CIF Southern Section 2019 Division 11 football bracket, quarterfinals preview
The CIF Southern Section Division 11 football quarterfinals kick off Friday, Nov. 15. Here’s a look at the matchups:
Muir vs. Chaffey
Muir is the heavy favorite here, but Chaffey is good enough to make them far from a shoe-in. Chaffey is coming off by far their best game of the season, narrowly edging out a solid foe in Claremont in the first round. Before that, they were 9-1 with the loss coming to La Mirada, but no wins over anyone close to their level. And some of their wins were way too close against teams that shouldn’t be able to hang with them. They’d need magic to beat Muir.
But crazier things have happened. Chaffey is 10-1 for a reason, and again, the Claremont game makes them much more formidable. There’s no shame in Muir’s two losses to Grace Brethren and Crescenta Valley, and they’ve beaten Western, Hart, and Burbank this season. Still, if the Division 11 favorites sleep on Chaffey, their amazing season could end abruptly.
Ontario Christian vs. Marina
Marina should win this game, but it wouldn’t be shocking if Ontario Christian pulled it out. Both of these teams have had strong seasons at 9-2, but Marina has had a noticeably harder strength of schedule. With wins over Katella and Segerstrom, it seems that if they execute, they should be in good shape. But Ontario Christian beat Linfield Christian, who suddenly looks formidable after upsetting Beaumont, and has beaten numerous lower-tier teams very badly.
The clear advantage goes to Marina, but Ontario Christian has more than what it takes to pull off what could be the best win of the season.
El Rancho vs. Hemet
El Rancho opened the season with a close loss to a strong Northview squad, and was also blown out by an outstanding La Serna team early in league play that they didn’t have a chance against. Other than that, they’ve won big all season behind an explosive offense, including a close win over Garfield before league play.
Despite coming into last week’s game against Arroyo 6-4, Hemet seems to be in about the same ballpark. They lost decisively to Chaparral and San Jacinto, and also lost close games to Beaumont and J.W. North. Their best win was against Citrus Hill, and are more of a defensive squad than El Rancho.
Each team has lost games to respectable opponents, and has one close win over an evenly matched foe. Sounds like a tossup, and if Muir happens to go down, whoever wins this game is probably new the Division 11 favorite.
Linfield Christian vs. Pasadena
Behind Muir, Beaumont was probably the favorite to win Division 11. Linfield Christian was an afterthought. Neither of those are the case anymore, as the Lions ended heavy favorite Beaumont’s season in a 47-42 barn-burner. Where does that put them against Pasadena, who was somewhere in between Beaumont and Linfield Christian during the regular season?
I have no idea, but it seems like it should be a great game. Linfield spent their regular season beating inferior competition by unbelievable margins, with respectable losses coming to Aquinas, Aliso Niguel, and Ontario Christian. Beaumont was by far their best game of the season. Pasadena is in about that same ballpark, with a lot of unsurprising lopsided victories and losses coming to Burbank, Crescenta Valley, and Muir. The Bulldogs have been steady, and Linfield Christian is a wildcard, so this game could go in any which direction.
