Francis Parker to visit Fallbrook for tomorrow's grid playoff

Joe Naiman

Village News Reporter

Fallbrook High School’s football team received the top seed in the CIF Division IV playoffs, which gave the Warriors a bye in the first round Nov. 4 and a home game tomorrow. It was known that the Warriors would be playing the Lancers, since Francis Parker and Hilltop both have that nickname, but Fallbrook’s specific opponent wasn’t determined until the Nov. 4 game at Hilltop was played and decided. A last-minute field goal gave ninth-seeded Francis Parker a 24-21 victory over eighth-seeded Hilltop, so Francis Parker will play at Fallbrook in tomorrow’s quarterfinal match.

The win over Hilltop gave Francis Parker a 5-6 record for the season. The Lancers are in the Pacific League, which has four teams, and had a 2‑1 league record which gave them second place in the standings. Escondido Charter, which won the league championship with a 3-0 statistic in league games, was given the second seed in the Division V playoffs.

Fallbrook and Francis Parker had one common opponent this year. Santa Fe Christian began the season with an 8-1 record, and the Eagles’ only loss prior to the match with Bishop’s, which decided the Coastal League championship in the Knights’ favor, was a 21-0 home game Aug. 26 which was also Fallbrook’s first victory of the season. The Eagles rebounded from their defeat against Fallbrook with a 33-13 win Sept. 2 at Francis Parker.

The Warriors will enter tomorrow’s game with a 7-3 overall record. Fallbrook was 4-1 in Valley League play, which gave the Warriors a share of the league championship.

Montgomery is seeded fourth in this year’s Division IV playoffs and also received a Nov. 4 bye. Fifth-seeded Mission Bay had a Nov. 4 home game against 12th-seeded Westview and won by a 24-12 margin, so the winner of the game between Fallbrook and Francis Parker will have a Nov. 18 semifinal match against the winner of the quarterfinal between Montgomery and Mission Bay.