Playoffs

The Nomads out of AYSO Region 56 (South Huntington Beach) won the Orange County Spring League Flight 4 playoff championship last weekend by defeating the Tustin Strikers, 4-2. The Nomads took a 2-0 lead on Jena Klett's penalty kick and a Cassie Becker goal from just inside the 18-yard line. After Tustin evened the game at 2-2, the Nomads regained the lead for good on an Erin Miller goal midway through the fourth quarter. Kelsey Richardson iced the match by scoring on a late breakaway.

FOUNTAIN VALLEY – With two contenders standing in the way of its bid to capture a CIF Southern Section playoff berth, the Edison baseball team rose to the challenges it faced in its past three outings. Coming off a key two-game sweep last week of Esperanza, visiting Edison secured second place in the Sunset League and the playoff berth that goes with it by shutting out rival Fountain Valley, 1-0, Tuesday. The Chargers rode the outstanding pitching of freshman Henry Owens who registered his first shutout win. Owens struck out 10, didn't surrender a walk and limited the Barons to three hits.

The Rattlers overcame a one-goal deficit by scoring four times in the third period to pull out a 6-5 victory over the Skulls in a Norris Division playoff game at Coast 2 Coast Inline Hockey Center in Huntington Beach. Matthew Chism was responsible for the comeback, scoring all four of the Rattlers' goals in the final period. His first two tallies came on assists from Aron Wong. Wong had scored the first two goals for the Rattlers, both unassisted.

The fate of several local teams hangs in the balance as the prep football season winds down. Teams are fighting for league championships and playoff berths and to top it off, two archrivals square off in their intense rivalry. * Thursday's game Newport Harbor (4-4, 2-1) vs. Marina (1-6-1, 0-3), 7 p.m., Westminster High: The Vikings face a Newport Harbor team that hit its stride last week to stay in the Sunset League race. Marina staged a second-half rally last week but fell short in a 24-20 loss to Fountain Valley, a game in which quarterback Deshon Champion ran for the Vikings' first two scores and Alex Waked rushed for 120 yards and a touchdown.

The Ocean View High football program has never enjoyed the luxury of having an abundance of players to shuffle in and out of games. Rather, it has traditionally relied on two-way players to go out and fight on almost every down. Such is the case again with this year's team, but the 2011 Seahawks have talent on both sides of the ball that could elevate them to another successful season. Ocean View has 14 starters back from a 2010 team that last year won seven games and reached the CIF playoffs.

The Edison and Fountain Valley girls' water polo teams got a jump start on the rest of the local teams in the CIF Southern Section playoffs, which began this week, by playing Division 1 wild-card games Tuesday. And both the Chargers and Barons won to extend their seasons. Edison hosted Northwood at the Ocean View High pool and pulled away in the second half to score a 15-6 victory over the Timberwolves. Fountain Valley, meanwhile, was a 9-4 winner over host Esperanza at Valencia (Placentia)

And then there were two. The 2010 prep football season came to an end last weekend for four local schools, but for Edison and Ocean View, the season continues on for at least another week. Both the Chargers and Seahawks earned berths to the CIF Southern Section playoffs Sunday and both drew first-round road assignments. Last year, Edison reached the Pac-5 Division championship game. To get there again this December, the Chargers first must get by first-round opponent Santa Margarita on Friday.

It wasn't pretty, but Diggy Riley will take it. The Edison boys' water polo coach was frustrated — and his expression showed it — as he watched his Chargers flutter away several first-half opportunities during Tuesday's CIF Southern Section Division 1 wild-card game against visiting Buena. Riley, however, was pleased with his team's second-half performance, which pushed the Chargers to a 9-6 victory at Golden West College and into a first-round match against top-seed Mater Dei on Wednesday.

It’s now a two-game season for the Huntington Beach High football team. By overcoming a sloppy start to post a 44-17 victory Oct. 30 over Northwood, the Oilers picked up a crucial Sea View League victory — their first in three starts — to set themselves up for a possible CIF playoff berth. But before Huntington can look at the big picture, it will have to focus first on the game at hand this week. Huntington can square its Sea View League record at 2-2 and improve to 4-5 overall Friday by beating El Toro on the road.