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Santa Margarita’s football team handled its challenge on the field Friday with a dominant victory to force a three-way tie for fourth place in the Trinity League.
On Sunday, the Eagles received a handsome reward.
The CIF Southern Section announced a 10-team playoff bracket in Division 1, and Santa Margarita claimed one of the three at-large berths.
If the Division 1 bracket had been eight teams like last season, the Eagles (4-6) would not have made the cut. Their team banquet held Saturday night would have indeed been a sendoff after a season marred by controversy.
But with the expanded playoff bracket and a power rating boosted by 44-8 victory against Servite on Friday, the Eagles secured essentially the No. 7 seed and a first-round game against No. 10 Inglewood (10-0) on Friday. Santa Margarita will be the home team at site to be announced.
“It certainly played a large role (for the 10-team bracket),” section assistant commissioner Richard Shearer said of Santa Margarita’s win against Servite. “It made a three-way tie between JSerra, Servite and Santa Margarita. All tied. All beat each other. All tied for fourth place.”
“It was obvious after that we needed to find a way to include three teams that were tied for fourth place.”
JSerra (6-4) and Servite (6-4) joined Santa Margarita as the three at-large selections in Division 1.
As expected, top-ranked and defending Division 1 champion Mater Dei (9-0) secured the top seed. The Trinity League champion was followed by No. 2 and chief rival St. John Bosco (9-1), No. 3 Orange Lutheran (7-3) and No. 4 Mission Viejo (10-0).
The seeding are set by Calpreps’ computer-generated power ratings.
“I think it’s the best bracket in the country,” Shearer said. “We got all our Top 10 teams in the section in … and they’re all playing in the same bracket against each other.”
The size of the Division 1 bracket was again arguably the biggest question heading into the release of the playoff pairings on Sunday.
The Southern Section has flexibility to set the parameters in Division 1. A 10-team bracket, for example, was deployed in 2022.
Santa Margarita’s case illustrates how bracket size indeed matters.
If the section had opted for an eight-team bracket in Division 1, Servite (64.0 rating) would have bumped Santa Margarita (69.9) from the playoffs because of its overall record, and not the power ratings.
When it comes to at-large candidates, section rules give priority to teams with at least a .500 record or better. Once those teams are considered, the highest-rated sub .500 teams get their chance.
But by expanding the field to 10, the Eagles found a landing spot as the lone sub-.500 team in the Division 1 pool.
“I think we would all agree, it would look a little odd to take a team (Servite) that had just lost Friday night to a team (Santa Margarita) that is ranked higher,” Shearer said.
And perhaps in a stroke of poetic justice, Santa Margarita plays Inglewood, another team whose Division 1 candidacy was heavily debated.
The Sentinels’ resume includes a Bay League win against Leuzinger, which beat Santa Margarita when the Eagles were without Trent Mosley.
The star junior wide receiver returned from injury two weeks ago. Last week, injured wide receiver Jonah Smith, a UCLA commit, returned for the Eagles.
If there had been an eight-team Division 1, Inglewood would have the No. 1 seed in Division 2. Shearer confirmed.
The Santa Margarita-Inglewood winner plays St. John Bosco in the quarterfinals Nov. 15.
The Eagles’ campaign has been controversial with allegations that at least nine players have been assaulted by teammates this season. Coach Anthony Rouzier also has been placed on administrative leave.
Servite essentially earned the No. 9 seed with its power rating and will play at No. 8 Sierra Canyon (7-3) on Friday. The winner plays Mater Dei in the quarterfinals on Nov. 15.
“I love that our players get the opportunity to play in the Division 1 bracket against a tremendous opponent,” said Servite coach Chris Reinert, whose team finished as the Division 2 runner-up last season. “We are fired up!”
Two quarterfinals are already set for Nov. 15. Mission Viejo will play host to Centennial Corona (8-2) while Orange Lutheran will take on JSerra in all-Trinity League affair.
Orange Lutheran’s seeding showed the value of playing a challenging schedule. The third-seeded Lancers assembled arguably the toughest schedule in the nation, according to MaxPreps, and pushed their power rating by Calpreps to 81.5.
Orange Lutheran faced three teams — Mater Dei, St., John Bosco and Bishop Gorman of Nevada — ranked in the top-four in the nation by Calpreps.
Mission Viejo, ranked higher than Orange Lutheran by OCVarsity, has a power rating of 78.5.
“The playoff seedings are exactly what we thought they would be,” said Mission Viejo coach Chad Johnson, who guided the Diablos to Division 2 and CIF State 1AA titles last season. “It’s what Calpreps had and that’s what CIF goes by. We are excited to be in Division 1.”
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