EL SEGUNDO HERALD January 28, 2016 Page 3 Burkley & Brandlin LLP A T T O R N E Y S A T L A W Living Trusts/Wills, Probate, Employment Law, Personal Injury Trust and Estates Litigation, Business Litigation, Civil Litiga tion 310-540-6000 Lifetime El Segundo Residents *AV Rated (Highest) Martindale - Hubbell / **Certified Specialist Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law, State Bar of California, Board of Legal Specialization Brian R. Brandlin • Bruce R. Brandlin • Christopher P. Brandlin Eagles Looking for Post Season Answers By Gregg McMullin The Ocean League schedule for the El Segundo high school teams is at the half way point. Each team is looking for answers on how to solidify their post season chances on playing beyond their league schedules. The boys’ soccer team has the edge starting out 4-0 while the girls’ soccer team and both basketball teams are all in the hunt. The girls’ water polo team is hitting their stride too. The boys’ soccer team’s start shouldn’t be too much of a surprise not when you consider the Eagles have allowed just one goal in the first four games. The defense has been stellar led by Ted Hollick in goal who has 14 saves in those first four games. With their 3-0 win over Lawndale on the road the Eagles have placed themselves in the driver’s seat to win their first Ocean League title. The Cardinals and Eagles tied for the title last season and Lawndale was considered the favorite this season. The Eagles rode the offensive scoring by Zach Skwarek, Nabi Sidiqi and Gilbert Cortez to lead El Segundo to the Ocean League win. Head coach Andrew Kelly cautions that the Eagles were in position to win a title outright last season. But a double overtime loss to Lawndale prevented them from the top seed heading into the playoffs. “We’ll need to continue our defensive efforts and focus on the big prize.” The Eagles played host to Santa Monica yesterday and host Beverly Hills on Friday at 3pm. The girls’ soccer team lost an absolute heartbreaker 1-0 to Lawndale. Though the Lady Eagles seemed to outplay their guests they fell in a game that they certainly could have won. The loss dropped them into a second place tie with Culver City and Beverly Hills at 2-2. The team played on the road at Santa Monica yesterday and Beverly Hills on Friday. Next week they’ll host Culver City on Wednesday at 3pm and look to avenge their 1-0 loss to the Centaurs earlier in the season. Head girls’ water polo coach Riley Brady is encouraged on how his team has played. The Lady Eagles participated in the always challenging Orange County Segerstrom Tournament. They also took a step in a playoff berth with a win over Beverly Hills in an Ocean League game. In the Segerstrom the Eagles played Fountain Valley, one of Orange County’s top defensive squads, and fell 3-0. In the second game they bounced back to defeat West Covina and won11-4. The Eagles continued their quest for a playoff berth with a 15-2 defeat of Beverly Hills. Talia Dominic had five goals, Stephanie Ruesler and Elysse Barriga each had two goals while Layla Chamberlin had six saves. The Eagles faced Segerstrom the team that eliminated them from last season’s CIF playoffs. In what was a highly spirited contest El Segundo fell 6-3. Though the Jaguars are a definite contender this year the Eagles demonstrated their ability to play with the best. To finish up the Segerstrom Tournament the Eagles defeated San Juan Hills 14-4 in a physical game. Emma Romero led the way with four goals, Talia Dominic scored three goals and Jenna Olsen had two goals. Against Costa Mesa the Eagles’ 9-4 win came with relative ease and got a balanced scoring attack. Emma Romero, Talia Dominic, Annabelle Cloutier-Chaine each had two goals apiece. Isabelle Romero played the first half in goal and had seven saves while Layla Chamberlin played the second half and had six saves. The Lady Eagles are 12-11 overall and 1-2 in the Ocean League and look to improve their record with an away game at Torrance this past Monday and at home yesterday. Next Tuesday at 3pm the Eagles will host Santa Monica the top ranked CIF-SS Division 6 team. The girls’ basketball team’s vision of the program’s first league title hit a slight bump after losing a very physical game to Lawndale. Before losing to the Cardinals the Eagles took care of Hawthorne 39-26 in a game that saw El Segundo in full control from the opening tip. How They Got There By Adam