JUST PREPS : Area News : CENTRAL CITY

For the first time in many years, the City Section football playoffs will include afternoon games. In the past, host schools that didn’t have lights had to find alternate sites. “Home teams in the playoffs felt like they earned that right, so we didn’t want to punish them just because their field didn’t have lights,” said Barbara Fiege, the section’s athletic commissioner. Afternoon games will be allowed for Friday’s first round only, and Manual Arts, Eagle Rock, Hamilton and Washington are taking advantage. . . . Locke running back Fred Lee won the City Section regular-season rushing title with 1,679 yards and 28 touchdowns. . . . Bell Gardens quarterback Eddie Negrete, who threw three touchdowns passes in last Thursday’s 42-6 victory over San Gabriel, set a school record with 17 touchdown passes this season. . . . The Bell Gardens water polo team opened the Southern Section Division III playoffs last Thursday with a 45-2 victory over Whittier La Serna. The 45 points were the fifth highest recorded in a section match and the most since 1982. . . . The boys’ cross-country team at Salesian, which hasn’t lost a league dual meet in the last eight years, will get strong competition from Morro Bay and Fillmore for the Southern Section Division IV title Saturday at Mt. San Antonio College. The top four teams in each division qualify for the state meet Nov. 25 in Fresno. Salesian is led by sophomore Andy Cortez.