Nov. 10--For the first time in his eight years as football coach at San Juan Capistrano JSerra, Jim Hartigan made the drive on Sunday morning to the Southern Section office in Los Alamitos as a Pac-5 playoff participant.
"It's been a long time waiting," he said.
JSerra (9-1) was one of a record five Trinity League teams that made the 16-team bracket. The two Pac-5 at-large berths went to Santa Margarita (6-4) and Servite (4-6). St. John Bosco, the defending Pac-5 champion, is seeded No. 1. JSerra is No. 2, Corona Centennial (8-2) No. 3 and Long Beach Poly (9-1) No. 4.
JSerra's breakthrough this season was the result of a lot of patience and hard work.
"We originally had a three- to five-year plan and found out that plan wasn't good enough for where we needed to be," Hartigan said. "After year five, we did a five- to 10-year plan. It's a relief we've finally arrived. We're still not out of the woods trying to build a Pac-5 team going year after year."
Hartigan built a top program at Santa Margarita, then went to Clovis West and came back to help JSerra compete against the top Catholic schools in South Orange County.
"It was harder than I thought," he said. "Our senior class has done a great job. They came in as freshmen and were to first to have success early. They were 9-1 as freshman and lost to Mater Dei. Those guys were forced to play varsity as sophomores. Every year, they've taken a step up."
The difference this season is that the Lions have a veteran quarterback in Nick Robinson, improved depth on the offensive and defensive lines and a top secondary led by Isaiah Diego-Williams, Conor O'Brien, Sam Philippi and Ethan Aguayo. JSerra opens against Corona Santiago and Alabama-bound quarterback Blake Barnett on Friday.
JSerra's freshman team finished 10-0. "Hopefully that's a good sign for the future," Hartigan said. "Building consistency at lower levels will contribute to varsity success."
The Pac-5 playoffs might be one of the most competitive ever thanks to the addition of Centennial and Gardena Serra, which used to win section titles outside of the Pac-5. They meet in perhaps the toughest opening game on Friday at Centennial. It's also a tournament that features seven first-round matchups of private schools vs. public schools.
Mater Dei (8-2) is facing the challenge of possibly having to defeat teams twice in a season. The Monarchs open against Westlake, a team they beat, 28-27. Then could come a rematch against Centennial, a team they beat, 38-18.
In the end, it's going to come down to whether any team can knock off St. John Bosco. The Braves aren't a cinch to win as they were a year ago when they finished 16-0, but they will be very tough to defeat.
"We're better in some areas and not as good in some areas," Coach Jason Negro said. "Offensively, we're more dynamic. Defensively, we're more opportunistic but not as stout."
The championship game will be on Dec. 6 at Angel Stadium, and the winner is expected to represent Southern California in the CIF state championship Open Division Bowl game on Dec. 20 at StubHub Center in Carson.
eric.sondheimer@latimes.com
Twitter: LATSondheimer
