2024 Football Week 3: Hauser And Grizzlies Enter Elite Circle
Take a bow, Chris Hauser, and a doffing of the fedora to the Mission Hills coach, the 11th in San Diego County history to win at least 200 games.
Hauser (200-87-2) last week coached the Grizzlies to a 28-14 victory over Oceanside 21 seasons after his first, 26-6 over Vista Murietta in 2004.
That win in ’04 was the only taste of success for the Grizzlies, who, finished 1-10 and followed with a 4-6 in 2005 before finding their stride with a 9-3 campaign in 2006.
Hauser played for the legendary Dick Haines at Vista and coached the Panthers to a 34-15 record from ’00-03 before taking the start-up program at Mission Hills.
Hauser’s 200 wins is third among active coaches to the 237 of Monte Vista’s Ron Hamamoto and 234 of Cathedral’s Sean Doyle.
The all-time leader is Herb Meyer, light years away with 339, after 113 at Oceanside and 226 at El Camino, from 1959-2003.
Several coaches could earn their 100th victories his season. San Pasqual’s Tony Corley (98), Carlsbad’s Thadd MacNeal (98), Lincoln’s David Dunn (96), and Granite Hills’ Kellan Cobbs (95) are well placed. La Costa Canyon’s Sean Sovacool (92) has a shot.
GLOBAL WARMING?
The term wasn’t a part of the lexicon more than 60 years ago, but the triple index temperatures that visited the area last week brought back memories of a game I covered for the Evening Tribune on a hot Friday night.
From the 1963 football narrative:
“Hoover and Helix battled heat that set a San Diego record of 111 degrees on Thursday, Sept. 27, and on Friday reached 104, the fifth highest reading since records began in 1874.
Temperature for the 8 p.m. kickoff on Sept. 28 was at least 100 degrees and the Cardinals and Highlanders responded with a memorable game before about 6,000 persons at Hoover.
The Cards won, 14-13, when Hoover drove 81 yards in the final 4 minutes to score the winning touchdown.”
MAFFEI FEELS IT
John Maffei’s The San Diego Union Week 3 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 ranking. NR–Not ranked. Max Preps‘ and Cal-Hi Sports‘ are state rankings.
| RANK | TEAM/RECORD | POINTS | MAXPREPS.COM | CALPREPS.COM | CAL-HI SPORTS |
| 1. | Lincoln (19)* 2-1 | 281 (2) | 18 (21) | 50.5 (50.6) | 15 (17) |
| 2. | Cathedral (7)* 3-0 | 268 (3) | 28 (27) | 40.4 (40.6) | 16 (18) |
| 3. | Granite Hills (4)* 2-1 | 239 (1) | 47 (20) | 32 (47.2) | 19 (15) |
| 4. | San Marcos (3-0) | 191 (4) | 51 (67) | 31 (26.8) | 38 (46) |
| 5. | Mission Hills (2-1) | 179 (5) | 70 (46) | 26.1 (32.9) | 41 (49) |
| 6. | La Costa Canyon (3-0) | 152 (8) | 31 (60) | 38.2 (28.5) | 43 (NR) |
| 7. | Carlsbad (2-1) | 116 (7) | 30 (50) | 38.9 (31.6) | On Bubble (Bubble) |
| 8 | Mount Miguel (3-0) | 107 (6) | 151 (168) | 10.4 (7.6) | NR (On Bubble) |
| 9. | La Jolla (3-0) | 59 (9) | 90 (100) | 21.4 (19.5) | NR (NR) |
| 10. | El Camino (2-1) | 41 (10) | 108 (130) | 25.8 (17.3) | On Bubble (Bubble) |
OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES
Rancho Bernardo (2-0), 5 points. Mt. Carmel (3-0, 4). Helix (1-2, 3). University City (3-0, 2), El Centro Central (2-0), 1), Scripps Ranch (3-0), 1.
VOTING PANEL
Thirty 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).
- Bodie DeSilva (ScorebookLive.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).
- John Kentera, Steve (Biff) Dolan, Dennis Ackerman, Eric Williams, Thomas Gutierrez, Tom Ronco, Adam Paul (Freelance contributors).