John Carroll hasn’t won 247 games for nothing.

Thrown off by Helix’ speed and quick start, Carroll, coaching from the Southwestern College press box, went to a no-huddle offense late in the third quarter and Oceanside scored the game’s last 17 points to put away Helix, 20-13, in the San Diego Section Open Division final.

“We had the up-tempo in the game plan the whole time,” Pirates quarterback Matt Romero told John Maffei of the Union-Tribune.  “I’m not sure why we didn’t use  it in the first half, but we came out second half and did it and it was successful.”

Warhorse Josh Bernard gouged out 84 yards in 18 carries and made 13 tackles on  defense for the Pirates.

Nate Stinson had Helix looking good after a 76-yard touchdown run in the first quarter gave the Highlanders a 10-0 lead.

Carroll now is 6-2 against Helix in the finals.

This was Oceanside’s 15th section championship, dating to the first won by Herb Meyer’s 1963 squad.

EXTRA DOES IT

Of the 44 overtime games played in the San Diego Section since the first in 1976, half have been in the playoffs, including The Bishop’s gritty, 19-16 victory over battling Mater Dei in the Division IV championship Friday night.

The team that had scored 560 points in 12 games trailed, 10-0, at halftime against a club the Knights had beaten, 38-21, in the regular season.

Leading, 13-10, The Bishop’s surrendered a 22-yard field goal to Alex Golembiewski that sent the game into the extra session, then watched as Golembiewski put the Crusaders in front, 16-13.

Bulla Graft, who rushed for a hard-earned 111  yards in 21 carries,  concluded a marvelous four seasons at the La Jolla campus with a one-yard run for the victory.

Graft fired the Knights with some Churchillian oratory.

Writer Kirk Kenney quoted Graft as telling his teammates, “Whatever pain you feel, release it. When you get that ring, you’ll feel no pain.”

SAINTS STILL STANDING 

“My idea was to throw it up and let Jacob (Baker) do his work out there,” said St. Augustine quarterback Thomas (B.F.) Goodridge.

To borrow  from the Book of Genesis, Baker climbed Jacob’s ladder to bring down Goodridge’s pass with 8 seconds remaining in the game, pushing St. Augustine over the top in a 49-42 win against Madison in D-II.

The Saints  scored the game’s last three touchdowns.  They trailed, 42-28, in the third quarter but were in the game because of Elijah Preston, who rushed for 255 yards in 33 carries and scored twice.

The game was razor close statistically.  St. Augustine’gained 489 yards,  Madison 488.

Kareem Coles of the Warhawks ran for 107 yards in 17 carries, passed for 159 yards and ran for two touchdowns and passed for two.

II & IV

El Capitan struggled with Rancho Bernardo  before winning the II title, 14-7, and Christian, leading, 8-3, and trailing, 9-8, rode Adrian Petty’s 77-yard kickoff return for a touchdown and 93 yards and one touchdown rushing to take out Hoover, 31-9.

The St.Charles Borromeo Church was filled to its football-field-sized capacity Friday, Dec. 5, 2014, as family members and friends said goodbye to Elena Casanova Cota, who accomplished much in her 94 years.

Mrs. Cota raised five sons and a daughter and three of those sons created an athletic legacy at St. Augustine High.

Eldest son Paul was a standout half-mile runner at St. Augustine and San Diego State. Paul and younger brothers Ron and Richard helped their designer father, a civil engineer, assemble the track and field facilities at the school.

Richard was the Eastern League mile champion at 4:26.8 in 1964 and was a member of outstanding teams at Mesa College and San Diego State, where he lowered his best time to 4:12.

Ron was a first-team all-San Diego Section linebacker on the 1961 Saints team that posted a 6-1-1 record.  Ron also played at Cal Poly (Pomona).  His son, Stephen, was a second-team all-section choice as a linebacker and played on the 13-0 Point Loma team of 1987.

Stephen ‘s nephew and Ron’s grandson lettered in football on Point Loma’s 2013 squad.

“Above all, our mother was always there, for all of us,” said Ron.