Running Start Helps in This Division

Woody Hayes would be proud.

A look at the statistics of the Southern Section Division VIII playoff teams seems to indicate this is a three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust division, filled primarily with schools that run, run and run some more. That’s just the way the legendary former Ohio State coach liked it. Most quarterbacks in the bracket average less than 13 passes per game, and most teams have a 1,000-yard running back or two 700-yard rushers.

Costa Mesa (6-2-2), Pacific Coast League champion, is a prime example.

“We only run two plays,” Coach Myron Miller said, with the emphasis on run. “South Pasadena (Costa Mesa’s first-round opponent at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Newport Harbor High) took five of our game films and they’re going to see the same two plays for five games. They’re going to think they’re seeing the same game with different colored uniforms.”

Of course, with running backs Binh Tran (1,499 yards) and Dwayne Crenshaw (633 yards, 7.9 average), the ground game is a good idea for the Mustangs.

Of the five leagues in Division VIII, the Pacific Coast is the only county league. In Miller’s opinion, that helps explain why many of the division’s playoff teams, including defending champion and top-seeded La Mirada, are run-oriented.

“When you get outside the county, people run the ball a lot more,” said Miller, who formerly coached at Riverside Ramona. “That’s not to say that nobody in our division throws the ball, because there are teams that do, but the teams outside the county generally like to run.”

Miller is right that there are teams in Division VIII who pass the ball, including South Pasadena (5-5). The Tigers, who finished third in the Rio Hondo League, pass about 45% of the time, according to Miller. Not surprisingly, South Pasadena’s offense relies on short, play-action passes from quarterback Scott Hofman to Gavin Peries and Atwood Jensen. Peries also leads the Tigers in rushing.

You don’t have to go all the way to South Pasadena to find a team that likes to throw. Laguna Hills (7-3), the third-place team from the PCL, features quarterback Justin Vedder, who completed 103 of 197 passes for 1,753 yards and 17 touchdowns this season.

The Hawks, who balance their attack with running back Fred Kim (1,339 yards), meet Santa Monica St. Monica (8-2) at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Santa Monica City College. St. Monica, the Camino Real League champion, is another team that passes the ball as effectively as it runs.

St. Monica’s quarterback is Oscar Casillas, who passed for 15 touchdowns. Running back Kenny Jackson is averaging more than seven yards a carry and had 19 regular-season touchdowns.

Trabuco Hills (7-3), runner-up to Costa Mesa, has a long trip on Friday to meet Temple City (9-1). Temple City began the season with eight victories before losing, 16-0, to San Marino in a game for the Rio Hondo League championship.

The Mustangs are led by running backs Jake Galasso and Serg Gudowski, with wide receiver Matt Rechner (29 receptions, 17.7-yard average) the favorite target of quarterback Chad Collins.