A year ago, Brentwood’s football team reached the CIF championship game in its division and lost to St. Margaret’s.
If the seedings are correct, the same teams will meet in this year’s championship final.
St.Margaret’s has been seeded No. 1 and Brentwood No. 2 for the playoffs, which start Friday, November 22. Alignments are different than last year, so both teams are now in the East Valley bracket.
Brentwood’s first-round game will be against Arrowhead Christian, an at-large playoff entrant. The game Friday will be played at Crespi High in Encino at 7:30 p.m.
It’s a Brentwood home game, but since the Eagles’ on-campus field doesn’t have lights, another venue had to be found. The CIF requires all playoff games to be contested at night unless both teams agree otherwise.
Brentwood will begin the playoffs with a 9-1 record, including a 24-0 win over Maranatha High Friday, November 15.
That game was for the Alpha League championship as neither team had lost a league game. It had the promise of being close, but Brentwood took a 24-0 halftime lead.
“It was a great day for our defense,” said Brentwood coach Patrick Brown. “Maranatha was a high-scoring team and to shut them out is quite an accomplishment.”
Brentwood intercepted two passes thrown by Matt Schliz, who had 2,000 passing yards during the season. One was by Matt Cronin, the other by Greg Caruso.
Brentwood quarterback Josh Amster ran 19 times for 183 yards. He scored on an eight-yard run and threw a 30-yard touchdown pass.
Tight end Charlie James continued his remarkable field goal kicking by connecting from 40 yards on the final play of the first half.
When the season began, Brown had confidence in the Eagles’ offense but experimented to find the right combination on defense following the graduation of several outstanding players.
His major move was shifting defensive tackles Matt Greenberg and Colin Cadarette to linebacker. Then Brett Pearce emerged as a premier defensive back, intercepting eight passes.
Brentwood’s only loss was to St. Bernard in a non-league game.
