LA City Section Division I
LA City Section Division II
LA City Section Division III
After winning five of the last 10 LACS championships, including the most recent two, Narbonne claims the first overall seed. The Gauchos have yet to lose this season, and look just as good as they did last year in their title run. There may be a weakness in their pass defense, but there doesn’t appear to be a dominant quarterback who can expose that. They face Arleta (4-6) in the first round.
San Pedro and Dorsey are the two and three seed. Both have powerful offenses with big running games, but both defenses have looked shaky in big losses to higher ranked teams. Their opponents are Birmingham and South East, respectively. Birmingham did not have a good start, but they have looked good in recent weeks and pose a threat with their size. South East is coming off a dramatic overtime win at Bell and have sky-high morale, should that count for anything.
Banning and El Camino Real represent the four and five seed. Banning looked unbeatable in non-conference play, but a big loss to Narbonne damaged both their pedigree and confidence. The Conquistadors, meanwhile, are making history. Hailing from Woodland Hills, they won out in league for the first time ever. Both teams have tricky matchups in the first round, as Hamilton and Sylmar are defensively sound.
The six and seven seeds are Palisades and San Fernando. This is where it gets interesting. Palisades has a dominant running game, but hardly ever throws the ball. San Fernando takes the opposite approach. Their opponents are Carson and Garfield who share a similar theme: lots of hype, little performance.
The eight and nine seeds are two incredibly even matched teams, Crenshaw and Venice. Crenshaw is a former Division 1 power going through a rebuilding phase. They have the talent to beat lower teams, but have lost to higher seeded teams. Venice has done the opposite. They breezed by higher ranked opponents, but were victims of upsets themselves. Look for this one to be a thriller.
Players to Watch:
Narbonne: QB Jalen Chatman, RB Kameron Denmark, DE/OLB Anthony Pandy
Dorsey: RB Charles Mincy, Jr., WR Elijah Boykin, DE Kayvon Thibodeaux
San Pedro: QB Austin Jackson, RB Kai Kaneshiro, CB Luis Padilla
Banning: RB Joe Villarreal, WR Daniel Hernandez, SS/RB Sultan Moala
El Camino Real: RB Cornelius Hawkins, WR/RB Ladell Atkins, DE Alton Johnson
Palisades: RB Innocent Okoh, WR Cameron Bailey, MLB/TE Quinn Perry
San Fernando: QB Joshua Garcia, RB Michael Alejandro, CB/RB Kyle Bryant
Venice: QB Luca Diamont, RB/LB Justin Cauley, OLB Juan Guerrero
Crenshaw: QB Daiyan Henley, WR Jelani Harris, WR Kaloni Ford
Garfield: QB Henry Polanco, RB/FS Brandyn Jordan, DE Carlos Nunez
Carson: QB Jaja Bellinger, DE/FB Joseph Torres
Hamilton: CB Jacques Wilson, WR Drevon Macon, WR Aerick Russell
Sylmar: RB Erinn Jones, Jr., DT Edward Nobles, SS Demajay Williams
Birmingham: QB Jason Artiga, RB Shane Bennett, LB Giancarlo Tarifa
South East: QB Edward Norton, RB Lawrence Nearn, Jr., LB Jonathan Padilla
Arleta: QB Sergio Ayala, TE/OLB Edward Espinosa, DB Jonathan Silva
Sleeper team: The hottest team in the section right now is El Camino Real. The Conquistadors have a fearsome offense that could do a lot of damage for the plucky No. 5 seed. Running back Cornelius Hawkins has six touchdowns from kickoff returns alone, and has enormous big play potential. Ladell Atkins has great hands and would be the best running back on most teams in the section. The defense has also shut down other powerful offenses like that of Venice. Led by All-City Cornerback Tyjai Fulford, the pass defense is lock-down, and could match up well with Narbonne.
Predicted title game outcome: Narbonne over San Pedro
