2013: Championship Predictions…er, Guesses

Imperial’s dream run and Crawford’s miracle run each came to an end…with a thud.                                                                                                                                                   

The Tigers of the Imperial Valley were no match for St. Augustine in the San Diego Section Division II semifinals, losing 56-12, despite a good performance by Royce Freeman.

Crawford, which had stepped down a division and rekindled success of years past, was ambushed 42-6 in the D-V championship by Holtville, a team the Colts had beaten 21-14 in the regular season.

Such is life in the postseason.

Five championships will be determined this week, three tomorrow at Qualcomm Stadium. Two more are scheduled Saturday at Mesa College.

OPEN DIVISION, 5 P.M.

Is there a possible California bowl series bid in the offing for either Oceanside (10-2) or Mission Hills (11-1)? 

Probably not, but hopefully.

The Grizzlies whacked Oceanside 30-6 during the regular season, but most pundits, including me, have sided with the Pirates.

As we see it:  Oceanside, 34-24.

DIVISION I, 2 P.M.

Less ballyhooed than the other two Monday matchups,  but Cathedral (10-2) and San Pasqual (11-1) are perfectly matched, which means this probably will be a slug-it-out, grind-it-out struggle.

Despite a big, 35-28 win over Southern Section-ranked Vista Murrieta, the Dons seemed to have lost some identity along the way.  San Pasqual quietly fashioned one of the best seasons in school history.

As we see it:  Cathedral, 17-10.

DIVISION II, 11 A.M.

Mission Bay (12-1) rallied from a 42-6 loss to Madison in the regular season and beat the Warhawks, 21-18, in the quarterfinals and is rolling, despite a playoffs No. 8 seed.

St. Augustine (10-2) crushed Imperial in the semifinals and holds a late-season win over Cathedral.  Its only losses were to Open powers Oceanside and Eastlake.

With a victory Mission Bay could move into discussion for a state bowl bid.

As we see it:  St. Augustine, 41-31.

DIVISION III, SATURDAY DEC. 7, 2 P.M.

Christian (11-1), a second seed from the Central League, seemingly is stepping up in class against the North County entry 5 seed from San Marcos (9-4).

The Patriots are a state-ranked team in their division, but this is one of those matchups that do not consider enrollment.  Christian has about 400 students and San Marcos more than 2,200.

The Knights definitely will have a larger cheering section.

As we see it:  San Marcos, 28-14.

DIVISION IV, SATURDAY, DEC. 7, 5 P.M.

It’s been a tale of two seasons for Sweetwater, 1-4 and outscored, 155-59, in its first four games, then a seven–game winning streak and a place in the finals against Monte Vista.

Red Devils coach Brian Hay also has experience end a turnaround. 

Hay was 7-3 at El Centro Southwest in his first head job in 2000, then struggled through an 8-34 stretch at Hilltop and was 9-32 at Mar Vista from 2006-09.  Since then Hay is 33-14.

Monte Vista has revived under veteran Ron Hamamoto, who took over a downtrodden program (16-55 from 2005-11) in 2012, and got the Monarchs into the playoffs in his second season.

Hamamoto is 194-138-2  in 28 seasons at University-Cathedral, Rancho Bernardo, Lincoln, and Monte Vista.

As we see it:  Monte Vista, 28-21.