Playoffs

Edison Coach Dave White said he figured his Chargers would face Long Beach Millikan in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Pac-5 Division football playoffs Friday night. With a win, he thought Edison might face either Dana Hills or Orange Lutheran in the second round. He was right on all counts, as the top-seeded Chargers indeed open against the Millikan Rams at 7 p.m. Friday night at Orange Coast College. Fountain Valley and Huntington Beach were the other local teams to advance to the playoffs.

The CIF-Southern Section basketball playoffs get underway this week and as for the locals, the boys and girls teams at Edison, Huntington Beach, Marina and Ocean View, have all qualified for the playoffs. Playoff action began Wednesday with wild-card games. First- and second-round games will be played Friday and Saturday. Boys Edison and Marina both played wild-card games in Division IA Wednesday, but the results weren’t available at press time. Edison played at West Torrance of the Bay League.

As the final week of play at Huntington Valley Little League comes to a close, several teams are battling to secure berths in the upcoming District 62 Tournament of Champions. In Majors Division play, the Yankees have secured a spot in the district tournament by defeating the Orioles, 9-2. The Dodgers, Angels and Cardinals are in the hunt for the second spot, with the league's No. 1 seed still up for grabs between the four teams. In Minor A Division play, the regular-season champion A's were eliminated in post-season play but still earned the division's No. 2 seed.

Mike Sciacca, Independent The CIF-Southern Section boys' and girls' basketball playoffs are underway this week, with seven teams participating in postseason play. On the boys' court, Marina, an at-large entry from the Sunset League, hosted Walnut of the Baseline League in a Division I-A wild-card game held Wednesday. A win by the Vikings would send them into a Friday first round game at South Coast League champion Mission Viejo. Also on Wednesday, Edison, the Sunset's No. 3 entry, hosted Warren, an at-large team out of the San Gabriel Valley League, in another Division I-A wild-card matchup.

The Huntington Beach Oilers are heading back to the CIF football playoffs. The Oilers will be rejoining the postseason party for the first time since 2005 and join three other local teams — Fountain Valley, Los Amigos and Brethren Christian — in pursuing title dreams with first-round matchups this week. Huntington begins postseason play at 7:30 tonight by traveling to Placentia to battle El Dorado at Valencia High on opening night of the Southwest Division playoffs.

The Huntington Beach Orange Oilers opened up Jr. All-American Football playoff action last Saturday, dominating the Tri-City Steelers. Jackson Truong and Ramon Vargas each scored two touchdowns and the Huntington defense shut down the Steelers offense in a 34-0 victory. Michael Chislock threw a touchdown pass to Nick Rommerdahl, Damien Williamson had several key rushes behind an offensive push by Josh Whittaker, Bernardo Robles, Justin Fallon, Austin Moffatt and Ben Roth. Spearheading the Oilers on defense was Stephen Clamp, Brandon Wooten, Dane Perkins and Matt Tavakoli.

As the center for the Ocean View High football team, Kody Afusia’s first job on offense is to snap the ball to the quarterback. But Coach Harold Eggers compared Afusia himself to the quarterback. The Seahawks’ only returning All-Golden West League player, who is 6-foot-3, 295 pounds and also plays defensive tackle, is clearly important for the Seahawks this season. “He’s a leader,” Eggers said of Afusia, a three-year varsity player. “He’s very aggressive on the defensive side of the ball, and he’s like the quarterback on the line on the offensive side of the ball.

Marina High's bid to win its first CIF-Southern Section championship in softball since 1995 was denied Tuesday by host Pacifica, which eliminated the third-seeded Vikings, 2-1. The Mariners (23-5), the No. 2 team out of the Garden Grove League, scored the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning on a two-out RBI double by Andrea Harrison. Marina, champion of the Sunset League, had tied the score in the fifth inning. The Vikings lost despite outhitting the Mariners 7-4, ending their season with a record of 24-6.

The Stars won just two games during the 10-game regular season in Smythe Division play, but are coming alive in the playoffs. They opened postseason play over the weekend by upending the Phantoms, 7-4, in overtime to advance to the next round. Taylor Song, Tyler Song and Brett Harper each scored in overtime to lift the Stars to the win. Taylor Song's three goals led the Stars. He also had an assist. Taylor Song and Harper each finished with two goals.