CIF playoff picture clearer

With more than two months of the regular season behind them, not to mention a seemingly interminable offseason of hard work, the league title hopes of two Newport-Mesa football teams may have come down to a single snap Thursday and Friday.

On Thursday, it was Corona del Mar High that saw its hopes for a Pacific Coast League crown flutter away, in the form of an errant pass that deflected off a receiver’s outstretched hand and was subsequently intercepted to foil first-and-goal at the University High six-yard line with less than a minute remaining in a 13-12 loss to the Trojans.

On Friday, Estancia High saw its bid for an outright league title, the school’s first since 1989, bound away in the form of a lost fumble on a play that began from the Laguna Beach seven-yard line with 20 seconds left in a 21-14 Orange Coast League loss to the Breakers.

Estancia retains hopes of sharing a league title, while Sage Hill, a 48-14 victory over Capistrano Valley Christian Saturday, will battle St. Margaret’s Friday at home at 6 p.m. in a battle for the Academy League crown.

Costa Mesa, by virtue of its 21-14 triumph over Calvary Chapel Thursday, can join a three-way tie for the Orange Coast League title by upsetting Laguna Beach Thursday night at Newport Harbor High.

Newport Harbor, despite its 25-16 Sunset League win over visiting Marina Friday, is relegated to studying scenarios in which it would make the CIF Southern Section Pac-5 Division playoffs.

CdM, which has completed its 10-game regular season, also must sit and wait, possibly until Southern Division at-large berths are revealed by section officials Sunday, to see if it will compete in the postseason.

Here’s a team-by-team look at the various scenarios:

But a win over St. Margaret’s (9-0), ranked No. 1 in the CIF Northeast Division, would give Coach Tom Monarch’s program its first league title in its five varsity seasons.

The Lightning (6-3, 3-0) might be peaking at the right time. They had no turnovers and no penalties in Saturday’s win and have shown the ability to move the ball both on the ground and through the air.

But Esperanza earned a 17-14 triumph that, barring a huge upset win by Marina over Esperanza this week, will leave the Tars hoping for the division’s lone at-large bid.

Should Esperanza take care of Marina, Newport Harbor, with a win over Fountain Valley (5-4, 1-3), would be battling for the at-large berth.

The most serious challenge for the at-large berth would come from the No. 4 team in the Trinity League. Orange Lutheran, Servite and Santa Margarita enter the final week tied for first with 3-1 league records. Mater Dei, already having collected a forfeit win over JSerra this week, is 3-2 in league.

Orange Lutheran is a clear favorite to beat St. John Bosco (1-3 in league).

The winner of Friday’s Servite-Santa Margarita clash is also in. Should Servite win, Mater Dei (8-2) would require an at-large berth to get in.

Such a scenario would likely leave Newport Harbor out of the playoffs.

Should Servite lose, however, it would be the league’s at-large candidate.

With new point-system criteria for selecting at-large teams in place, Newport has a chance to be selected over Servite, which would also be 6-4 with a loss Friday.

It could come down to which school’s opponents have the best combined record. Going into the final week, the record of both team’s collective opponents is 55-36.

Brinkley praised the work of his special teams against Marina. The Tars blocked a PAT, their fifth blocked kick of the season, and senior Jarrett Daniel collected 89 yards on four punt returns, which translated to valuable field position.

That’s the good news. The bad news is, since the four-team league is guaranteed only two entries into the CIF Southern Division playoffs, one league champion, by virtue of a coin flip, would be forced to earn an at-large berth.

Costa Mesa, by virtue of it’s sub-.500 record, could not be an at-large entry, unless no other candidate had at least a .500 record.

Still, Coach Jeremy Osso, back after serving a one-game suspension for reasons the school declined to disclose, said he is thrilled to still be in the title picture.

“But we have to take care of business [against Laguna Beach], before we start getting excited,” Osso said.

Ironically, the latter may be the safer scenario, though the Eagles, 7-3 should they win, would be a strong at-large candidate, should they lose the coin-flip tiebreaker that would be created by a three-way tie for first.

The Eagles, however, are still dealing with the disappointment of losing a chance at the outright crown.

“Everybody knew what was at stake Friday night [against Laguna Beach], and not being able to finish makes it difficult,” Coach Brian Barnes said.

The Eagles committed four turnovers to Laguna’s one and Barnes credited the determined play of the scrappy Breakers.

“I was in shock at how physical they were and how hard they played,” Barnes said. “There were only about 22 of them, but they’re tough.”

Barnes said Junior Contreras, a junior starting defensive tackle, suffered what appears to be a serious knee injury that will sideline him for the rest of the season.

Should Laguna Hills win, CdM (6-4, 2-2) would be assured no worse than the league’s No. 3 playoff spot.

If Irvine wins, CdM would need University to lose to Beckman Friday to be assured a top-three finish.

Should Uni and Irvine win, the Sea Kings would need an at-large berth.

But there are two at-large openings in the Southern Division, greatly increasing their chances.

“We’ve looked at the possible at-large scenarios in the division 100 times and the Empire League is the only spot where there could be a 7-3 at-large candidate,” said CdM Coach Dick Freeman, who noted that Santiago in the Garden Grove League could be a prospective at-large team with a 6-4 record.

The Sea Kings will use their bye week to get healthy.

Senior quarterback Tyler Hughes aggravated a bursa sack injury in his knee that sidelined him against Uni. He should be fine should an 11th game occur.

Freeman also said senior receiver-cornerback Steven Hillgren should be fine after suffering a sprained ankle against Uni.

Freeman said he and his staff would also use the break to brush up on some fundamentals.

Some attention to the kicking game might also be in order. CdM had its first conversion kick blocked, and an errant snap on the second try forced an impromptu scramble that produced nothing, Freeman said.