The562’s coverage of girls’ flag football is sponsored by the Los Angeles Chargers.
The first ever CIF-SS flag football brackets were released on Saturday morning, and the draw was kind to Long Beach’s playoff teams.
With four playoff teams coming out of the Moore League–along with St. Anthony–Long Beach has a rooting interest in four of the five playoff divisions in 2024.
CLICK HERE to see the complete brackets on the CIF-SS website.
Let’s take a look at the draws for Long Beach Poly, Lakewood, Millikan, Cabrillo, and St. Anthony below.
Division 2
The two-time Moore League champion Long Beach Poly Jackrabbits ended up on the fortuitous end of the divisional split, earning the No. 1 seed in the D2 bracket. Given that five of Poly’s eight losses this season came against Division 1 competition this year, this draw opens up a much clearer path to a title this year.
“We’re honored to be in this thing,” said Poly head coach Rob Shock. “We’re feeling great. I’ve got some great team leaders and some young talent in the program. They want to win, and to have a chance to do it for the first time and make a little bit of history, it’s great.”
The Jackrabbits (17-8) will open their playoffs at home on Tuesday, hosting Los Altos (18-4), the champions of the Hacienda League. The Conquerors enter the playoffs on a nine-game winning streak, while the Jackrabbits won six straight to wrap up another unbeaten Moore League season.
Led by two-way superstar Aaya McLyn, who had an incredible 38 interceptions this season (3 more than the rest of the team combined), the Jackrabbits are battle-tested and ready to play for history in the CIF playoffs.
“We definitely want to ball out,” said McLyn of getting the chance to play in the postseason. “We’re all going for that ring, we are all very excited and I think we’re more than ready. We all just have to go out there and play our hardest.”
Division 3
A pair of Moore League teams will be in D3, with Lakewood and Millikan each receiving home games in the first round on Tuesday.
The Lancers were the second-place team from the Moore League this season, and they’ll host the Knight Hawks out of Palmdale.
Knight had a 19-3 record in 2024 while the Lancers went 9-5 and showed improvement later on in the season.
Meanwhile, Millikan (13-7) will be hosting the Canyon Springs Cougars on Tuesday. Canyon Springs went 18-8 this season to earn the top seed from the Sunbelt League. The Cougars lost three of their last five games coming into the playoffs while the Rams won seven of their last nine in Moore League action, with those two losses coming against fellow playoff teams, Poly and Lakewood.
Division 4
The Cabrillo Jaguars earned themselves a postseason bid with a fourth-place finish in the Moore League. Led by head coach Earl McCullouch, Jr., the Jags took a step forward in 2024, going 11-9 overall.
Their first round draw takes them on the road for a rematch with the Santa Monica Vikings, champions of the Ocean League with a 9-6 record. The Vikings actually opened their season with a 19-0 win over another Moore League team in Wilson, but then lost six of their next seven games.
Santa Monica then hosted Cabrillo on Sep. 10 and defeated the Jags 26-0, sparking a seven-game winning streak to end their regular season.
Division 5
The St. Anthony Saints will get to host their first round game on Tuesday, facing the Pioneer Titans out of Whittier.
The Saints (5-4) won four of their last five games to earn a playoff spot, while the Titans (8-9) won four of their last six to claim the No. 2 seed out of the 605 League.
All games are scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. until the championship round. Be sure to follow The562 for any schedule changes and game coverage throughout the playoffs.