Serrao The unlikeliest of heroes arose last Sunday afternoon as four teams battled it out to take claim of a berth in this year’s Super Bowl. No, it wasn’t Brady and Belichick. No, it wasn’t Carson Palmer and the high speed Arizona Cardinals offense. What they say remains true; defense wins championships. With a thrilling 20-18 victory over the New England Patriots, the Denver Broncos proved that. With an impressive 49-15 blowout of the Cardinals, the Carolina Panthers did their part as well. Now, we’re set up for what should be a highly entertaining final game of the year in less than two weeks. One team is trying to send their old Sheriff out with a bang - the other is dancing their way into the record books while enlivening the twinkle in young football fans’ eyes all the while. Now that the matchup is set, let’s take a look at how both teams made it to Super Bowl 50. Both the Denver Broncos and the Carolina Panthers reaped the rewards of a successful regular season by enjoying a first week of the playoffs off. A 12-4 record gave the Broncos the tiebreaker for the best record in the AFC and home field advantage throughout the playoffs. A 15-1 record not only gave the Panthers the best mark in the league, but also home field advantage and, like Denver, a first round bye. For the Broncos, the first place standing in the AFC couldn’t have meant more. Not only did they wind up getting a battered a bruised Pittsburgh Steelers team - coming off of an incredibly intense first round matchup with the Cincinnati Bengals that injured quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and concussed star receiver Antonio Brown - but they also got to face Tom Brady’s Patriots in Denver, rather than traveling to Foxborough. The Panthers, on the other hand, have been moving through the playoffs as if they didn’t even need a first round bye or home field advantage. A second round matchup with the Seattle Seahawks ended with a 31-24 final score that sounds way closer than it actually was. Carolina led 31-0 at the half and put things into cruise control from then on. The NFC championship game was no more challenging. Cam Newton and his Panthers led 17-0 after the first quarter and wound up winning 49-15. The game between the Broncos and the Patriots was much more nerve-racking and quite frankly, more stressful to watch than the later game. Neither team had a running game on offense, but the theme of the day held true: defense wins championships. Tom Brady looked rattled from the start, throwing two interceptions while he watched his counterpart give the Broncos an early lead by zipping the ball around for two first half touchdowns. New England got on the board in the first quarter with a Steven Jackson touchdown to keep things close, but a missed extra point by kicker Stephen Gostkowski wound up costing the Patriots the game. Down 20-18, Belichick, Brady and New England had just scored a touchdown and lined up to go for two to tie things. It was literally one play for the game between the best defense in the league and the best quarterback/head coaching duo of arguably all time. The theme of the day still held true. The defense won the battle and won the game. Von Miller and the Broncos defensive line pressured Tom Brady all day. When he gets pressured, the Patriots lose. The quarterback was hit 23 times in the game. The most he had been hit all year previously was 12 times. It was the first time in Brady’s career that he completed less than 50 percent of his passes while throwing two interceptions. With the loss, Brady fell to 2-7 against the Broncos in Denver, lifetime. His only two wins were against Danny Kannell and Tim Tebow. Meanwhile, Peyton Manning, rather than looking old, looked like the Peyton Manning of old. Two touchdowns and zero turnovers brought the Sheriff back to the Super Bowl for the fourth time in his career. He improved to 4-1 in conference championship games and the Broncos advanced to the Super Bowl for the eighth time, tying the Steelers, Cowboys, and Patriots for most appearances all time. There was a lot less to say about the final game of the night last Sunday. The Panthers jumped out to another remarkable 24-7 lead by halftime and spent no time looking back in the second half. The Carolina defense made Carson Palmer look like the worst quarterback See Super Bowl, page 9 See Eagles, page 10
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