Second season unfolds

football cif storyNewport Harbor, Sage Hill, Corona del Mar, Estancia open football playoffs Friday in separate divisions.The CIF Southern Section football playoffs might represent the end of an era for Newport Harbor High, the beginning of one for Sage Hill and Estancia, and mark the end of a frustrating trend for Corona del Mar.

The four Newport-Mesa teams will compete in separate divisions Friday night, according to pairings announced Sunday.

Newport Harbor (7-3), tri-champion in the Sea View League, faces El Dorado (6-4) in a 7 p.m. Division VI first-round game at Valencia High in Placentia.

The Sailors lost a coin flip with Laguna Hills and Aliso Niguel, and were named the league’s No. 3 playoff representative.

Sage Hill (8-1) will play host to Pasadena Poly (5-4) in a Division XIII opener at 7:30.

Corona del Mar (6-4) visits Garden Grove (8-2) at 7:30 Friday in a Division IX first-round clash.

Estancia (2-8) is on the road against top-seeded Santa Fe (10-0) for a Division VII game. Kickoff at Pioneer High in Whittier is at 7.

Newport Harbor, bound for the Sunset League and Division I next season, hopes to extend a noteworthy couple of decades in divisions VI, V and IV.

This is the Sailors’ 16th playoff appearance in Coach Jeff Brinkley’s 20 seasons. It is a run that has included two section titles (Division VI in 1999 and Division V in 1994) in six title-game appearances. The Sailors have been eliminated in the semifinals twice and the quarterfinals four times, posting a 23-18 postseason record under Brinkley.

The outlook is significantly less rosy in Division I, where the Sailors will battle perennial Sunset League powers Los Alamitos, Esperanza and Edison merely for the right to make the playoffs.

Sage Hill, runner-up in the Academy League, looks to earn the first playoff win in the program’s fourth varsity season. Coach Tom Monarch’s Lightning lost to Linfield Christian, 32-8, in last year’s first round.

Estancia, which tied for fourth in the seven-team Golden West League, is making its first playoff appearance since 2000.

And while the Eagles don’t figure to earn their first postseason win since 1980 -- they are 0-7 in the playoffs since defeating Neff, 34-21, in the first round that season -- first-year coach Brian Barnes believes making the playoffs is another building block in a foundation he hopes will render consistent success in the future.

Corona del Mar, which tied for third in the Pacific Coast League, is optimistic it can end a string of five straight first-round exits, after reaching the Division V semifinals in 1995. The Sea Kings are 2-8 in their eight trips to the playoffs, after also reaching the semifinals in Division IV in 1992. CdM won back-to-back section crowns in 1988-89 (Division IV and V, respectively).

If victorious, Newport Harbor would likely play host to No. 3-seeded Charter Oak (7-3) in a Nov. 25 quarterfinal. Charter Oak opens at home Friday against Bellflower (5-5).

Orange Lutheran (9-1), which defeated the Sailors, 35-6, in the Division VI final last season, is the No. 2 seed and a possible semifinal opponent, should the Lancers and Sailors get that far.

A Sage Hill win would set up a tough quarterfinal test against either No. 2-seeded California School for the Deaf in Riverside (10-0) or Campbell Hall (7-3).

Academy League champion St. Margaret’s (10-0) is the No. 1 seed in Division XIII.

Should CdM get past Garden Grove, it would most likely face No. 2-seeded La Habra (8-2). The Sea Kings fell, 34-31, to the Highlanders, then seeded No. 3, in last year’s first round.