Is Cathedral back?
The Dons, uncharacteristically uneven in 2022 despite their even 6-6 record, blasted Mater Dei, Cal-Hi Preps’ preseason state No. 34 and San Diego Section’s No. 3, 55-14, in the season opener and look for more success this week at Los Angeles West Hills Chaminade, a team coach Sean Doyle’s state Division I championship club clobbered, 50-17, in 2021.
Doyle, who annually opts for a challenging intersectional schedule that this year includes Phoenix Brophy Prep, Henderson Liberty of Nevada, and San Francisco St. Ignatius (Dan Fouts’ alma mater), plus Helix and the loaded rivalry teams of the Western League, rolled with quarterback Jack Stevens to knock out the state defending Division II-AA champion Crusaders.
Stevens completed 8 of 13 passes for 209 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 83 yards in seven carries for the San Diego Section preseason No. 7 Dons.
Doyle compared Stevens to Carlsbad’s heralded Julian Sayin and Stevens enthusiastically agreed. “I think Julian’s a helluva player,” the 6-foot, 1 inch senior said to Don Norcross of the Union-Tribune, “but I think I’m just as good.”
TRUE GRID
Six former NFL players are active head coaches: Eric Weddle made his debut at Rancho Bernardo, losing to Poway, 14-6; Bryan Wagner, in his fourth season at Hilltop, was a 27-21 winner at Valhalla; Maranatha’s Rick Novak began his third season with a 42-7 loss to Temecula Linfield; David Dunn’s 13th season at Lincoln started with a 41-0 victory at Honolulu Wai’anae; Shane Walton’s fourth season at The Bishop’s began with a 41-21 loss to La Jolla, and Nick Barnett is the first-year head coach at Del Norte and a 23-14 winner over Torrey Pines…
…Bonita Vista follows Lincoln in continuing San Diego’s Hawaii connection this week at Honolulu Kalani, 2-0 after wins of 20-9 over Waialua and 20-9 over William McKinley…the Barons’ 34-12 triumph over Castle Park was their first in the opening game since 2015…San Diego Section teams are 32-20 all time in visits to the islands…Sweetwater was the first, winning, 34-3, at Maui Wailuka Baldwin in 1984…Westview is 77-139-1 since its debut in 2003 but 15-4-1 in openers after a 34-14 decision against Olympian…
…Brandt Barker of El Capitan tied a school record of 7 touchdown passes and was 21×30 for 308 yards in the Vaqueros’ 47-18 blowout of Valley Center…Tanner Rust also threw for 7 TD’s in a 46-14 win over Santana in 2007…Julian Sayin of Carlsbad completed 24 of 34 passes for 185 yards and a touchdown as Carlsbad won a rematch at Inglewood, 30-6…Lincoln’s Akili Smith, Jr., son of the former Hornet and NFL No. 1 draft choice, was 9×17 for 167 yards and two touchdowns…La Jolla’s Jackson Diehl passed for 289 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 174 yards and three touchdowns in the Vikings’ 41-19 win over The Bishop’s…
…Brawley apparently didn’t want to test expected dangerous, stormy weather over the Laguna Mountains and passed on the trip to Scripps Ranch… doubtful the game will be rescheduled….
John Maffei’s Week 2 (for Week 1 games) Union-Tribune Poll:
Points awarded on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.
*First-place votes. NR–Not ranked.
Cal-Hi Sports‘ rankings include current and previous week.
Max Preps‘ and Cal-Hi Sports‘ are state rankings.
| RANK | TEAM/RECORD | POINTS | MAX PREPS.COM | CALPREPS.COM | CAL-HI SPORTS |
| 1. | Lincoln (1-0) | *20/284/1 | 8 | 59.8 | 11/11 |
| 2. | Carlsbad (1-0) | *8/268/2 | 10 | 57.2 | 12/12 |
| 3. | Granite Hills (1-0) | *1/228/4 | 24 | 40.6 | 27/29 |
| 4. | Madison (1-0) | 177/5 | 37 | 31.6 | 21/22 |
| 5. | Helix (1-0) | 167/8 | 52 | 28.7 | 36/NR |
| 6. | Cathedral (1-0) | *1/131/7 | 44 | 33.8 | 22/49 |
| 7. | La Costa Canyon (1-0) | 89/9 | 82 | 21.4 | NR/NR |
| 8. | Mission Hills (0-1) | 73/6 | 46 | 30.6 | On Bubble/NR |
| 9. | Mater Dei (0-1) | 67/3 | 65 | 25.7 | NR/34 |
| 10. | St. Augustine (1-0) | 28/NR | 151 | 10.8 | NR/NR |
OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES
El Camino (0-1, 18 points), El Capitan (1-0, 11), Poway (1-0, 10 points), Del Norte (1-0, 7), San Marcos (1-0, 5), Chula Vista (1-0, 1). Mira Mesa (0-1, 1).
VOTING PANEL
29 sportswriters, sportscasters, administrators from San Diego County, plus Max Preps.com.
- John Maffei (San Diego Union-Tribune).
- Don Norcross, Steve Brand, Rick Hoff, Eric Williams, Thomas Gutierrez , Freelance contributors.
- Brandon Stone, Allison Edmonds, John Carroll (KUSI, Channel 51).
- Rick Smith (partletonsports.com).
- Adam Paul (EastCountySports.com).
- Bodie DeSilva (ScorebookLive.com).
- John Kentera, Braden Suprenant (97.3-FM The Fan).
- Steve (Biff) Dolan (Mountain Country 107.9-FM).
- Christian Pedersen (San Diego Sports Association).
- Troy Hirsch, Nic Pollino (Fox 5 San Diego).
- Joe Heinz, Todd Cassen, Ron Marquez (CIF San Diego Section).
- Mike Dolan, Rex Johnson, Bruce Ward (CIF Advisory Committee).
- Joe Evangelist (San Diego Coaching Legends Committee).
- Will Torrez (Valley Sports Network).
- Tom Ronco (Imperial Valley Press).
- Raymond Brown (SDfootball.net).
- Tom Helmantoler (Southern Conference Advisor).
AS TIME GOES BY
Grossmont waited until the millennium to avenge an almost century of punishment by a variety of San Diego High teams.
The Foothillers are 4-0 against the Cavers since 2010, including this season’s 34-14 opener. They had steered clear of the Cavers for 56 years, following losses of 67-0 in 1953 and 41-19 in ’54.
The win in Week 1 left San Diego with a 15-6-1 edge in a series that began in 1921, the year after Grossmont opened.
New coach Anthony Lawrence was a winner and Grossmont, 5-18 since Tom Karlo retired after the 2020 season, snapped an 11-game losing streak to 2021.
A Foothiller view of the infrequent rivalry:
| YEAR | OPPONENT | SCORE |
| 1921 | San Diego Reserves | 0-40 |
| 1922 | San Diego | 7-40 |
| 1927 | San Diego B | 13-0 |
| 6-19 | ||
| 1942 | San Diego Hillers | 9-7 |
| San Diego Cavemen | 13-13 | |
| 1943 | San Diego | 0-14 |
| 1944 | 0-34 | |
| 1945 | 0-53 | |
| 1948 | 7-13 | |
| 1949 | 0-14 | |
| 1950 | 7-20 | |
| 1951 | 0-25 | |
| 1952 | 0-32 | |
| 1953 | 0-67 | |
| 1954 | 19-41 | |
| 2010 | *20-14 | |
| 2012 | 42-12 | |
| 2013 | 61-6 | |
| 2023 | 34-14 |
*Playoff game.
