Our undefeated Santa Fe Christian Eagles had a bye in the first round of the CIF DIII playoffs. SFC’s second round opponent is the Brawley Wildcats. The game will be played on Friday at 7:00 at Torrey Pines High School. SFC will be the home team. Here is a preview of the game.
SFC is the #3 seed and Brawley is the #6 seed in the CIF DIII playoffs.
Brawley won the Imperial Valley League going 4-0 in league play. SFC won the Coastal League with a league record of 5-0. So, we have a couple of League Champions getting after it on the gridiron.
SFC went undefeated in the regular season with a 9-0 record. Brawley’s record is 9-2, including a playoff win against Westview Friday night in the first round of the CIF DIII playoffs. The score was 49-7. Westview was the #11 seed in CIF DIII. Westview’s record going into the game was 1-9.
Brawley and SFC had 3 common opponents in the regular season: Valley Center, Fallbrook, and Southwest EC. Against Valley Center, SFC won by a score of 38-21. The very next week Brawley lost to Valley Center by a score of 17-6. In this head-to-head comparison, SFC gave up 4 more points to Valley Center than Brawley, but SFC scored 32 more points against Valley Center. SFC handily beat Fallbrook by a score of 27-6. Brawley also beat Fallbrook by a score of 20-14, however that game ended in a 14-14 tie and was decided in overtime. Each team had lopsided wins against Southwest EC with SFC winning 56-0 (scoring 42 points in the first half) and Brawley winning 50-6 (scoring 35 points in the first half). On paper, based on common opponents, the edge goes to SFC.
SFC averages 41 points per game and Brawley averages 36.5 points per game. Slight edge to SFC.
Both teams have strong running attacks. SFC churns out 255 yards rushing per game and Brawley averages 217 yards per game. Brawley’s running game relies primarily on its quarterback (822 rushing yards) and a senior running back (841 yards). Those two players accounted for over 75% of Brawley’s rushing yards and over 80% of Brawley’s touchdowns. Look for both teams to stack the box with defenders and seal the edges to stop the run. Slight edge to SFC.
Whichever team is best able to stop the run, gives that team an inside track to a victory in this game. However, if Brawley is able to shut down SFC’s running game, SFC has a fallback. Recall that when Bishops held SFC to 92 yards running the ball, the Eagles took flight and put up 320 passing yards to secure the win. The key will be whether SFC can shut down Brawley’s 2 primary runners.
The Eagles average 159 passing yards per game and Brawley averages 107 per game. Brawley spreads the ball around to its receivers with 4 different receivers leading the way. None of Brawley’s leading receivers averages more than 2 catches per game. The edge goes to SFC in the passing game.
On defense both teams have very stingy defenses. SFC allowed opponents only 13.5 points per game and Brawley gave up only 15.8 points per game. Slight edge to SFC.
SFC sacked the opponents’ quarterbacks 28 times. Brawley had 20 sacks. SFC had 11 interceptions and Brawley had 8. Brawley recovered 11 fumbles and SFC recovered 8. SFC ball carriers should look to protect the ball. The teams had the same number of tackles for loss (48). Since Brawley does not pass the ball all that much, it takes away SFC’s advantage in QB sacks and interceptions. On paper, the defenses would appear to be about even.
The Eagles have the statistical edge in a number of areas. The keys to an SFC win will likely be (i) SFC stopping the Wildcat’s running game – priority #1, (ii) SFC being able to run the ball effectively and using the pass opportunistically to keep Brawley’s defense honest, and (iii) SFC not turning the ball over.
Good luck team and Go Eagles!