SPLIT DECISION: CITY SECTION UPHOLDS PLAYOFF FOOTBALL FORMAT TEAMS CAN CHOOSE POSTSEASON DIVISION.

Byline: ALEX VALLADARAS

Special to the Daily News

The Eagle Rock High football team won its 16th straight game last Friday and is on target to win its fourth straight Northern League title.

But winning streaks and league championships do not make a football power.

The Eagles' achievements are not enough to push them to challenge the best competition, and for the third straight year they'll compete in the lower-level, 16-team Invitational playoffs rather than the more esteemed 16-team Championship Division later this year.

The City Section Interscholastic Athletic Committee ensured that Monday by upholding a playoff format that allows teams to play in the division they applied to be considered for before the season began.

As a result, 22 teams will vie for spots in the Championship Division and 33 will try for the Invitational.

City officials decided to examine the situation when an inordinate amount of schools applied for the Invitational division, a clear sign they wanted to avoid historical powers Birmingham, Venice, Dorsey, Crenshaw and Taft.

Some hoped to balance the numbers by tweaking the format -- perhaps by requiring league champions to play in the higher division -- but a 34-member committee voted 33-1 to let individual teams decide which level they play in.

So Eagle Rock, the two-time defending Invitational champion, will seek its third Invitational title in a row rather then stepping up a notch to play against the best teams out there.

The reason is simple: The Eagles want to play against teams with similar talent, not superior opponents whom they believe they have little chance at beating.

"That's where we belong," Eagle Rock coach Jerry Chou said. "Just because we had two good years with exceptional players doesn't mean we should be considered a City powerhouse -- a City Championship Division team."

This is about fairness, Chou said. Unlike other schools, Eagle Rock does not have a high school magnet program, does not have open enrollment and does not bus students in. The entire roster is made up of players who reside in its boundaries. That puts them at a distinct disadvantage against teams that draw players from outside their districts.

"We're one of the last community schools left," Chou said.

In a peculiar twist, the six teams shut out of the Championship Division playoffs will not be eligible for the Invitational playoffs -- even though they might be better than the teams in the Invitational Division.

That could hurt a team such as Chatsworth, which chose to play in the Championship Division.

The Chancellors purposely sought out a difficult preseason schedule to better prepare for the rigorous West Valley League competition. Chatsworth isn't a serious league contender -- Birmingham is the clear favorite -- and its tough preseason schedule could hurt its playoff hopes.

"We could go 7-3 and not make the playoffs at all," Chatsworth athletic director Jeff Davis said. "That could happen, but it's part of what comes along with making this decision. But we scheduled Lancaster and Chaminade because we wanted to get to that level."

Nevertheless, Chatsworth did not hesitate when choosing where it wanted to play at the end of the year.

"I asked (Chatsworth coach Rick Hayashida) what he wanted to do, if he wanted to play 4-A or 3-A -- I still call it 4-A -- and it was a quick decision," Davis said. "We want to play in the Championship bracket. We like playing with the big boys."

This is the second year the City Section will use this format -- a plan created by the City coaches' association.

Before that, league champions were given automatic berths into the higher division, with the other slots determined by a coaches' vote.

"I don't know if this will ever be resolved," said John Aguirre, the assistant commissioner of the City Section. "There is really no set template to follow."

Gerry Gittelson contributed

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CITY SECTION PLAYOFFS BREAKDOWN