El Camino and La Jolla were highly unlikely candidates to get this far, but they’re in the big games this week, San Diego’s last standing, and hitting the road in search of state championships.
The Wildcats travel 50 miles beyond the San Franciso Golden Gate bridge to Santa Rosa, 517 miles North of their campus, taking on the 13-1 Cardinal Newman Cardinals. La Jolla visits the 13-1 Escalon Cougars, 448 miles north and inland.
Laboring with a 3-6 record, El Camino caught fire after a 10-0, Avocado League loss to Mission Hills and has won its last six, averaging 40 points a game, beginning with a 28-24 victory in a dynamic crosstown battle with Oceanside.
The Wildcats scored a mild surprise in their domination of Temecula Valley, 34-18 last week. La Jolla, 3-5 after a 32-7 loss to Lincoln, also has won six in a row and knocked out Huntington Beach Marina, 34-18.
La Jolla is an old hand at playoff competition, before the San Diego Section.
The Vikings tied Calexico. 6-6, in a 1938 contest that was supposed to be replayed but was not following a dispute over the number of first downs, which supposedly favored the Vikings.
La Jolla lost to eventual Southern Section champion Pomona, 27-21, in 1951, and defeated El Monte, 7-6, but lost in the semifinals to South Pasadena, 13-6, in 1952.
El Camino dropped a 13-10 decision to Los Angeles Crenshaw in 2017.
SAN DIEGO CHAMPS BOW
Other San Diego Section teams were not as fortunate last week, Helix losing to Chatsworth Sierra Canyon, 38-20, Oceanside to Corona del Mar, 14-7, Serra to El Monte, 30-18, and Francis Parker to Gardena, 27-13.
El Camino and La Jolla represent the San Diego section’s lowest number of participants since the state CIF began the “two divisions within one division” model in 2015.
There have been as many as five qualifiers from San Diego (2016) and there were four last season.
San Diego squads are 6-11 in AA and A competition and 11-15 overall since the state “bowl” series of playoffs began in 2006.
| DIVISION | TEAM | RECORD | OPPONENT | RECORD |
| III-AA | El Camino | 9-6 | @Santa Rosa Cardinal Newman, North Coast | 13-1 |
| IV-A | La Jolla | 10-4 | @Escalon, Sac-Joaquin | 13-1 |
HOW OTHERS IN CALIFORNIA RATE THE MATCHUPS
| TEAMS | CAL PREPS.COM | MAX PREPS | CAL-HI SPORTS |
| III-AA El Camino | 38.6 | 70 | Bubble |
| Cardinal Newman | 39.7 | 65 | 41 |
| IV-A La Jolla | 28.1 | 134 | NR |
| Escalon | 29.2 | 128 | NR |
| SEASON CONCLUDED | |||
| Helix (11-2) | 58.3 | 11 | 13 |
| Carlsbad (10-2) | 54.9 | 16 | 22 |
| Cathedral (8-3) | 54.4 | 18 | 23 |
| St. Augustine (8-3) | 48.3 | 29 | 28 |
| Oceanside (11-4) | 47.8 | 30 | 35 |
| Mission Hills (9-3) | 46.3 | 33 | Bubble |
| Lincoln (10-3) | 44.6 | 44 | Bubble |
Cal Preps.com and Max Preps are services which rely on computer algorithms. Cal-Hi Sports relies on the judgement of publisher Mark Tennis and his correspondents.
PAST RESULTS
San Diego Section teams against other CIF sections in state championship games:
(+Central. ++Northern. +++Oakland. *North Coast. **Sac-Joaquin. ***San Francisco. ##Central Coast. >Overtime).
| YEAR | DIVISION | TEAM | OPPONENT | SCORE |
| 2007 | II | Oceanside | *Novato | 28-14 |
| 2008 | III | Cathedral | **Stockton St. Mary’s | 37-34 |
| 2009 | V | Francis Parker | **Modesto Christian | 40-44 |
| 2010 | IV | Madison | **Escalon | 14-30 |
| 2011 | II | Helix | **Loomis Del Oro | 35-24 |
| 2012 | IV | Madison | *Marin Catholic | 38-35 |
| V | Santa Fe Christian | **Modesto Central Catholic | 7-66 | |
| 2014 | I | Oceanside | **Folsom | 7-68 |
| III | El Capitan | *Moraga Campolindo | 28-35 | |
| 2015 | III-A | Rancho Bernardo | ##Atherton Sacred Heart | 35-14 |
| IV-AA | Bonita Vista | +Hanford | 21-33 | |
| V-AA | Mater Dei | +Reedley Immanuel+ | 55-21 | |
| VI-AA | Coronado | ++East Nicolaus | 6-16 | |
| 2016 | I-AA | Cathedral | **Stockton St. Mary’s | 38-31 |
| II-AA | Madison | ##San Jose Village Christian | 21-17 | |
| III-A | The Bishop’s | **Oakdale | 0-47 | |
| V-A | La Jolla Country Day | +++Oakland McClymonds | 17-20 | |
| VI-A | Horizon | +Strathmore | 22-62 | |
| 2017 | I-AA | Helix | **Folsom | 42-49 |
| III-A | Steele Canyon | ##Half Moon Bay | 44-42 | |
| IV-AA | El Centro Southwest | ##Milpitas | 41-45 | |
| VI-A | Calexico Vincent Memorial | ***S.F. Galileo | 20-38 | |
| 2018 | I-AA | Cathedral | **Folsom | 14-21> |
| III-AA | Lincoln | ##Menlo-Atherton | 7-21 | |
| V-AA | San Diego | **Colfax | 21-10 | |
| VI-A | Orange Glen | ***S.F. Lincoln | 13-24 | |
| 2019 | III-AA | El Camino | *Santa Rosa Cardinal Newman | |
| IV-A | La Jolla | **Escalon |
Oceanside beat Bellarmine prep in D1 state title game 2009
Hi: Thanks for writing. Search 2009 “No Neon in This Deon” and you’ll find part of the narrative is about Oceanside’s D-I victory over Bellarmine Prep. The Pirates won, 24-19.