28-26. CSH and Mary Star tied for the league title at 2-1, while the Mariners and Knights were each 1-2.

Baseline: Damien was edged 27-24 by Los Osos.

Marmonte: Calabasas was credited with a 2-0 forfeit win over St. Bonaventure.

Camino: Bishop Diego hammered Thousand Oaks 41-6.

Non-League: Sierra Canyon rallied to edge Paraclete 24-20.

Eight-Man: St. Michael’s lost a 33-31 heartbreaker to Rolling Hills Prep, and Santa Clara belted Blair 54-0.