Winning’s nothing if by 106-0

The most interesting game in the first round of the CIF-SS football playoffs this Friday doesn’t involve any local teams.

As interesting as our area teams are, they’re probably not the reason why many eyes across the nation will be on prep football in Southern California.

The center of attention is the Inglewood High Sentinels, an unbeaten team that suddenly became notorious last week when the Sents crushed city rival Morningside 106-0.

Inglewood QB Justyn Martin ­– a UCLA commit – threw 13 touchdown passes and the winners actually went for a two-point conversion when leading 104-0 in the game at El Camino College in Torrance.

All that may have been good news for Bruin fans, but sportsmanship was thrown for a big loss. According to published reports, Inglewood coach Mil-Vin James refused to go to a running clock in the second quarter when his team already had a huge lead.

That lopsided outcome brought near-universal outrage. The CIF-SS issued a statement that “condemns, in the strongest terms, results such as these.”

Debbie Tate, principal at Inglewood, issued an apology on Monday. “We did not conduct ourselves with sportsmanship and integrity and the final score was unacceptable.”

Nice, but if she was really sorry she would have – at the very least – suspended James for bringing such shame onto the school.

We tend to root for local teams in CIF games like these. But what happened last Friday at El Camino should give Orange County fans – and all fans of fair play – even more reason to cheer for the Seraphs of St. Bonaventure, even if you’ve never heard of them.

Post-script: If Inglewood and Edison High of Huntington Beach each win on Friday, they’ll meet in the second round on Nov. 12

Here are the pairings by divisions. Some of these matchups are different from what we previously published. All games are planned to begin at 7:30 p.m., unless both schools agree to another time and with the approval of the CIF-SS office. Games are on Friday unless otherwise noted.

Division 2. Edison is seeded fourth

• Murrieta Valley (7-3) at Edison (7-3) at Sheue Field (HBHS)

Division 4. Orange is seeded third

• LaSerna (8-2) at Orange (7-3) at Fred Kelly Stadium (El Modena HS)

Division 7. Pacifica is seeded third

• Mira Costa (5-5) at Pacifica (8-2) at Bolsa Stadium on Thursday

Division 9

• Western (7-2) at Lompoc (5-5)

Division 10

• Northview (4-6) at Garden Grove (7-3)

Division 12

• Santiago (8-2) at Walnut (7-3)
• Westminster (8-2) at Polytechnic/Pasadena (6-3).
• Rosemead (5-5) at Rancho Alamitos (9-1) at Bolsa Stadium

Division 13

• Magnolia (4-5-1) at South Pasadena (5-5)

Division 14. Loara is seeded second

• Nuview Bridge (4-5) at Loara (4-6) at Glover Stadium on Thursday.

Final Super Seven for football

The regular season for prep football is done. Here’s our last football ranking, very similar to last week’s ladder for schools in The Tribune’s coverage area, which includes teams representing the communities of Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, Stanton and Westminster.

Edison completed an entire season in first place in our poll, and all our Super Seven (plus) will be in the CIF-SS playoffs starting Friday.

Just in case some of our geography seems puzzling, Western High serves part of Stanton and that slice of Garden Grove east of Haster Street is served by Orange High.

Under the lights Thursday, Friday

Some of the top performances from last weekend’s high school football contests:

• 

  DARIUS COWENS of Pacifica passed for seven TDs and 525 yards last week (OC Tribune file photo).

  Malachi Bey of Garden Grove rushed for 88 yards and two touchdowns against Segerstrom. He also caught three passes.

• Isaac Delgado had 11 tackles for Garden Grove against Segerstrom.
• Darius Cowens of Pacifica passed for seven touchdowns and 525 yards against Kennedy.
• Parker Awad of Edison passed for 151 yards and two touchdowns against Huntington Beach,
• Troy Fletcher of Edison rushed for 114 yards and two TDs against Huntington Beach.
• Zachary Siskowic of Orange passed for 164 yards and two scores against Santa Ana.
• Isaac Hernandez of Santiago rushed for 164 yards and two touchdowns against Bolsa Grande.
• Daniel Gonzales of Santiago passed for 140 yards and three TDs against Bolsa Grande.
• Anthony Luna of Western passed for 324 yards and four touchdowns against Magnolia,
• Drew Faulkner of Western caught eight passes for 184 yards and three TDs against Magnolia.
• Roman Harris of Westminster passed for 147 yards and rushed for 47 more against Ocean View, including one TD run.
• Rafael Maldonado of Westminster had 14 tackles (10 of them solo) against Ocean View. He also had a sack and a safety for the Lions.

And don’t forget ….

• The CIF-SS boys’ water polo playoffs start this week. Eight local teams are involved.
• Girls’ volleyball CIF-SS playoffs are winding down with title games on Saturday. Huntington Beach will face Aliso Niguel in the Division 2 championship contest. In Division 8, Rancho Alamitos won its first two contests before being knocked out in the quarterfinals 3-0 by Santa Clarita Christian.

“Prep Sport Spotlight” is posted on Tuesday’s during the high school athletic season.