Wishes do come true.

Serra High School wants to be the CIF Southern Section Northwest Division football champion, and it wants to do it by beating the best.
That means beating a team in Oaks Christian that has been virtually unbeatable since becoming a state power.

“My guys wanted Oaks Christian and nobody else,” Cavaliers coach Scott Altenberg said. “That was their goal. That’s the competitive nature of these guys.”

In a contest matching two 13-0 clubs and the division’s top two seeds, Serra hosts Oaks Christian, winner of six consecutive Northwest titles and 34 victories in succession, at 7:30 p.m. Friday. The Lions crushed Serra, 63-28 in last year’s title game and ousted them in the semifinals two years ago.

“They might be the best team in the state,” Altenberg said. “They’re a great team, a great program and we understand that. But we feel we’ve got the pieces to get it done. We’re a year older and a year better.”

Robert Woods, Serra’s All-American wide receiver and future USC Trojan, is confident the Cavaliers can get it done this time.

“I think we’re going to win,” he said. “The team is focused and driven. Oaks Christian has great players, but at Serra we have players nobody knows that will make a name for themselves.”

These are clearly the two best teams in the Northwest Division.

Neither was pushed much during the regular season or the playoffs.

Oaks Christian, which has outscored its first 13 opponents, 621-123, reached the final with a 38-11 victory over Cathedral.

Serra, which owns a 591-137 edge over opponents, cruised through the playoffs, as well, defeating Santa Maria St. Joseph, 49-27 in the semis.

Both sides are loaded with Division I college prospects.

Oaks Christian is led by quarterback Nick Montana, son of NFL legend Joe Montana, and tailback Malcolm Jones. Montana, bound for Washington, has thrown for 2,469 yards and 32 touchdowns. Jones, a 6-1, 215-pounder who has committed to UCLA, has rushed for 2,156 yards and 36 TDs.

Other Lion standouts include sophomore wide receiver Jordan Payton, who has 41 catches for 963 yards and 17 TDs, and junior wide receiver Blair Holliday, who has 45 catches for 853 yards and eight scores.

Giant (6-5, 288) tackle Cassius Marsh, who has 13 sacks and 72 tackles, and linebacker Zac Stout, who has 103 tackles, lead the defense.

Serra’s leader is four-year varsity standout Woods, who has 55 receptions for 896 yards and 12 TDs and a team-best seven interceptions on defense. Last week, he had five catches for 73 yards and a TD, 13 tackles and an interception he returned 35 yards for a score.

Junior quarterback Conner Preston, a 4.3 student, has thrown for 2,976 yards and 38 TDs.

Besides Woods, he has junior George Farmer (35 catches, 745 yards, 10 TDs) and senior Paul Richardson (27, 516, 6) to throw to.

Farmer missed the semifinal with a hip-pointer, but is expected back Friday.

Shaquille Richard, who has 941 yards and 16 TDs on the ground, is the top rusher.

Sean Bacon (17 sacks), Jason Gibson (14 sacks) and Josh Finau (142 tackles) are leaders of the defense.

To stay with Oaks, Serra needs to do two things well, according to Altenberg.

“We need to value the ball and tackle well,” he said. “If we do that we’ve got a great chance.”

That means tackling Jones is a priority.

“He’s such a great player I don’t know if you can fully stop him, but you’ve got to limit his effectiveness,” Altenberg said.

Western Division
The magical run through the Western Division playoffs ended for Dominguez in the semifinals.

The Dons (6-6), seeded 15th out of 16 teams, lost to Alemany, 35-24 last Friday.

They led early, 7-0, but the third-seeded Warriors (10-3) caught fire to advance to Friday’s title game against Mira Costa.

Malcolm Marable rushed for 124 yards and four TDs and Vernon Adams passed for 156 to lead the way for Alemany.

Dominguez, which started the year 1-5 and needed a come-from-behind victory over Lynwood in the final regular-season game just to qualify for the playoffs, got another solid game from junior running back Will Gregory, who carried 20 times for 152 yards and a TD.

Quarterback Chris Brown also ran for a pair of scores.