2024 Football Week 10: Mabel O’Farrell Wins Again

Mabel O’Farrell is on a roll.

The Falcons won their second consecutive game and fourth all-time last week, dating to 2018 and 54 losses.

Bruce Newland is Mabel’s third coach since the Falcons began playing football seven seasons ago.  The 27-6 win over Mountain Empire followed a 38-12 triumph over Rock.

Heady stuff for the squad from the area sometimes known as South Encanto.

O’Farrell’s only other victories were 24-12 at La Habra Whittier Christian in 2022 and 1-0 by forfeit over Orange Glen in 2023.

A junior high when it opened in 1959, the campus on Skyline Drive, about halfway between Lincoln and what would become Morse, O’Farrell eventually transitioned to a performing arts school and in 1994 took on charter status.

The Falcons were independents for three seasons and then were slotted into the Pacific League in 2021.  They moved in 2022 to the Sunset League.

Who was Mabel O’Farrell? Not much is known.

She reportedly was born in the 1870s and one report claimed she was on the San Diego Board of Supervisors (unsubstantiated) and was said to once seeking to open a school for wayward youth in the early 20th century.

SOUTH BAY TRADITION

Sweetwater, which opened as the National City School in 1910, was the only high school south of the San Diego City limits until 1947 and the Red Devils’ No. 1 rival was Escondido or Grossmont, first in the County League and then the Metropolitan.

Chula Vista opened its doors in September, 1947, in a temporary facility on the grounds of the Brown Field Airport, about 10 miles from its present site.

The Red Devils and Spartans met for the first time in that post World War II era and last week’s 28-12 Sweetwater victory marked the 78th consecutive season the teams have gone head to head.

Sweetwater holds the series edge, 41 victories to 34.  Three games ended in ties.

MAFFEI FEELS IT

John Maffei’s The San Diego Union Week 10 poll:
Points awarded on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. *First-place votes. Previous ranking in (italics).
Bold indicates latest. NR–Not ranked. MaxPreps‘ and Cal-Hi Sports‘ are state rankings.

RANK TEAM/RECORD POINTS MAXPREPS CALPREPS.COM CAL-HI SPORTS
1. Lincoln (7-2) 30* 300 (1) 11 (13) 59.9 (59.1) 13 (13) 
2. La Costa Canyon (9-0) 263 (2) 26 (25) 47.7 (46.7) 21 (22)
3. Cathedral (7-2) 252 (3) 29 (32) 46.7 (45.3) 29 (31)
4. Granite Hills (7-2) 192 (4) 68 (65) 34.5 (33.9) 35 (35)
5. Mission Hills (7-2) 187 (5) 51 (55) 39.3 (37.1) 38 (39)
6. San Marcos (8-1) 157 (6) 58 (69) 37.3 (33.3) 45 (47)
7. Carlsbad (6-3) 96  (7) 71 (71) 34.3 (33.1) NR (On Bubble)
8. Mount Miguel (7-2)   91 (9) 116 (113) 25.2 (23.3) On Bubble (Bubble)
9. Scripps Ranch (9-0) 56 (10) 129  (147) 20.8 (22.8) NR
10. Rancho Bernardo (7-2) 25 (8) 136 (112) 24 (25.8) NR

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES
El Camino (5-4, 10 points), Torrey Pines (4-5, 9),  University (8-1, 5),  Brawley (8-1, 4), Valley Center (7-2, 2). Santa Fe Christian (8-1, 2), El Centro Central (7-2, 1).

VOTING PANEL

Twenty-nine sportswriters, sportscasters, administrators from San Diego County, plus Max Preps.com.

  • John Maffei (San Diego Union-Tribune).
  • Don Norcross, Steve Brand, Rick Hoff, Kevin Farmer (Union-Tribune Freelance contributors).
  • Joe Heinz, Todd Cassen, Ron Marquez (CIF San Diego Section).
  • Brandon Stone, Allison Edmonds, John Carroll, Chase Izidor (KUSI, Channel 51).
  • Rick Smith (partletonsports.com).
  • Braden Suprenant (97.3-FM The Fan).
  • Christian Pedersen (San Diego Sports Association).
  • Tom Helmantoler, (Southern Conference advisor).
  • Rex Johnson, Bruce Ward (CIF Advisory Committee).
  • Mike Dolan, Joe Evangelist (San Diego Coaching Legends).
  • Raymond Brown (sdfootball.net).
  • Bodie DeSilva, John Kentera, Steve (Biff) Dolan, Dennis Ackerman, Eric Williams, Thomas Gutierrez, Tom Ronco, Adam Paul (Freelance contributors).
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3 thoughts on “2024 Football Week 10: Mabel O’Farrell Wins Again

  1. Great stat on SUHI vs CV 78 straight. Is there any longer consecutive play by San Diego county schools…? Seems to me that would be the record, unless PL vs LJ have a longer streak..

    1. La Jolla and Point Loma first met in 1926. There were several breaks in the series, recently from 2016-20, when they didn’t meet. I will get more information to you. Thanks for writing.

    2. Point Loma and La Jolla played every year from 1926-72 but there have been several breaks since then. League changes, etc. Point Loma leads 47-24 with 5 ties.

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@
=
Away game
League game
>
>>,>>>,...
Overtime
2x,3x,... Overtime
I-V
A-AAA
O
Division I to V
Division A to AAA
Open Division
1T, 2T, ...
}, {
Final standing tie
Win, loss by 45 pt 'mercy' rule
*
**
***
^

^+
^^
1st round playoff
Quarterfinal playoff
Semifinal playoff
Championship
SoCal Championship
State Championship
8
8*
8**

8+
8-man team
Intraleague playoff
Southern Section playoff
8 vs 11-man team
~
-4
All boys, 2x enrollment
4 vs 3 grades, 9-12 vs 10-12
[
]
CA tiebreaker win,
loss
#, ##
!!
Forfeit win, loss
Game called, shortened or postponed
%Citrus-Desert Playoff

This will close in 0 seconds

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