Weather Shouldn't Affect Football Playoffs

Santa Margarita Catholic and Mission Viejo play host to big-time opponents Friday night in the Southern Section Pac-5 Division football playoffs. Although rain is in the forecast, it is unlikely to be a factor by the time kickoff takes place at 7 p.m., forecasters said.

The National Weather Service expects a 30 percent chance of rain in the morning, with clearing in the afternoon and partly cloudy the remainder of the weekend.

There is a 20 percent chance of rain Saturday and a 10 percent chance Sunday.

Santa Margarita, the defending Pac-5 and State Division I Bowl champion, will play Ventura St. Bonaventure at Trabuco Hills High. St. Bonaventure (10-1) is the top-seeded team in the Pac-5 playoffs and ranked No. 6 in the state. The Seraphs' only loss this season was 35-27 to Santa Margarita.

The last meeting between the teams was also the last game that Nebraska-bound quarterback Johnny Stanton played for Santa Margarita. The Eagles will lean heavily on runing back Ryan Wolpin to carry them into the semifinals.

Mission Viejo (11-0) will host Long Beach Poly (8-3) in a meeting of preeminent public school teams. Mission Viejo is ranked No. 4 in the state by Cal-Hi Sports, but No. 4 in the nation by the computer-based Freeman Ratings incorporated by MaxPreps, and No. 23 in that website's human-based Xcellent 25.