Football, it’s  a wrap.
Cathedral finished fifth in Cal-Hi Sports‘ state top 25, Helix was 14th, and Madison 19th in an outstanding  San Diego Section season.
Coach Sean Doyle’s Cathedral Dons, wearing the letter “U” on  their helmets in the state championship in honor of Cathedral’s previous University of San Diego High designation (and Doyle’s alma-mater), ran the table in a 15-0 season.
The closest any teams have come to this Cathedral club were the 14-0, Tyler Gaffney-led Dons of 2008, and the 14-0 Morse Tigers of Teddy Lawrence and Company in 1990.
I agreed with John Maffei of the San Diego Union-Tribune when the prep writer called this year’s Dons squad the best in the 56-year history of the San Diego Section.
My reasoning was that no one had ever won for 15 consecutive weeks and Cathedral, unlike its ’08 predecessor or John Shacklett’s ’90 Morse, played a heavy intersectional schedule.
The Dons played five teams from out of the section, including three early in the season. They defeated  L.A. City power Narbonne, 35-28, in the Southern California 1-AA final, and Stockton St. Mary’s in overtime, 38-35, for the state title in a repeat of a 37-34 victory over St. Mary’s in ’08.
Cathedral outscored its 15 opponents by an average score of 40-15.  The ’08 team scored a record 671 points and had a winning margin of 48-17.  The ’90 Morse team had held the section scoring record of 649 points with an average advantage of 46-13.
Neither ’08 Cathedral or ’90 Morse played the type of schedule of this year’s Dons.
After a 56-15 win over Honolulu Punahou, one of the strongest teams in Hawaii, the Tigers’ schedule featured only San Diego Section squads.
The situation was almost the same with Cathedral in ’08. Â The Dons had a 63-7 victory over weak Chino early in the season and then did not meet an intersectional foe again until the final versus St. Mary’s.
WARHAWKS’ ROUSING FINISHES
Rick Jackson’s Madison Warhawks (13-2) became one of the most popular teams in the state with some incredible play in the San Diego Section D-I championship and in the Southern California final.
The Warhawks overcame a 31-7, St. Augustine halftime lead to defeat the Saints, 35-31, for the section D-I crown and then overcame a 19-point fourth-quarter deficit to top Calabasas, 60-53, in overtime. They won the state II-AA title, 23-17 over San Jose Valley Christian.
Helix (11-3) had an opening game loss to Timpview, Utah, which posted a 9-3 record and went to its state finals.  The Highlanders also defeated strong Northern entry Concord Clayton Valley and played two tough losses with Cathedral, including  the section Open final.
VERDELL LEADS SCORERS
Mater Dei’s Oregon-bound C.J. Verdell scored 40 touchdowns and added a 2-point conversion for a section-leading 242 points. Tyler Saikhon of El Centro Southwest was second with 188.
Verdell’s is the 10th highest, one-season total in San Diego County history. Verdell scored 204 points in 2015, second only to the 210 of Helix’ Nate Stinson.
Not all teams submitted team and individual stats, which were compiled by Max Preps.
For a complete list of San Diego Section scoring leaders link to “Football” and “Individual Performances” in the drop down  menu.
Hard to not include the 2009 Oceanside Pirates in there in discussions of best teams in section history… undefeated DI state champs (like Cathedral) and also beat traditional power Long Beach Poly
Thanks for writing, Tom. I plead no-contest. I agreed with John that Cathedral should be No. 1. My basis was based on the fact that the Dons won for 15 consecutive weeks. No team had ever done that. I also suggested to John that the 1963 Kearny team should make the list, but that was the extent of my participation. The 14-1 Pirates of 2009 certainly meet my humble criteria. They played a good intersectional schedule against teams outside San Diego County. Some terrific teams from the ‘seventies, ‘eighties, and nineties played only local competition.
They were 14 and 0 (undefeated) in 2009… 14-1 in 2014. Cathedral was outstanding this year and I have no qualms about them getting all the respect they deserve.
My error. The Pirates’ 14-0 season in 2009 actually concluded a 38-0-1 run. John Carroll’s program was in its full bloom/
As a final note, the 1990 CIF 3A Championship Morse football team also beat a strong team from Los Angeles County, as they easily defeated Carson High School, who at the time was a strong program. In summary, the 1990 Morse squad was undefeated, beat two quality opponents which were not from San Diego and finished the season ranked #4 in the COUNTRY, by the U.S.A. Today publication. They were the best high school football team from San Diego.
Bryan, Morse beat Carson, 30-18, in 1991. Carson was average that year and Morse finished 7-5, with a loss to Mira Mesa. I saw both the Carson and MM games.
My mistake but that 1990 team was outstanding. Their 1991 team was average as we shut them out, 16-0, on our way to 1991 CIF 3A title.
So you played for The Bennie. He had years of genius and years of less, but Bennie was an icon and significant figure in the history of football in this area. I saw Point Loma play at Mira Mesa in ’89. It wasn’t his best team but he had J.J. Stokes and a quarterback whose name I forget. Bennie was down two possessions in the fourth quarter and I think the clock was a factor. He called a couple brilliant drives, mixing and matching, using the sidelines, going down the middle unexpectedly. The Pointers won, 27-23. I trust you’re better for having played for Edens.
Bennie Bo-Bo, as we on the 1990 & 1991 teams called him, was a master at motivation and a pleasure to play for. The quarterback of the ’89 team was Danny White, who went on to Penn St. and the University of Arizona. I believe that most of us are much better after having played for him, both on and off of the field, as many of us played college ball and then entered the workforce. Coach also had a great assistant coaching staff as well.
Now I remember Danny White. He was at Arizona, trailed rival Arizona State, 27-10, in the fourth quarter and pulled it out, 28-27.
The 1990 Morse team was ranked #4 in the country by USA Today, when the season ended. Cathedral didn’t even finish that high this year. Cathedral had a dominant team this year, but as compared to the 1990 Morse team, they were not as good. Morse had size, speed, was very physical and was an intelligent team. They were multifaceted and were able to beat you through accurate passing and a tremendous ground attack. I played against that Morse team and saw this Cathedral team, whose passing game, in the game I attended, was more of a toss it up and hope our player catches it and a screen attack. In addition, their running game was suspect. We as a society tend to think the most recent is the best (i.e. Magic or MJ vs. LeBron or Steph) but that Morse team was better. Yes, they played only one out of county squad and annihilated them and they crushed everyone else in the county, except for a game heavily affected by fog in the semi-finals and a below average performance in winning CIF. Congratulations to Cathedral for a triumphant 15-0 season, but that 1990 CIF Champion (14-0) Morse squad is by far, the best team I have seen from San Diego.
Bryan, thanks for a very thoughtful comment. I agree, that was a great Morse team and it might easily have beaten Cathedral, as others since 1960 might also have done.