Thirty-one teams from the San Diego Section begin play Wednesday and Friday nights in the Southern California regional playoffs.
Regional winners will qualify for the state championships against Northern California winners.
The CIF state committee which created the seedings and brackets based on the power ratings model didn’t think highly of the San Diego Section’s 15 boys’ teams chances or those of the 16 girls’ squads.
Helix, seeded 2 in Boys’ D-IV, is the highest ranked boys club. Brawley, a 4 seed in D-V, is the only other male team with a seeding higher than 6.
Helix (28-5) gets a Wednesday night home game against No. 15 Granada Hills (14-16), better known as the alma mater of Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway.
Brawley, Foothills Christian, Mater Dei, and Santa Fe Christian are the only others with home games.
St. Augustine and Torrey Pines, San Diego Section Open Division finalists, were placed in the eight-team regional Open, which begins play Friday night.
Helix, on an 18-game winning streak and having played a decidedly easier, mostly local schedule, was given a lower division slot and a presumed stronger prospect of advancing to the to the state final.
St. Augustine and Torrey Pines played stronger intersectional schedules and were “rewarded” with first-round road games against loaded, nationally ranked Southern Section teams Chatsworth Sierra Canyon and Torrance Bishop Montgomery, respectively.
GIRLS FARE BETTER
Nine teams earned seeds that will give them home games, beginning Wednesday night.
Mission Hills (29-2) is No. 3 in the Open Division and plays host on Friday to a dangerous 6 seed, 28-2 Rancho Cucamonga Etiwanda.
Rancho Bernardo (4), The Bishop’s (5), Serra (6), Scripps Ranch (6), Mater Dei (7), and Escondido Adventist (7) all will act as hosts.
The biggest underdog of all 31 teams appears to be the Guajome Park Frogs, who have a 19-9 record but are seeded 16th in boys’ D-V and will travel to No. 1 seed Riverside Notre Dame.
FINAL UNION-TRIBUNE TOP 10
1–St. Augustine, 2–Torrey Pines, 3–Foothills Christian, 4–Helix, 5–Vista, 6—Mater Dei, 7—Mission Hills, 8—Santa Fe Christian, 9—La Jolla Country Day, 10—Canyon Crest.
BOYS PAIRINGS
| DIV. | SEED | TEAM | W/L | VS. | SEED | W/L |
| OPEN | 6 | St. Augustine | 27-4 | @Chatsworth Sierra Canyon | 3 | 27-2 |
| 8 | Torrey Pines | 28-4 | @Torrance Bishop Montgomery | 1 | 27-2 | |
| 1 | 7 | Foothills Christian | 24-6 | Oak Park | 10 | 22-8 |
| 11 | Vista | 28-3 | @Rancho Santa Margarita | 6 | 21-8 | |
| II | 8 | Mater Dei | 23-5 | Studio City Harvard-Westlake | 9 | 21-11 |
| 12 | Mission Hills | 21-8 | @Moreno Valley Rancho Verde | 5 | 26-3 | |
| III | 7 | La Jolla Country Day | 19-10 | L.A. Washington | 10 | 22-6 |
| 8 | Santa Fe Christian | 20-10 | Vista Murrieta | 9 | 24-5 | |
| 14 | Orange Glen | 21-6 | @Capistrano Valley | 3 | 25-6 | |
| IV | 2 | Helix | 27-5 | Granada Hills | 15 | 14-16 |
| 13 | Sage Creek | 14-17 | @Twentynine Palms | 4 | 27-3 | |
| 14 | Lincoln | 21-12 | @L.A. Carson | 3 | 21-6 | |
| V | 12 | Olympian | 28-3 | @Bermuda Dunes Desert Christian | 5 | 22-5 |
| 16 | Guajome Park | 19-9 | @Riverside Notre Dame | 1 | 29-3 | |
| 4 | Brawley | 21-7 | L.A. Watts New Design | 13 | 19-2 |
GIRLS PAIRINGS
| DIV. | SEED | TEAM | W/L | VS. | SEED | W/L |
| OPEN | 3 | Mission Hills | 29-2 | Rancho Cucamonga Etiwanda | 6 | 28-2 |
| 5 | The Bishop’s | 28-3 | @Studio City Harvard-Westlake | 4 | 25-4 | |
| I | 8 | La Jolla Country Day | 18-11 | L.A. Palisades | 9 | 25-9 |
| 13 | Eastlake | 23-7 | @Brea-Olinda | 4 | 23-7 | |
| II | 13 | La Costa Canyon | 25-5 | @L.B. Millikan | 4 | 19-8 |
| 14 | Westview | 19-10 | @Mission Hills Chaminade | 3 | 16-11 | |
| 7 | Poway | 24-6 | Huntington Beach | 10 | 23-9 | |
| III | 13 | San Marcos | 19-11 | @Lawndale Leuzinger | 4 | 23-10 |
| 6 | Serra | 20-10 | L.A. Westchester | 11 | 18-16 | |
| 7 | Mater Dei | 21-11 | San Juan Capistrano JSerra | 10 | 16-14 | |
| IV | 16 | Lincoln | 27-4 | @Rancho Cucamonga Los Osos | 1 | 22-3 |
| 4 | Rancho Bernardo | 25-6 | L.A. Torres | 13 | 20-6 | |
| 6 | Scripps Ranch | 26-5 | Pasadena | 11 | 22-10 | |
| V | 12 | Maranatha | 19-8 | @Palos Verdes Rolling Hills | 5 | 28-3 |
| 7 | Escondido Adventist | 22-3 | Riverside Carnegie | 10 | 16-4 | |
| 15 | Pacific Ridge | 10-14 | Irvine Crean | 2 | 18-11 |
