2022 Week 11A: As Regular Season Ends, Playoffs Begin

Ten things, among many, to remember about the 63rd San Diego Section regular season:

–Nineteen teams won or tied for 18, eleven-man league championships.  Fallbrook and San Pasqual deadocked for first in the Valley.

–Carlsbad ruled the Avocado League for the fourth consecutive year.

–Chula Vista won an outright championship for the first time since 2003.

–Poway is undefeated and untied (in a post-pandemic, full season) for the first time since 2007.

–Granite Hills won the Grossmont Hills and defeated Helix for the 13th time in 59  games, and did it in four overtimes, a first in San Diego Section history.

–Blythe Palo Verde Valley’s 9-1 is its best since the 10-0 of 2004.

–Crawford’s 9-1 is its best since 2013.

–Oceanside (0-10) was winless for the third time in the school’s 97 seasons, matched by the 1941 (0-7) and 1927 (0-7-1) squads.

–Grossmont (0-10) was winless for the fourth time in the school’s 103 seasons, rivaled  by the 1953 (0-8), 1944 (0-5-2), and 1920 (0-4) teams.

–Army-Navy’s 13 points allowed the best since the 1976 (59 points) and 1940 (36) squads, which played eight-game seasons.

LEAGUE TEAM RECORD OVERALL COACH
Avocado Carlsbad 6-0 9-1 Thadd MacNeal
Central Crawford 4-0 9-1 Matt Marquez
City University City 4-0 8-2 Paul Lawrence
Coastal The Bishop’s 3-0 8-2 Shane Walton
Desert Blythe Palo Verde Valley 3-0 9-1 Wally Grant
Eastern Christian 4-0 6-4 Patrick Bugg
Grossmont Hills Granite Hills 3-0 8-2 Kellan Cobbs
Grossmont Valley El Capitan 6-0 8-2 Ron Burner
Imperial Valley El Centro Central 4-0 6-3 David Pena
Metro Mesa Mater Dei 3-0 6-4 John Joyner
Metro Pacific Chula Vista 4-0 6-4 Howard Bannister
Metro South Bay Montgomery 3-0 8-2 Freddie Dunkle
Pacific Escondido Charter 3-0 8-2 Jon Goodman
Palomar Poway 5-0 10-0 Kyle Williams
Sunset Army-Navy 3-0 9-1 Nehemiah Brunson
Valley* San Pasqual 4-1 7-3 Tony Corley
Fallbrook 4-1 7-3 Ross Johnson
Western Lincoln 4-0 9-1 David Dunn

*San Pasqual defeated Fallbrook, 14-6, in head-to-head matchup. San Pasqual lost to Valley Center, 19-7. Fallbrook defeated Valley Center, 42-20.

EIGHT-MAN

LEAGUE TEAM RECORD OVERALL COACH
Manzanita San Pasqual Academy 3-0 5-2 Mark Dederian
Ocean Victory Christian 4-0 9-0 Earl Benson
Surf Rock 3-0 8-1 Ben Jameson


2022 Week 11 B: Overtime, How it Began; Lincoln Regular-Season Champion

Granite Hills’ epic, four-overtime, 46-44 win over Helix for the Grossmont Hills championship represented the longest game in San Diego County history, although the first overtime contest also was long, for another reason.

From the 1976 season narrative:

NEW TIE-BREAKER TESTED

“History-making events are supposed to be heralded with sounding trumpets and helium-filled balloons,” wrote Steve Brand of The San Diego Union.

But the writer noted that a 6-6, semifinals playoff  tie between Morse and El Camino resulted in “disappointment and confusion,” all because of new tie-breaking rules.

Brand, on a morning newspaper deadline, was not a happy camper when he described what happened following the regulation tie:

“A twenty-minute discussion between officials, coaches, players, and statisticians over first downs, penetrations inside the 20-yard line, and a mysterious stopping of the clock just before the game ended.”

The teams tied with 7 first downs each and both had made two penetrations inside their opponent’s 20-yard line.  Those represented the first two elements of the new “California Tie-Breaker”  system.

