Its one of my favorite times of the year as a Senior Editor at the Valley Sports Telegram, where all the stats, breakdowns and analytics culminate in watcing our beloved squads chase immortality. If you look deeper, there are some pretty interesting numbers that sum up what has been a very productive season for the totality of the teams that compete in our backyard in the CIFLACS. Let’s take a look at some fun things you want to know as the playoffs kick off today in the Valley:

21

The amount of teams that are competeing in the postseason across the five playoff brackets, including the three squads representing the Valley in the Eight-man football playoffs.

7

The amount of teams competeing in the Division II bracket, the most in any of the five brackets. With nearly half the field from the SFV, it gives us a really good shot at having at least one squad make it to the Division II title game.

2

The number of All-Valley matchups we will see in the first round. Familiarity breeds contempt, especially when one of those matchups (#14 San Fernando vs. #3 Chatsworth) is a rematch of a postseason game last season. If things break right, there is a possibility of as many as seven potential All-Valley matchups that may take place in the Quarterfinals next week.

11

The number of teams from the SFV who recieved top-four seeds across the five brackets. It is a testament to how well our home schools played this season across the CIFLACS. hopefully it translates to many of thise teams advancing and keeping the party rolling into the Quarterfinals.

15

The number of Valley teams that are hosting playoff matchups in the opening round. beound just the top seeded teams, the quality of programs was pretty deep this season and the amount of home games we will see tonight is true testament of that quality.

2018

The last season we did not have a Valley school come away with at least one championship. This has been in large part due to the dominance of the Birmingham Patriots who have not lost a game in the CIFLACS in quite some time. With the amount of good teams taking the field this season, there is a good chance this streak of dominance continues.