North County’s game of the year is  Friday night, when  Oceanside and Mission Hills, ranked 1-2 in the UT-San Diego football voting, will roll in the dirt for more than just neighborhood bragging rights.

Mission Hills (4-0), which  became a San Diego Section force under former Vista coach Chris Hauser, seeks its first-ever win over John Carroll’s Pirates (3-1). Oceanside holds a 5-0-1 advantage in a series that has been played regularly since 2009.

The teams tied 10-10 in 2011 and Oceanside has  beaten the Grizzlies in Section finals in 2007 and 2010 and in the semifinals in 2009.  The Pirates have had an average scoring advantage of 31-12 and outscored their Highway 78 rivals 185-76.

Another big game will match Cathedral and Southern Section power Murietta Vista Murietta.

The Broncos, Riverside County’s premier team and a Southern Section power, have victories of 66-28 over Downey, 52-13 over Yucaipa, and 69-21 over Redlands East Valley.

Cathedral is 2-1 and figures to be Murietta’s biggest test in the regular season.

The Top 10 still is the same at the top, but San Pasqual (4-0), and Eastlake (3-1) have been coming on.

Gary Mayer, who led a 1958 Ramona High team that raced to an 11-0 record and won the Southern California small schools championship, passed away at age 72  on Sept. 19 in Rialto, where he had resided since 1966.

Mayer scored 25 touchdowns and scored 43 points after touchdown in 1958 for a total of 193 that ranked as the second highest ever by a San Diego County athlete, one point behind the 194 that Oceanside’s C.R. Roberts scored in 1953.

Mayer was the 1958 Southern California small schools’ player of the year as the Bulldogs outscored their opponents, 514-53, and defeated Needles, 26-21, for the title.

Mayer was selected to play in the annual Breitbard College Prep football game, in which all-stars from San Diego County played a team of all-stars from the Los Angeles City Section in 1959.

Ramona was a premier team among schools with less than 500 enrollment, winning two Southern California championships under coach Glenn Forsyth and reaching the finals three times while posting a 42-4 record form 1954-59.

Mayer went on to play at Colorado State and San Bernardino Junior College but his career ended after a succession of injuries.

Gary’s brother, Grant, was the second leading scorer in the San Diego Section in 1961 with 15 touchdowns and 98 points.

A memorial service for Gary Mayer will be at 11 a.m. Sept. 27 at Montecito Memorial Park, 3520 E. Washington Street, in Colton.

A webpage for those who wish to leave memories and express their feelings has been established at Legacy.com and here:
http://www.legacy.com/guestbook/DignityMemorial/guestbook.aspx?n=gary-mayer&pid=167056389