The playoff picture in Southern California’s Varsity White Conference is clearing up.

Wilson HS took charge in the LA division with a convincing win over Santiago Wilson Tops Santiago. That win puts Wilson at 5-0 and clinches the #1 seed out of LA, with Santiago #2.

In Orange County, Los Alamitos continued its late run, beating previously unbeaten Tritons 42-15. It was an impressive showing for Los Al, which is now 3-0 and only has a game against Servite left. However, that game, which was rescheduled due to exams week at Los Alamitos, isn’t necessary - Los Alamitos has 15 points from their three games, and Tritons, in 2nd place, has 13 from the full slate of four games, so Los Al has #1 clinched regardless, and Tritons is #2.

In San Diego North, San Pasqual defeated Alta Vista 61-19 to move to 5-1 and clinch 1st in the division. The team has continued to improve, with Cole Harden playing superbly just about every week. However, Head Coach Ray Steel said his team has not really put together a full game yet.

San Marcos and Fallbrook both won also, with San Marcos shutting out Rancho Bernardo, and Fallbrook beating Mission Vista 29-12. Both teams ended 4-2, and the same number of standings points. So the tiebreaker is head-to-head, and San Marcos beat Fallbrook 26-24 on January 6, and will thus be the #2 team out of SDN.

(The upshot of the Carlsbad forfeits issue, apart from pushing Carlsbad out of the playoffs, is also that Fallbrook loses out. During the appeals process for Carlsbad, it came out that Fallbrook had a too-young player on a varsity roster. Even though that player didn’t take the field, Fallbrook was charged with a forfeit, which cost them a bonus point. Had they kept that bonus point, Fallbrook, not San Marcos, would be the #2 team out of San Diego North.)

In San Diego South, University City beat the Valhalla Norsemen 59-21 in a scrappy game. UC took an early 21-0 lead but the Norsemen came back.

“”They challenged us a lot at the breakdown,” said UC Head Coach Jason Lee. As a result of that game, University City is 6-0, and #1 out of that conference. 

Meanwhile, the race for #2 was a weird one. Mira Mesa started out on fire, but injuries took their toll and this past week they needed a win out of their last two games against La Jolla and Westview to keep the magic going. It didn't happen.

"At the end we had 17 players and we just ran out of gas," said Head Coach Bob McFadyen. "And all of these other teams in the league have been getting better and better."

La Jolla, especially. After starting 0-2 with losses to University City (no surprise there, UC is excellent), and Coronado, La Jolla ran off wins against Patrick Henry (barely, 19-17), Westview (also close), and, crucially, Mira Mesa. That set them up for the final clash with High Tech High, which they also won, 38-26 (score unconfirmed). La Jolla's run came after they seemed to be out of playoff contention, and just relaxed a little bit more and enjoyed their rugby. With the pressure off, they started winning.

Now the playoff matchups are set for February 11:

LA #1 (Wilson) v SD North #2 (San Marcos)

SD South #1 (University City) v Orange County #2 (Tritons)

SD North #1 (San Pasqual) v LA #2 (Santiago)

Orange County #1 (Los Alamitos) v SD South #2 (La Jolla)

Semifinals are February 18, and the final and 3rd/4th games February 25.