2023 Week 3: Helix Barges Into Contention

A month ago, before the games, Lincoln and Carlsbad were the likely candidates for a destination game in the Open Division playoffs, well into November.

The Hornets and Lancers have not disappointed, 6-0 combined with impressive wins against intersectional rivals.

It’s too early to rule out other contenders, but Cathedral, after an early rout of Mater Dei, has lost two intersectionals; Madison dropped  a 22-20 decision to El Dorado Oak Ridge from the Sacramento-area Sierra Foothills league, arguably the strongest in Northern California, and Mission Hills has lost to heralded Granite Hills, which struggled before pulling out a 24-21 victory over St. Augustine.

Then there is Helix, which opened the season ranked a telescopic-distance 88th in the state by Max Preps, had a low CalPreps index (13.7) ,wasn’t noticed by Cal-Hi Sports, and was No.8 in the Union-Tribune poll. The Highlanders are 3-0 after wins of 38-34 over Huntington Beach Edison, 45-21 over St. Francis of Mountain View, and 30-21 over Red Mountain of Mesa, Arizona.

Coach Damaja Jones’ Scots get another big test this week at No. 4 Madison.

EAGLES FINALLY TAKE FLIGHT

Granite Hills, 82-38 since 2013 under coach Kellen Cobbs, who weathered a 1-9 inaugural, 2012 campaign and are defending state Division II-AA champions, had to score a very late touchdown after leading, 17-7, and then survived a missed field goal in the last seconds to edge up-and-coming St. Augustine last week.

Ron Gladnick, 5-7 in 2014 at Clairemont, and 38-22 from 2016-’21 at Torrey Pines, was hired by St. Augustine last season after the Saints had fallen to 2-9 in ’21 and made a coaching change.  Gladnick is from Long Island, N.Y., and attended Hillsborough College in Michigan.

A group of us were having lunch at Pete’s, on 30th Street and Upas, during the preseason.  Gladnick came in and picked up an order of takeout lunches for all his coaches.  Gladnick’s coaching stipend reportedly goes to his assistants.

John Maffei’s Week 4 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
San Marcos (3-0, 27 points), El Capitan (3-0, 16), Ramona (2-0, 7), Mater Dei (0-2, 4), Mount Miguel (3-0, 3).

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.

IT’S IN THE GENES

Stephen Michael Cota, Jr.,  is St. Augustine’s deep snapper on punts, plays on special teams and is a safety on defense, contributing to the legacy of a remarkable athletic family.

Stephen’s grandfather, Ron Cota, was a first team all-San Diego Section center and linebacker for St. Augustine in 1961 and Stephen’s  father was a second team all-section linebacker on Benny Edens’ 13-0 Point Loma team in 1987.

THERE ARE MORE

Uncle Bob Cota played for coach Robert (Bull) Trometter at University in 1969 and cousin Adrian Bueno was a free safety for Point Loma a decade ago. Uncle Charlie Cota set a record of 12 feet and tied for first in the Southern Section Class B  pole vault finals for Kearny in 1953.  Uncle Paul Cota ran the 880 and mile at St. Augustine in 1958 and uncle Richard Cota was the Eastern League champion in the in the mile with a best time of 4:26.8 in 1964.

The Cota brothers and many of their relatives also attended St. Charles Borromeo parochial school.  Paul, Richard, and Ron helped their civil engineer father Paul Cota design and install a track and field oval at St. Augustine in the early ‘sixties.