It’s playoff time in Southern California’s Boys HS Club competition, and playoffs that have been accelerated a little bit.

Over the weekend, Back Bay defeated Los Angeles 45-5 in the quarterfinals. Coastal Dragons handled Belmont Shore 43-11. The San Diego Mustangs had plenty of trouble with Orca, but held on 25-20. And finally, the San Diego Young Aztecs defeated Santa Monica 27-24 in a game that was something of a surprise.

But that wasn’t all. Because the San Diego Mustangs are playing in this week’s Pacific Cup at Treasure Island, the Mustangs were not going to be able to play this weekend’s semifinal. The Coastal Dragons could have accepted a forfeit, but instead opted to play the game on Tuesday night, May 3, and won 36-24 to make the final.

The second semifinal will be played this coming weekend between Back Bay and the Young Aztecs.

So, on to the game details.

“We have had a habit of falling asleep in the second half,” said Coastal Dragons Head Coach Ed Petersen. “And we did it in both games. Against Belmont we were 24-0 up at halftime, but they then dominated possession - like 90% - for the first 20 minutes of the second half.”

With those kinds of stats it was a bit of a miracle the Dragons didn’t give up more than 11 points. But after fixing things and closing out that quarterfinal, the Dragons were up-and-down again on Tuesday.

“We wanted to play the game,” said Petersen. “We haven’t played enough - this was only our sixth game and it was the Mustangs’ 15th. We did the same thing against the Mustangs. We were up, and then we kind of went to sleep.”

San Diego scored a try when the Dragons backs tried to run out of their own 22 - a move that, in retrospect, was unwise. And then, led by their superb No. 8 Brandon Cole, the Mustangs pulled within two points with two converted tries and a penalty to make it 26-24.

“The guys then righted the ship,” said Petersen. “But we were in a rugby game. The Mustangs deserve a lot of credit for coming back, and Brandon Cole is an outstanding player. We learned a lot from that game.”

Petersen said his well-known players - Sean Lumkong, Patrick French, and Justin Petersen all had good moments, but also had difficult moments, and need to be better in the final May 14. Flanker Gavin Dill was very good, said Petersen.

“I have been coaching him since he was 11, and he’s been a good player, but I don’t know what happened the last summer, but he’s just a beast,” said Petersen. Center Michael Buriek was also impressive. Buriek doesn’t play or practice on Sundays due to his religion, and therefore hasn’t attended some of the tryouts and camps that might put him in select sides, but, said his coach, he’s the real deal.

So the Dragons now get a weekend off and await the winner of Back Bay and the Young Aztecs. For Back Bay, the weekend was pretty straightforward as they dominated. HS All American flyhalf Anton Grigorio got the scoring started with two long-range penalty goals and he added six conversions. No. 8 Sosefo Mailangi was a powerful presence and scored two tries, while Chris Napoli also scored two and was a defensive leader.

“We need to continue to grow as a team and trust each other to do our blue collar jobs around the field - making tackles, clearing rucks, getting dirty whatever position you play,” said Back bay Coach Jeff Bonnett. “We have a top quality opponent this Saturday in Aztecs with HS All America Patrick Madden running the show. It should be a great game as these players all know each other from being in EIRA together.”…

And those Young Aztecs surprised a very good Santa Monica team 27-24. The Dolphins came into the game a little overconfident, said Coach James Gibb, and hit with injuries before and during the game.

But, he added, it was “a well planned-out and executed performance by Aztecs. On the day they played great rugby, we didn't. They deserved the win.”

“We played Santa Monica in Fullerton and we lost to them and Back Bay, but at that time we’d only had two or three practices and not a lot of numbers,” said Young Aztecs Head Coach Bob McFayden. “Once we got the numbers we found the right combination of players.”

Still the Young Aztecs lost games to the Mustangs and Coastal Dragons during the regular season, before winning two games in one weekend to earn a playoff spot. Those losses, said McFayden, exposed some weaknesses that the team has worked on since.

“What we struggled on was our defensive alignment and communication, so we spent a lot of time on that, and our defense kept us in the game,” he said.

Some goal line stands were crucial as the Young Aztecs were able to keep the score under control. Madden was again very good, while Cody Waldecker scored two tries, Madden touched down, and wing Aldo McGrath also scored in a 27-24 win.

“Our forwards did a really good job, kept our focus, and put us in a good position in the breakdowns,” said McFayden. Since the coaches weren’t allowed on the field during the game, Madden was given more responsibility as captain and stepped up.

So the Young Aztecs will face a very strong Back Bay team this weekend. The Mustangs and Santa Monica go to San Francisco for the Pacific Cup, and the Coastal Dragons, winners of two playoffs games in the space of a few days, awaits Back Bay or the Aztecs in the final.