This week’s top games

* Lake Balboa Birmingham (6-5) at Woodland Hills Taft (11-0), 7, tonight: Taft again is in the uncomfortable position of having to defeat Birmingham for a second time in the same season. The Toreadors failed in 2002 and 2004, and Birmingham went on to win City titles. This time, top-seeded Taft must play the eighth-seeded Patriots without Malcolm Smith, a running back and linebacker who is still recovering from a dislocated elbow. The game should center on the quarterbacks. Taft sophomore Exavier Johnson has 29 touchdown passes with only two interceptions. Birmingham junior James Beloff struggled in a first-round victory over Harbor City Narbonne. If Birmingham can rattle Johnson, an upset is possible because running back Milton Knox has rushed for 1,476 yards and seems to play his best against the Toreadors.

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-- ERIC SONDHEIMER

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* Sylmar (11-0) at San Pedro (9-2), 7, tonight: Sylmar has compiled its undefeated record against teams with a combined record of 40-73, but no one can argue the merits of running back C.J. Gable, who has 1,929 yards and 24 touchdowns in 172 carries and probably will top the 2,000-yard mark for the second consecutive year. San Pedro also relies on the run. Backs Devin Carter and J’Vonne Hibbler have combined for 2,486 yards and 23 touchdowns. Sylmar’s defense should be a challenge, however, as the fifth-seeded Spartans have given up only 8.8 points a game. Fourth-seeded San Pedro probably will need to better its 23 points a game average on offense because Sylmar averages 43.7. They have a common opponent in Locke. San Pedro defeated the Saints, 28-21, in Week 4; Sylmar defeated them, 44-13, last week.

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-- PETER YOON

* L.A. Fairfax (9-2) vs. L.A. Dorsey (9-2) at Rancho Cienega Park, 7, tonight: Fairfax was the last team to face quarterback Stafon Johnson, who scored on runs of 29 and 75 yards and passed for a 34-yard touchdown as Dorsey built a 21-0 fourth-quarter lead on its way to a 34-7 victory. Since then, Johnson’s role at third-seeded Dorsey has become more clearly defined: He’s a tailback, and he is one of the Southland’s best, having rushed for 1,866 yards and 17 touchdowns. Johnson’s offense is complemented by a defense that has given up nine points or fewer in eight of 11 games, which is a favorable statistic for Dorsey, given that sixth-seeded Fairfax has given up 10 points or more in nine games.

* Venice (9-2) at L.A. Crenshaw (8-3), 7, tonight: Behind the balance of sophomore quarterback Richard Ragland (1,366 yards, 14 touchdowns) and tailback Ken Ashley (1,299 yards, 22 touchdowns), Venice is one of three Western League teams with a better record than Crenshaw, a bit of information that doesn’t figure to take the seventh-seeded Gondoliers very far. They’ll have to get tough to beat second-seeded Crenshaw, which is battle-tested against one of the toughest schedules in the Southland and possesses speed and power in backs Robert Garrett and Raymond Carter, and an elusive quarterback in Marquis Curtis, who can stretch the field with long throws. The Cougars have shut out their last three opponents; Venice has given up 105 points in its last four games.

-- MARTIN HENDERSON