2016 Week 17, Cathedral, Madison, & Verdell Hold Sway

Football, it’s  a wrap.

Cathedral finished fifth in Cal-Hi Sports‘ state top 25, Helix was 14th, and Madison 19th in an outstanding  San Diego Section season.

Coach Sean Doyle’s Cathedral Dons, wearing the letter “U” on  their helmets in the state championship in honor of Cathedral’s previous University of San Diego High designation (and Doyle’s alma-mater), ran the table in a 15-0 season.

The closest any teams have come to this Cathedral club were the 14-0, Tyler Gaffney-led Dons of 2008, and the 14-0 Morse Tigers of Teddy Lawrence and Company in 1990.

I agreed with John Maffei of the San Diego Union-Tribune when the prep writer called this year’s Dons squad the best in the 56-year history of the San Diego Section.

My reasoning was that no one had ever won for 15 consecutive weeks and Cathedral, unlike its ’08 predecessor or John Shacklett’s ’90 Morse, played a heavy intersectional schedule.

The Dons played five teams from out of the section, including three early in the season. They defeated  L.A. City power Narbonne, 35-28, in the Southern California 1-AA final, and Stockton St. Mary’s in overtime, 38-35, for the state title in a repeat of a 37-34 victory over St. Mary’s in ’08.

Cathedral outscored its 15 opponents by an average score of 40-15.  The ’08 team scored a record 671 points and had a winning margin of 48-17.  The ’90 Morse team had held the section scoring record of 649 points with an average advantage of 46-13.

Neither ’08 Cathedral or ’90 Morse played the type of schedule of this year’s Dons.

After a 56-15 win over Honolulu Punahou, one of the strongest teams in Hawaii, the Tigers’ schedule featured only San Diego Section squads.

The situation was almost the same with Cathedral in ’08.  The Dons had a 63-7 victory over weak Chino early in the season and then did not meet an intersectional foe again until the final versus St. Mary’s.

WARHAWKS’ ROUSING FINISHES

Rick Jackson’s Madison Warhawks (13-2) became one of the most popular teams in the state with some incredible play in the San Diego Section D-I championship and in the Southern California final.

The Warhawks overcame a 31-7, St. Augustine halftime lead to defeat the Saints, 35-31, for the section D-I crown and then overcame a 19-point fourth-quarter deficit to top Calabasas, 60-53, in overtime. They won the state II-AA title, 23-17 over San Jose Valley Christian.

Helix (11-3) had an opening game loss to Timpview, Utah, which posted a 9-3 record and went to its state finals.  The Highlanders also defeated strong Northern entry Concord Clayton Valley and played two tough losses with Cathedral, including  the section Open final.

VERDELL LEADS SCORERS

Mater Dei’s Oregon-bound C.J. Verdell scored 40 touchdowns and added a 2-point conversion for a section-leading 242 points. Tyler Saikhon of El Centro Southwest was second with 188.

Verdell’s is the 10th highest, one-season total in San Diego County history. Verdell scored 204 points in 2015, second only to the 210 of Helix’ Nate Stinson.

Not all teams submitted team and individual stats, which were compiled by Max Preps.

For a complete list of San Diego Section scoring leaders link to “Football” and “Individual Performances” in the drop down  menu.