Narbonne seeded No. 1 in City’s Division I football playoffs

As expected, Harbor City Narbonne was made the top-seeded team for the Los Angeles City Section Division I football playoffs by a selection committee Saturday morning.

The Gauchos (10-0) wrapped up the Marine League title with a 53-7 rout of Gardena and will host No. 16 Los Angeles Locke in the first round Friday. If seedings hold, they will face No. 4 Carson in the semifinals in a rematch of Narbonne’s 26-20 win Oct. 5.

“Winning league is nice, but any coach or player would gladly trade that for a ring,� Narbonne Coach Manuel Douglas said. “Our goal is to make the state tournament, and to do that we have to win City, so we still have work to do.�

Coliseum League champion Los Angeles Crenshaw (9-1) was seeded No. 2 and hosts No. 15 Arleta, the East Valley League runner-up, in the first round. An intriguing first-round matchup is 14th-seeded Sylmar, which has won five straight, at Western League winner Venice (8-2), seeded No. 3.

West Valley League champion Lake Balboa Birmingham (8-2) is seeded fifth, San Pedro is sixth, Los Angeles Dorsey is seventh and No. 8 Los Angeles Garfield also has a home game versus Woodland Hills Taft, the West Valley League runner-up.

South Gate South East (9-1) is the top-seeded squad in Division II and will host Hollywood Bernstein in the first round Friday.

“I was expecting it based on our record and the teams we’ve beat,� Jaguars Coach Roger Satti said of South East’s seeding. “Van Nuys has been ahead of us all year in the MaxPreps rankings, but we shared a common opponent and we beat Huntington Park far more convincingly than they did.�

Northern League champion Eagle Rock (7-3) was seeded second after routing Los Angeles Lincoln in its regular-season finale, Valley Mission League champion Van Nuys (9-1) is third and East Valley League winner Tujunga Verdugo Hills (7-3) is No. 4.

Van Nuys Fulton (9-2) is the No. 1-seeded team in the eight-man division.

[email protected]