Football: City Section playoffs offer intrigue

There were lots of coaches surprised at the City Section playoff pairings released on Saturday. Have no fear. Even if they were a little off, the favorites will be fine.

By picking San Pedro (9-1) as the No. 1 seed in Division I, the committee did give the Pirates a big boost. Each of their first three games gets to be on their home field, where San Pedro is a totally different team behind its boisterous fans and home setting.

It will be a San Pedro-Crenshaw semifinal. Crenshaw isn’t happy. The Cougars have been one of the two dominant programs in the City lately and yet they were rewarded with a No. 5 seed. That’s called disrespect and will motivate the Cougars even more. Crenshaw will face a difficult quarterfinal against Carson, though. The Colts, at No. 4 seed, would get to host Crenshaw and are capable of getting to the Coliseum on Dec. 6.

Narbonne at No. 3 and Garfield at No. 2 should have no problem getting to the semifinals in the bottom bracket. It will be a chance for Garfield to prove it belongs among the City elite. The Bulldogs really don’t deserve their No. 2 seed playing in a league with Division II teams, but that’s how the committee voted.

Division II will come down to No. 1 Hamilton and No. 5 South Gate meeting in the semifinal. The winner will win at the Coliseum. Sylmar is getting better and should run the table in the bottom bracket as the No. 3 seed.

Twitter:@LATSondheimer