Football: It’s rematch time in championship games

It’s the weekend for rematches.

Seven championship football games are rematches either from championship games last season or league matchups this season.

It will put pressure on the 12 coaches involved to make adjustments and also on the players not to take teams lightly, especially if they won the first time.

In the City Section Division I final, Narbonne-Crenshaw is a rematch of last season’s final won by Narbonne. In the Pac-5, St. John Bosco-Mater Dei is a rematch of a league game won by St. John Bosco. In the Northern Division, Hart-Valencia is a rematch of a league game won by Valencia.

In the Western, Chaminade-Serra is a rematch of a league game won by Serra and a rematch of last year’s final also won by Serra. In the Southern, Corona del Mar-Garden Grove is a rematch of last year’s final won by Corona del Mar. In the Inland, Vista Murrieta-Corona Centennial is a rematch of last year’s final won by Centennial. In the Southwest, Huntington Beach-Newport Harbor is a rematch of league game won by Huntington Beach.

It’s a very tricky situation for teams that won the first time. Ed Croson, the coach at Chaminade, twice won City Section titles at Birmingham by winning rematches after losing to the same team earlier this season.

For his rematch against Serra, Croson said, “All the bells and whistles are in.� Chaminade lost to Serra earlier this season, 36-0.

Mater Dei lost to St. John Bosco, 24-2, in the Trinity League, but you can throw out that game, because Mater Dei has added some defensive players and the offense got back standout running back Justin Allen.

It’s going to be an intriguing weekend to see which teams triumph in the rematches.

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