The Daily News previews some of the area’s top games Friday in the first round of the CIF-SS and L.A. City football playoffs.
FRIDAY’S GAMES
CIF-SS DIVISION 5
EL MODENA (6-4) VS. THOUSAND OAKS (7-3)
Where, when: Thousand Oaks High, 7 p.m.
Analysis: Thousand Oaks won its last four games of the regular season, including impressive wins over Moorpark and Agoura. Jackson Taylor threw for 195 yards and a pair of touchdowns two weeks ago in a 31-7 win over Agoura. Brolin Harrah had a rushing and receiving touchdown. Silas Kemp and Jack Steinberg each had interceptions last week and Cory McEnroe had 11 tackles. Linebacker Dean Harrington is ninth in the Southern Section with 11.5 sacks. El Modena won the North Hills League for the second consecutive season. Quarterback Xzavior Guess has 10 passing and 18 rushing touchdowns this season. Brodie Hitchens is a very good two-way player at running back and linebacker. Thousand Oaks is coming off a bye in Week 10.
Hart’s Chris Clauss (35) breaks away from Golden Valley’s Jackson Anderson (8) en route to a 36 yard touchdown during the first half Friday, September 22, 2023. (Photo by Kevin Karzin, Contributing Photographer)
CIF-SS DIVISION 6
CREAN LUTHERAN (7-3) VS. HART (7-3)
Where, when: College of the Canyons, 7 p.m.
Analysis: Hart is coming off a blowout win over Castaic to earn the third-place spot from the Foothill League. Timmy Larkins threw for 292 yards with two touchdowns last week and Shawn Irwin had 135 yards receiving with a touchdown. Chris Clauss had two rushing touchdowns and averaged 7.4 yards per carry. Vince Tiscareno had three sacks for the Hart defense. Crean Lutheran is the third-place team from the Empire League. Jeremiah Finaly threw 18 touchdowns with just five interceptions for the Saints. Carter Jones is third in Orange County in tackles with 125 and Ben Byszewski has six interceptions.
CIF-SS DIVISION 7
AGOURA (7-3) VS. BURROUGHS (9-1)
Where, when: Burroughs High, Friday, 7 p.m.
Analysis: Agoura enters the playoffs on a two-game losing streak, having lost to Thousand Oaks and Moorpark. Harrison Novak threw for 318 yards with two touchdowns last week against Moorpark and ran for a touchdown. Brady Dieffenbach had 112 receiving yards with two touchdowns. Miles Hull and Tyler Starling each had interceptions and Starling returned his 25 yards for a touchdown. Burroughs won the Pacific-Upper League this season. Chris Kulikov had 188 yards passing with three touchdowns on just five completions and had a rushing touchdown. Ethan Hubbell had 144 yards with two touchdowns on just two catches.
Cleveland’s Omar Alatorre carries the ball against Reseda during a nonleague game Thursday, August 31, 2023. (Photo by Andy Holzman, Contributing Photographer)
L.A. CITY DIVISION I
CLEVELAND (7-3) VS. KENNEDY (8-2)
WHERE, WHEN: Cleveland High, Friday, 7 p.m.
Analysis: These two teams met in Week 0 and Cleveland won 49-27. Donovan Powell ran for 135 yards with three touchdowns for Cleveland in that game and Omar Alatorre had a touchdown catch. Jorge Avalos had a 90-yard interception return for a touchdown in that game and Kory Hall had 15 tackles. Alonzo Fuentes-Gutierrez ran for 155 yards with two touchdowns in that game for Kennedy. The senior ran for 1,199 yards with 19 touchdowns this season. Kennedy is on a six-game winning streak and won the Valley Mission League. James Montes has seven sacks this season for Kennedy and the Cougars have forced 15 turnovers. Both teams have wins over Westchester and Reseda this season and both lost to Granada Hills Charter. Cleveland is 6-0 against Kennedy dating back to 2004.
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