Rematches Fill Semifinal Weekend

CBS/Rahshaun Haylock -- Semifinal weekend is upon us. Quite a few rematches on the board. Football coaches more than any other sport, time and time again, confess how tough it is to beat a team twice in one season.

Rahshaun Haylock Previews The Games

They never really tell us why but constantly regurgitate the words "its hard to beat a good team twice in one season." Media members and fans alike can connect the dots and come up with our own reasons for the difficulty in the situation. The reasons are abundant.

A good team, or one that's talent-laden is not easy to take down. The revnege factor plays a huge role that can either become tremendous motivation or a huge deterrent.

Which brings us to Westlake vs St. Bonaventure, Part Deux. The edge went to the Seraphs earlier this season ending the 22-game winning streak of Westlake, a school record. The Warriors are "excited" to play St. Bonaventure one more time. It was a loss the Warriors hated to take but in the big picture, Benkert feels like it didn't hurt his team. On the outside looking in, most would say it was significant damage because it all but took the Warriors out of contention for a State Bowl Game. Don't tell that to Westlake, in many interviews this season, he's gone on record saying his team hasn't talked about a State Bowl. As the coach puts it, even going 14-0 last season didn't guarantee them a spot in a bowl game so that was nothing they could occupy themselves with. Westlake still won a share of a league title and still earned a seed in the Northern Division, prompting Benkert to ask what damage did the loss really do? On the positive side, it did provide a teaching lesson.

Monrovia (10-2) has lost two in a row to San Dimas. One of those meetings was in last season's Mid-Valley Final. The two will meet again on Saturday. San Dimas won their matchup earlier this season by one point at home. That was the last loss for the Wildcats. Whenever a thought comes up about this team its the everchanging elephant in the room. Last season they were the favorites against the Saints only to have their dreams crushed. Those dreams that the Monrovia community continues to hold on to. Its been nine appearances in Sectional Finals for Monrovia. All nine have ended with a Monrovia loss.

There are six total rematches this semifinal weekend. The others: Also in the Mid-Valley Division Whittier Christian at Village Christian, a game won by the Heralds 29-26. Cajon at Colton in the Central Division. Cajon won the first meeting 29-20. Vazquez at Boron in the Northeast Division, a triumph by the Mustangs, 47-24. Corona del Mar visits Beckman in the Southern Division, the Sea Kings won the earlier meeting 17-15.