2023 Week 4: Carlsbad Chips Away at Hornets’ Lead; Helix Rising

Carlsbad cut into Lincoln’s first place lead in the Union-Tribune poll for a second straight week and had 13 No. 1 votes to the Hornets’ 17.

Lincoln had 19 first-place votes two weeks ago but lost ground again despite a 54-19 win over declining state Division II-AA champion Mater Dei, while Carlsbad crowned Queen Creek Castille, the number 8 team in Arizona from the traditionally tough Phoenix-Mesa area, 49-9.

Helix, rapidly ascending, stayed fourth in the San Diego voting but has climbed to 19 in the human eyes of non-computer Cal-Hi Sports.

Lincoln gets another Southern Section test at home  week against usually tough San Bernardino Cajon (3-0).  Carlsbad is a big favorite over Ramona

Helix seeks its fifth win in a row at Cathedral, 1-3 and coming off a 35-28 loss to San Francisco St. Ignatius in the Bay Area.  A better idea could result in how far Helix has come and how far Cathedral has fallen.

John Maffei’s Week 5 Union-Tribune Poll:

Points awarded on  10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. *First-place votes.
NR–Not ranked. Last entries in columns are previous rankings.
Max Preps‘ and Cal-Hi  OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES
Mount Miguel (4-0, 16 points), San Marcos (3-1, 7), El Capitan (3-1, 5), Del Norte (3-1, 3), Mission Bay (4-0, 2), Oceanside (2-2, 2), Poway (3-1, 2), Ramona (2-1, 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).
  • Max Preps.