Play resumed when the third tie-breaker kicked in.  Each team was given four plays from the 50-yard line.  Morse lost the coin toss and had first possession.

The Tigers had a net of minus two yards after four plays that included a 15-yard penalty. El Camino took over and essentially fell on the ball four consecutive plays, according to Brand.

The Wildcats were declared winners but the game went into the books as a tie.

The game was played at Vista, a technically neutral site, but the  the clock ‘inadvertantly’ stopped as time was running out and El Camino close to what would be an eighth and tie-breaking first down.”

Brand did make his deadline for the game story and overtime, after some refinements, became an exciting part of the landscape.

HORNETS WIN POLL, BUT…

Lincoln finished first (see below) but there will be a final, final poll at the end of the playoffs.  The Hornets won the head-to-head with Madison, 24-12,  and moved into first place for the first time. The Hornets will have to beat the Warhawks again, in a Open Division game between No. 2 and No. 3 seeds in the playoffs’ second round.

Pairings are available elsewhere on the site.  Follow the drop-downs in the “Football” menu to “Scores” or “Teams”.

The San Diego Union-Tribune Week 11 Top 10:

First-place votes in parenthesis.  NR—Not ranked.
Points on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.
*First-place votes.
Last entries in columns indicate previous rank. **Ranking unchanged.
Cal-Hi Sports’ and Max Preps’ represent state rankings.
RANK TEAM/RECORD POINTS MAX PREPS.COM CAL-PREPS.COM CAL-HI SPORTS
1 Lincoln (9-1) 22*/292/2 17/24 51.1/48.5 15/17
2 Carlsbad (9-1) 8*/271/3 20/18 50/51.8 18/19
3 Madison (9-1) 239/12 30/29 45.2/46.9
 29/18
4 Poway (10-0) 216/4 46/45 39.8/39 43/On the bubble
5 Granite Hills (8-2) 156/7 56/65 37.4/35.5
 **On the bubble
6 Cathedral (5-5) 151/6 51/47 39/40.2 35/35
7 Helix (7-3) 105/5 79/58 33.9/37 NR/NR
8 Mater Dei (6-4) 89/8 82/80 32.7/32.1 **On the bubble
9 Mission Hills (7-3) 81/9 59/63 37.2/35.8 On the bubble
10 El Camino (7-3) 38/10 76/76 34.3/36.4 NR/NR

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES
Mira Mesa (7-3, 3 points), La Costa Canyon (6-4, 2) University City (7-2, 1), El Capitan (7-2,  1).

  • John Maffei, San Diego Union-Tribune.
  • Steve Brand, Thomas Gutierrez, Rick Hoff, Terry Monahan, Don Norcross, Eric Williams, Freelance contributors.
  • Brandon Stone, Allison Edmonds, John Carroll, KUSI-Channel 51 TV.
  • Rick Smith, partletonsports.com.
  • Ramon Scott, Adam Paul, eastcountysports.com.
  • John Kentera, Braden Suprenant (97.3 FM The Fan).
  • Bodie DeSilva, scoreboardlive.com.
  • Steve (Biff) Dolan, Mountain Country 107.9 FM.
  • Christian Pedersen, San Diego Sports Association.
  • Troy Hirsch, Nic Pollino (Fox 5 San Diego).
  • Todd Cassen, Joe Heinz, Ron Marquez, CIF San Diego Section.
  • Mike Dolan, Rex Johnson, CIF Advisory Committee.
  • Joe Evangelist, San Diego Coaching Legends Committee.
  • Will Torrez, Valley Sports Network.
  • Raymond Brown, sdfootball.net.
  • Tom Helmantoler, Southern Conference Advisor.
  • MaxPreps.

TRUE GRID

Granite Hills’  victory over Helix  marked the 81st overtime since the first in 1976…the breakdown:  four overtimes (1), three  (4), two (18), one (58)…Sixty-four of 98 football-playing teams made the playoffs, 65.3 per cent…we’ve gotten used to teams with awful won-loss percentages getting in…this year’s champ, Westview, 1-9.