Who would have imagined that the first regular season of San Pedro High football under new coach Corey Miller would end up as successful as it did?

With a tough slate to begin the year, San Pedro ended up taking on eventual Suburban League champion Downey, Bay League tri-champion Redondo Union and Ocean League tri-champion Lawndale, not to mention the Marine League itself, and would come out of it with an 8-2 overall record, a runner-up league finish at 4-1 (that one loss was to California's fifth best team in Narbonne of Harbor City), and a high seed in the CIF-Los Angeles City Section playoffs.

In fact, the Pirates ended up getting the overall third seed as the Marine League was represented well in Saturday's playoff pairings for the CIF-Los Angeles City Section Division 1 playoffs.

The Marine, always regarded as the premier league in the City Section, got three of the top four seeds, with defending two-time and 2015 state champion Narbonne getting the top seed once again, and third place Banning of Wilmington getting the fourth seed. Coliseum League runner-up Dorsey of Los Angeles earned the second seed.

San Pedro also has a chance at retribution from ten years ago, as their first round opponent is Birmingham of Lake Balboa, who humiliated the Pirates in the 2006 CIF-LACS Division 1 championship. San Pedro will host the No.14 Patriots on Thursday at 7 pm.

Finishing as the West Valley League runner-up, the Patriots (5-5 overall, 4-1 West Valley League) played one of the tougher nonleague schedules of anyone in the City, which included the likes of Dorsey, Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks, and Harvard Westlake of Studio City. Veteran coach Jim Rose brings in a high-powered and balanced offense that found its footing in league, where it was runner-up to El Camino Real of Woodland Hills.

Sophomore quarterback Jason Artiga has 1,111 yards passing, 13 touchdowns and eight interceptions for Birmingham, who also features two steady running backs in freshman Ethan Estrada (444 yards 6 TDs) and junior Shane Bennett (721 yards, 4 TDs). Senior defensive lineman Levi Scheklar has seven sacks for the Patriots.

Senior quarterback Austin Jackson, the junior running back tandem of Kai Kaneshiro and Sean Davenport, along with senior wide receiver Raymond Geha, spearhead San Pedro's offensive attack, which features top lineman Nick Ford heading a solid offensive front line paced by improved seniors Damian Lopez and Kyle Branch, along with junior linemen Kenny Howard and David Carlton, plus junior tight end Seth Nelson.

Defensively, the Pirates have been paced by Ford, sophomore linebacker Junior Gafa, who may return after suffering a concussion suffered in a 20-7 victory over Banning on October 22, senior lineman Einar Ramirez, senior linebacker Justin Escoto, and an opportunistic secondary with safeties senior Luis Padilla and junior Corey Fausto. Senior cornerback Mikey Hernandez Jr. leads the Pirates with three interceptions.

If the game comes down to special teams, senior kicker Tanner Carcamo has been outstanding, with five made field goals in seven attempts, including a 49-yard boot in the win over Banning.

Here is the full bracket of games in the CIF-Los Angeles City Section Division I football playoffs.

CIF-LOS ANGELES CITY SECTION DIVISION 1 PLAYOFFS
First Round Thursday, November 10

UPPER BRACKET
No.1 Narbonne (10-0) vs. No.16 Arleta (4-6)
No.8 Venice (6-4) vs. No.9 Crenshaw (4-6)
No.5 El Camino Real (8-2) vs. No.12 Hamilton (4-6)
No.4 Banning (8-2) vs. No.13 Sylmar (6-4)

LOWER BRACKET
No.3 SAN PEDRO (8-2) vs. No.14 Birmingham (5-5)
No.6 Palisades (8-2) vs. No.11 Carson (5-5)
No.7 San Fernando (10-0) vs. No.10 Garfield (7-3)
No.2 Dorsey (7-3) vs. No.15 South East (5-5)

Note: All playoff games leading up to the championship will be hosted by the higher-seeded home school.