Prior to the CIF-Southern Section using the CalPreps rankings to determine the seedings and divisions for the football playoffs, one of the most common complaints was the amount of lopsided games in the early rounds.

The new system appears to be working considering there were more close games in the first round last week than there were blowouts.

If you look at the teams in South County, half of their games were decided by six points or less. Three of the teams (San Clemente, Tesoro, Aliso Niguel) had their games decided by one point. Sonora and Woodbridge also suffered one-point losses.

El Modena and Cypress won their games by a total of three points. Garden Grove and Western also won their games by a combined three points.

Orange and Huntington Beach needed overtime to decide a winner.

Both games in Division 1 were classics that were decided by clutch defensive plays in the final minute of the game.

CIF and football fans want close and competitive games throughout the playoffs. So far, this has been a major success.

Brotherly love

St. Margaret’s junior quarterback Max Ruff tied a school record Friday with seven touchdown passes in the Tartans’ 55-27 win over Segerstrom in the Division 11 playoffs.

You don’t have to look back very far to find out which other quarterback threw seven touchdowns in a game for St. Margaret’s.

Max’s older brother Jack Ruff had seven touchdowns last season in a win against Hueneme. Jack now plays football at the University of Chicago.

Max had some help in his record-setting night from receivers Derek Smith and Sam Dunnell, who each had over 100 yards and three touchdown receptions.

Coach of the year

Now that we are in the second round of the playoffs, I started thinking about postseason awards, including coach of the year.

Like every season, there are several qualified candidates for coach of the year.

Matt Mitchell of El Modena led the Vanguards to their first undefeated regular season.

Scott McKnight of JSerra led a young and undersized team to a third-place finish in the Trinity League and a playoff win in Division 1.

Jeff Bailey has led Yorba Linda to a second consecutive 10-0 regular season and opposing coaches rave at the discipline of the Mustang players.

Phil Hughes took over a Canyon team that won just three games last season and led them to an 8-2 record in his first year.

Michael Acosta led Bolsa Grande to its first playoff appearance since 1987.

JC Clarke (Northwood), Rick Curtis (Crean Lutheran) and Steven Anderson (Westminster) are also deserving candidates.

Players to watch

Here are some players who will be crucial for teams that are trying to pull off an upset in the quarterfinals of the playoffs. These are players on teams that are expected to lose according to the CalPreps projections.

Mikey D’Amato, Mission Viejo: D’Amato is one of the leaders of the Mission Viejo defense that will have to stop Centennial of Corona’s no-huddle offense in Division 1.

Cooper Hoch, Corona del Mar: Hoch was held to just one reception in the game against Ayala last week. The Sea Kings will need a big game from him to beat Chaparral in Division 3.

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Trevor Monteleone, Cypress: Monteleone plays two ways and will have to match up with the great skill players of Millikan.

Angelo Adetoye, Orange: San Juan Hills can run the ball very well with dual-threat quarterback Michael Tollefson. For Orange to win, it will need Adetoye to help shut down the Stallions’ run game.

Malachi Bey, Garden Grove: Norte Vista runs for 350 yards per game. Garden Grove will need Bey to get close to that number and get tackles on defense to win.