2014 Week 6: El Capitan Off The Back Burner

Coach Ron Burner has El Capitan on a fast track, but will its wheels hold up?

El Cap has thrived under Burner.
El Cap has thrived under Burner.

The Vaqueros have started 5-0 twice, in 1967 under  Joe Till, and in 1973, with Joe Rockhold.

They can become 5-0 this week, but a 5-0 visitor, Granite Hills, stands in the way, as do Steele Canyon (5-0), Helix (4-1), Grossmont and Mount Miguel (each 3-2)  and Valhalla (2-2), upcoming opponents with a combined record of 22-7.

El Capitan has  gotten an endorsement from Cal-Hi Sports, which elevated the Burners to No. 1 in Southern California Division III, a lofty position helped in part last week by Cathedral’s 42-28 win over then-undefeated Newbury Park.

Christian (5-0) is No. 1 in Southern California D-IV, but hasn’t cracked the San Diego Top 10. The Vaqueros are fifth in the local voting,

Burner, who for many years operated a sheet-metal business in nearby Santee, has guided the Lakeside entry to a 61-43-2 record since 2005.

Oceanside and Mission Hills, which will meet Oct. 10 at Oceanside, each has a bye this week.

Oceanside  moved  to No. 8 in Cal-Hi Sports‘ Top 25 and Mission Hills is 13th. Comebacking Cathedral (4-1) now has “On the Bubble” status, an upgrade from the abyss of its 55-10, opening-game loss to Folsom.

Helix and St. Augustine (2-3) also are on the bubble.

The UT-San Diego poll after games of Week 5:

# Team (1st place votes) W-L Points* Previous
1 Oceanside (19) 5-0 190 1
2 Mission Hills 4-1 159 2
3 Cathedral 4-1 154 3
4 Helix 4-1 137 4
5 El Capitan 4-0 128 5
6 San Marcos 5-0 61 8
7 La Costa Canyon 4-1 60 9
7 Eastlake 3-2 60 10
9 Steele Canyon 5-0 35 NR
10 Ramona 4-1 33 6

*Awarded on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.
NR: not ranked.
Others receiving votes:  Granite Hills, 14; Sweetwater, 12;  Christian, 9; St. Augustine, 4; Point Loma, 3; Carlsbad, 1.

Nineteen sportswriters, sportscasters, and CIF representatives from throughout San Diego County vote in the weekly poll:
John Maffei, Kirk Kenney, UT-San Diego;
Terry Monahan, Tom Saxe, Rick Hoff (UT-San Diego correspondents);
Bill Dickens (eastcountysports.com);
Steve Brand (San Diego Hall of Champions);
John Kentera, Ted Mendenhall, Bob Petinak, (The Mighty 1090);
Jerry Schniepp (CIF San Diego Section);
Rick Willis, Brandon Stone, (KUSI-TV);
Bruce Ward (San Diego City Schools);
Rick Smith (partletonsports.com);
Steve (Biff) Dolan, Rick (Red) Hill (Mountain Country 107.9 FM);
Bodie DeSilva (Sandiegopreps.com);
Drew Smith (sdcoastalsports.com).