Paly, M-A could meet in CCS football playoffs

The Palo Alto football team hoisted a Central Coast Section championship trophy in 2006. Menlo-Atherton did not. Both, however, will have that opportunity this season.

There is a catch, however. Should one of them win a section title, it could come at the expense of the other.

That’s the possible scenario as both teams prepare for the first round of the CCS Large School Division playoffs this weekend. As the No. 1-seeded team, Menlo-Atherton (9-1) will host No. 8 Homestead (8-1-1) on Saturday at 1 p.m. Palo Alto, which lost a coin flip for the No. 2 seed, instead received the No. 3 spot and will host El Camino (7-3) on Saturday at 7 p.m.

Both local teams are in opposite brackets, which means the possibility does exist that Paly and Menlo-Atherton could meet in the championship game.

The Vikings and Bears roll into the playoffs under a full head of steam. The two schools have produced a combined 13 wins in a row to end the season and have seized an invaluable amount of momentum and confidence into the postseason where three wins gets you a prized section title.

Neither M-A nor Paly are strangers on the road to a section crown. M-A won a then- Division II title in 2002. Paly captured a Division IV title in 1995 and won last season’s Open Division championship that put the Vikings in the inaugural CIF state championship game.

The big surprise at Sunday’s CCS seeding meeting was that M-A and Paly both ended up in the Large School Division. Based on enrollment and past seedings, it was speculated that Paly would compete in the Medium School Division.

“I thought we would get a one, two or three seed,” said second-year M-A coach Bob Sykes. “We have a mature group and we’re definitely not taking anybody lightly.”

However, Menlo-Atherton has the defense to handle run-oriented Homestead, which earned a co-championship in the SCVAL El Camino Division with Saratoga. Coincidently, the Bears beat the Mustangs in the 2002 CCS championship game.

A Bears’ victory will earn them a trip to the semifinals against the winner of No. 4 Aragon (8-2) and No. 5 Piedmont Hills (6-4).

Paly, which finished second in the SCVAL De Anza Division to Los Gatos (seeded in the Open Division), lost a coin flip to North Salinas and settled for the No. 3 seed. The Vikings will play an El Camino team tha won the PAL Ocean Division crown, its first title of any kind in 35 years.

If Paly wins on Saturday as expected — El Camino lost to Sacred Heart Prep earlier this season — the Vikings will face either North Salinas or Milpitas (5-5) in the semifinals the following week.

“We had the same amount of (power) points as North Salinas, but lost the flip and got the No. 3 seed,” said Paly coach Earl Hansen, who has guided the Vikings to berths in all four playoff divisions in the CCS. “We’re in a great bracket. Give El Camino credit, they won a championship.”

M-A and Paly’s combined three losses this season have come to three of the top teams in CCS. The Bears dropped their only game (24-14) to Valley Christian in September. Paly lost back-to-back contests in September to Oak Grove (27-7) and Los Gatos (42-7).

Valley Christian, Oak Grove and Los Gatos are all competing in the Open Division playoffs.

On the other side, M-A and Paly have faced the bottom of their respective leagues for the past month and it remains to be seen how each school responds to tougher competition in the postseason.

M-A has crushed everything in its path since the loss to Valley Christian en route to a perfect 7-0 PAL Bay Division mark and its first league title since 1992. M-A claimed the undisputed Bay Division crown with a 48-7 waxing of rival Woodside last Friday in Redwood City.

The Bears are experienced, balanced, big, fast and confident. To add incentive for the postseason, M-A has not forgotten last season’s 14-7 opening-round playoff loss to Santa Teresa — a setback that ended the Bears’ season on a three-game losing skid.

“Our team remembers last season,” said Sykes. “We’re exactly where we want to be this time around. There are a lot of good teams in our bracket and we’ll take them one at a time.”

The Bears are led by their senior-dominated line, which averages 6-foot 2, 285 pounds, plus senior quarterback Troy McCabe and senior running back Will Latu, who has gained over 1,300 rushing yards this season. Latu and speedy Jamal Wilkins form a productive backfield.

Latu rushed for 209 of M-A’s 399 yards on just 10 carries as the Bears outgained Woodside, 564-122 in Friday’s easy win. Latu found the end zone on runs of 46 and 79 yards, while senior receiver Steve DiSibio caught a pair of scoring passes from McCabe. Wilkins and backs Bobby Bustos and Rod Nash also scored for M-A, which held a 41-0 lead at halftime.

Paly won the Open Division crown a season ago by winning three games by a combined total of seven points. The big key was that the Vikings didn’t commit a single turnover during their playoff run and promptly responded when faced with adversity. With only a handful of starters with playoff experience this time around, Paly again will need to play error-free football in a division that will get more difficult with each win.

“We need to avoid turnovers, keep guys healthy and get better with each game,” said Hansen.

Since the setbacks to Oak Grove and Los Gatos by the combined score of 69-14, the Vikings have pounded their past six opponents by the average score of 37-10. Paly lost nine starters on offense from a season ago, but the line and junior quarterback Will Brandin have improved with each outing. Senior reciver Mike Scott is the Vikings’ big- play threat and is one of the top all-around athletes in the section. Scott has 39 receptions for 671 yards and is a threat whenever he touches the ball.

Paly ended the regular season on Friday with a 49-0 drubbing of crosstown rival Gunn, rolling up 320 yards of offense while holding the Titans to 36 yards. Senior quarterback Jeff Wilson, starting in place of an injured Brandin (sidelined by chipped teeth) was a perfect 9 of 9 for 169 yards and four touchdowns passes in a career-best outing.

Scott caught two of those scoring passes for 34 and 20 yards and ran for a 24-yard score, all in the first quarter. Paly led 47-0 at the half. Senior tight end Jordan Jefferson, senior receiver Dom Powell and senior back Chris James also tallied touchdowns for Paly.

Menlo School, meanwhile, had hopes of earning an at-large berth into the CCS Small School Division playoffs after finishing 7-3 with a 40-0 pasting of visiting Jefferson on Friday. The Knights, however, didn’t have enough points after finishing fourth in the PAL Bay Division.

Menlo senior Jack Mosbacher scored two touchdowns in his final game while senior quarterbacks Travis Boyce and Matt Corley combined for four TD passes and 177 passing yards in their final games.