Considering the obstacles facing the Verbum Dei High School football team, anything it accomplishes beyond this point is icing on the cake.

The Eagles have accomplished plenty to date, going 6-4, winning the Camino Real League title and earning a berth in the CIF Southern Section Northwest Division playoffs.

They open against Nipomo (7-3), the Los Padres League’s third-place team, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at St. Matthias in Downey. Looming for the winner is a likely second-round matchup with No. 2 seed Serra.

Looking ahead to next week is not a luxury the Eagles, coming off a 31-20 loss at Cantwell Sacred Heart, can afford.

“Nipomo plays a brand of football that’s very physical,” Verbum Dei first-year coach James Durk said. “They’re a third-place team, but that’s in a league that includes 10-0 St. Joseph and 9-1 Pioneer Valley. In any other league, they would be a first-place team and we have to treat them that way. We’re going to have to play our best football to beat Nipomo.”

At a small South L.A. school with only 23 varsity players, Durk faces special challenges that don’t exist elsewhere.

For one, there’s the school’s work-study program in which all students work at businesses twice a week on a rotation basis throughout the Southland.

Durk and the rest of the coaching staff often has to travel to the businesses at the end of the work day to pick up players, then transport them to practice and games. Because of that situation, practice doesn’t start until 6 p.m. on their home field, which requires portable lights to be brought in.

For last Friday’s game, Durk had to pick up players in Torrance, Venice and downtown L.A. before driving them to Montebello, all of this during rush hour.

That’s another reason they play so many Saturday home games. The work-study program doesn’t involve the weekends and the way Durk figures it, it has to make it easier for Nipomo fans to travel from San Luis Obispo County to Southern California on Saturday rather than deal with the heavier Friday traffic.

While depth has been at issue for a team with such a small roster, it does have talent.

Senior quarterback Darryl Williams passed for 282 yards and three touchdowns against Cantwell and goes into the playoffs having passed for 1,494 yards and 19 TDs. A linebacker on defense, he also has 70 tackles and an interception.

Sophomore tailback Anthony Charles, who has run for 1,377 yards and seven TDs, and wide receiver Fred Edison, who has 26 catches for 629 yards and 10 scores, are the other offensive stars.

Defensively, strong safety Sean McCormick, cornerback Ashton Whyte and middle linebacker Terrence Harper are the standouts.

“Being as shorthanded as we are, we’ve pulled off a miracle season,” Durk said.

----------
Elsewhere in the Northwest Division, Serra hosts Oak Park, Lawndale is at Pioneer Valley, Mary Star is at Cathedral and Harvard-Westlake is at Centennial.

Centennial, just a year removed from a 1-9 season, won the Pioneer League and takes a 7-3 mark into the postseason.

The Apaches are led by senior quarterback Nelson Gammage, who threw for 139 yards in their title-clinching 48-21 rout of Lawndale last Friday.

Kurt Davis, who had four catches for 127 yards and a TD, has been a favorite receiver of Gammage.

Others include Kevin Smith and Theron West, who returned kicks for TDs last week.

----------
In the Western Division playoffs, Inglewood hosts Chaminade at Coleman Stadium and Dominguez is at Culver City.

Dominguez (4-5) finished strong to earn a shot against the No. 2 seeded Centaurs (9-1), winners of the Ocean League. Dominguez knocked off Lynwood, 28-14 to close the regular season and earn a berth.

----------
In the Northeast Division, Animo Leadership of Inglewood is at Santa Fe League champion Salesian.