Press Box Prattle

Fixin' this football mess

I throw my shoes at you, CIFSouthern Section.

Last Friday night at Moorpark High, thousands watched the Musketeer football team host St. Bonaventure in the CIF-SS Northern Division title game.

With the mighty Seraphs in total control, the game was over by halftime, so I had a wonderful opportunity to sit and ponder life, liberty and the pursuit of a high school playoff system that actually makes some sort of sense.

St. Bonaventure, the only private school competing in the Northern Division, wrapped up its eighth section championship in the past 10 years, and 10th CIF title overall.

In the 1999, 2000 and 2001 campaigns, the Seraphs claimed three championships in Division XI. From 2002 to 2005, St. Bonaventure won a trio of titles in Division IV.

During the past two seasons, the Seraphs captured a pair of Northern Division flags while making two straight CIF State Division III Bowl game appearances, the second of which comes Saturday against Cardinal Newman of Santa Rosa at Home Depot Center at Carson.

Now let's add Oaks Christian's record-setting six consecutive CIF-SS titles into the mix, and we've got St. Bonaventure and OCHS claiming 14 of the past 16 section banners in their respective divisions—divisions that represent just about every team from the surrounding communities.

Oaks Christian currently competes in the Northwest Division against a mixture of public and private schools.

All this winning is great for St. Bonaventure and Oaks Christian, and bad for everyone else—the players, coaches, television audience and local fans that pay to attend these title game blowouts year in and year out.

Having said that, there is a way to fix the football problem. Is it revolutionary? Not at all. But I'll bet my bottom dollar it's better than the junk they're giving us now.

Here it goes: Leave St. Bonaventure in the Channel League and move Oaks Christian from the Tri-Valley to the Marmonte. Calabasas would go to the TVL for football only, which is a much better fit for the struggling Coyotes.

Regular-season travel costs would remain similar to what they are now, and the Tri-Valley schools would feel liberated from Oaks Christian's grip on gridiron success.

The down side is that the Seraphs and Lions would continue to dominate their respective leagues.

The Marmonte schools do not support this type of reshuffling ideology and are, in fact, fighting against it, which is why I'm going to throw those schools a bone because, after all, this is a compromise.

To offset the addition of Oaks Christian to the Marmonte coupled with St. Bonaventure's never-ending dominance of the division, move both schools to the Pac-5 Division as automatic postseason bids.

Or add a provision requiring a certain number of regular-season wins for each school to qualify for the Pac5 playoffs—it doesn't really matter, does it?—and have a backup plan in place in case either program fails to reach the determined win total.

In the Pac-5 postseason, the Seraphs and Lions would regularly compete against esteemed programs such as Long Beach Poly, Mission Viejo, Servite, Mater Dei and Orange Lutheran.

Of course, adding St. Bonaventure and OCHS means a pair of Pac5 teams must be eliminated from the field of 16.

Sorry, Moore League, but I'm yanking your fourth playoff spot. The Serra League landed three playoff spots despite fielding only four teams. They lose a bid, too.

And there you have it.

It's not a perfect plan by any means, but it is a start. The CIFSS should consider this because, speaking as a fan who's seen too many area championship games end with second-team players on the field just after halftime, the current system is broken and must be fixed.

Can they conquer this problem? Yes, they can.

Contact Stephen Dorman at sdorman@theacorn.com.