I went out on a very unstable limb last week and crashed.
Picking Torrey Pines to beat Carlsbad and Mission Hills to knock off Cathedral not only was ill-advised but was punctuated with an in-your-face (mine) combined, 82-17 score by the winning teams.
Now we have a championship that brings together two clubs representing, on paper, the closest matchup in several years of teams in the highest division.
Coach Thadd MacNeal’s 11-0 Carlsbad Lancers take on the Sean Doyle-coached Cathedral Dons for the Open title at Escondido High.
Wilson Stadium, named after a 1946 Escondido Cougars player who financially backed a new stadium, which opened as a 5,111-seat concrete edifice in 1998, will be the site.
Championship games have been played at Balboa Stadium, Aztec Bowl, San Diego-Jack Murphy-Qualcomm Stadium, and Southwestern College since the San Diego Section was formed in 1960 .
Plus Escondido, site of championship games in 2012 and the smallest venue yet for the Section.
“You probably could get a comfortable six thousand or seven thousand, cheek to jowl,” said John Maffei of The San Diego-Union-Tribune.
Southwestern, which officially seats, 7,275, was the site since 2014.
Southwestern offered more seats but Escondido, especially for the two North County clubs in this week’s Open finale, is much easier to reach. Escondido High has a sports-oriented staff and was able to offer the CIF more agreeable arrangements.
11-0 vs. 9-2
Carlsbad (11-0) has won 16 in a row dating to the 2019 season and is 26-2 since 2018. The Lancers have won the last three championships in the deep and tough Avocado League.
Cathedral (9-2) played one of the toughest schedules in the state, most notably traveling and losing to Concord De La Salle and Corona Centennial. They are 22-5 since 2018. The Dons have won four straight Western League titles and six of the last eight.
OUTSTANDING RECORDS
Lancers coach Thadd MacNeal, a 1985 Carlsbad graduate, replaced the retiring Bob McAllister in 2011 and has a 76-44 record.
Sean Doyle played at Cathedral and became their head coach in 1996, succeeding Ron Hamamoto. Doyle last week moved into a tie with Helix’ Jim Arnaiz for ninth place on the all-list for victories and has a 213-96 career record.
Carlsbad holds a 9-8 lead in an off-and-on series. The first time the teams met was in the 1964 Class A (small schools) championship and the then University of San Diego High, coached by Robert (Bull) Trometter, won 40-0.
A reintroduction was needed before the next Lancers-Dons meeting 17 years later, in 1981. They didn’t cross paths again until 2010.
Doyle has a 5-5 record against Carlsbad and is 45-14 in postseason contests with a stunning, 10 championships.
MacNeal is 2-2 versus Cathedral, 7-9 in the postseason, and was on the winning end of a 21-20 game in the 2019 semifinals against Cathedral.
HOW OTHERS SEE THEM
Carlsbad moved up from 13th to 10th in Cal-Hi Sports’ rankings this week. The Lancers are 17th in the state, according to Max Preps, and have a 56.9 rating from CalPreps.com.
Cal-Hi Sports jumped Cathedral from 19th to 13th this week and MaxPreps ranks it 14th. The Dons have a 63.0 rating by CalPreps.com
THE PICK
It should be a Lucky (running back Sutton) night for Cathedral over the Lancers and sophomore QB Julian Sayin.
Like we talked about at lunch Rick, Old school rules versus new. Carlsbad, a public school that plays only young men that live in their district against Cathedral, a private school that recruits from everywhere. Not a level playing field but that is the situation today. Sort of a David versus Goliath.
Carlsbad beat Catherdral in the semifinals in 2019, but, yes, privates, including charters, have an advantage, although I heard that some limitations on residence requirements have affected charters. Stay well and safe, Larry.