2013, Week 2: Oceanside Falls in Heat of Night

We made five big mistakes,” Oceanside coach John Carroll revealed to the U-T San Diego’s John Maffei, “and nearly every one of them was because of cramps.”

In the high heat of an Oceanside evening, Carroll’s Pirates took a 39-36 lead well into the fourth quarter when a couple lapses were turned into touchdowns by the nimble and swift Gardena Serra Cavaliers.

The visitors, who rank among the country’s top teams, didn’t wilt in the heat or from the glare and noise of a jammed Simcox Field gathering.

The 50-39 loss will haunt Carroll, who pointed out that his team was well hydrated.  The Gardena quarterback “handled the ball about a 100 times (actually about half of that number) and never cramped,” the Oceanside mentor noted.

“I don’t get it,” Carroll told Maffei.  “We played one of the best teams in the country.  We had the lead with 3:30 to play but cramps killed us.”

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER

The Cota family’s football lineage goes back more than 50 years, but Adrian Bueno did something at Ramona that eluded his grandfather and uncle.

Bueno, a senior cornerback seeing extended varsity action for the first time, returned an intercepted pass 45 yards for a touchdown, although the Point Loma dropped a 21-19 decision.

Bueno’s grandfather, Ron Cota, was an all-San Diego Section linebacker at St. Augustine in 1961 but never scored a touchdown.  Bueno’s uncle, Stephen Cota, was a second-team, all-San Diego Section linebacker on Point Loma’s undefeated 1987 team, and never reached the end zone.

100 POINTS IN A HURRY

U-T San Diego writer Jim Lindgren doubted whether a San Diego Section team had reached 100 points in a season faster than El Capitan, which, after a 44-0 victory over Mater Dei, had scored 114 points in one game and less than a half in the second game.

The answer is yes, the 100-point level has been reached 49 times by teams in the first two completed games, including three others this season.

There have been more than 45,000 games played by San Diego County teams since the first ball was inflated.

PARKER LEADS AFTER TWO

Many of those 100-point achievements were by teams playing eight-man football, but there are only five that have surpassed the Vaqueros’ total of 114 points in the first two games.

With assists from Calexico and our neighbors to the North, among others:

1—Francis Parker scored 136 points in 2005, when it defeated Parksville of British Columbia, Canada, 62-12, and Temecula Linfield, 74-16.

2—El Camino scored 128 in 1999, with victories of 66-13 over West Vancouver, Canada, and 62-6 over Morse.

3—Escondido topped Calexico, 70-0, and Orange Glen, 49-0, for 119 points in 2008.

4—Escondido  Charter had 118 points in 2009, when it defeated Foothills Christian, 69-41, and Calvin Christian, 49-0.

5—San Diego scored 115 points in 1925, with victories of 69-0 over Sweetwater, and 46-0 over Los Angeles Manual Arts.

6T—Escondido, defeated Calexico, 79-0, and Lancaster Eastside, 35-21, for 114 points in 2009.

LIKES NEW ADDRESS

Coach Mike Wright’s Crawford Colts are showing more life than at any time in the last decade.  Stepping down from Division IV to V may have helped, but Wright thinks, among other factors, the Colts are playing to their strength.

Crawford defeated Julian 49-0 last week, following a 55-0, Week 1 victory over San Diego Southwest.

Wright told U-T San Diego writer Kirk Kenney that only one player could bench press 200 pounds in a 2012 campaign that ended with a 1-9 record, with the victory coming on a forfeit.

Twenty-one players now can bench more than 200 after committing to a summer weight-lifting program.

“We’re a different team,” the coach told Kenney.  “We’re a different Crawford.”

QUICK KICKS—Mira Mesa tied El Camino, 12-12, on a touchdown pass with 50.5 seconds remaining, then lost, 15-12,  when the Wildcats’  David Rodriguez kicked a 35-yard field goal with 7.7 seconds left…”Not being arrogant, I expected a shutout,” said Cathedral coach Sean Doyle, praising his defense…the Dons defeated Torrey Pines, 10-0….