2024 Football Week 1: Patriots Turn Table on 77
Patrick Henry opened the season with a 77-48 victory over Grossmont and broke the school record, set in a 69-14 win over Coronado in 2021.
The outburst also more or less squared the record of a previous Patriots encounter. They were on the opposite end of a 77-point explosion by The Bishop’s seven years ago (see table).
Henry’s result marked the eighth time a San Diego County team had scored 77 points, tied for 21st highest all time.
There have been 109 games in which the winning team scored at least 70 in 11-man football. San Diego High set the all-time high in a 130-7 win in 1920 over Army-Navy.
We’ll go out on a limb and suggest that the Hilltoppers’ record, now 104 years old, is not in danger.
There have been an estimated nearly 30,000 games played by San Diego County teams since students from San Diego High teed up on Christmas Day, 1891, against “adults” from the “San Diego Football Club”.
The game, more like rugby, with no score ever reported, took place at what is now Chicano Park, near the on ramp to the San Diego-Coronado Bay Bridge.
The 77’s:
| YEAR | TEAM | OPPONENT | SCORE |
| 1923 | San Diego | Oxnard | 77-0 |
| 1969 | Castle Park | Bonita Vista | 77-14 |
| 1972 | Vista | San Pasqual | 77-0 |
| 2003 | Marian | Hilltop | 77-0 |
| 2005 | San Pasqual | San Marcos | 77-6 |
| 2008 | Christian | Foothills Christian | 77-24 |
| 2017 | The Bishop’s | Patrick Henry | 77-0 |
| 2024 | Patrick Henry | Grossmont | 77-48 |
MAFFEI FEELS IT
John Maffei’s first The San Diego Union weekly poll.
Points awarded on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. *First-place votes. NR–Not ranked.
Max Preps‘ and Cal-Hi Sports‘ are state rankings. Bold indicates latest ranking.
| RANK | TEAM/RECORD | POINTS | MAXPREPS.COM | CALPREPS.COM | CAL-HI SPORTS |
| 1. | Granite Hills (1-0) | 274/*13 | 21 | 44.9 | 16/21 |
| 2. | Lincoln (0-1) | 266/*10 | 18 | 48.2 | 18/9 |
| 3. | Cathedral (1-0) | 261/*7 | 47 | 30.1 | 21/23 |
| 4. | San Marcos (1-0) | 158 | 103 | 16.7 | 50 |
| 5. | Mission Hills (0-1) | 146 | 44 | 30.9 | On Bubble |
| 6. | Mount Miguel (1-0) | 136 | 177 | 4.5 | NR |
| 7. | Carlsbad (0-1) | 130 | 71 | 24.1 | NR/27 |
| 8 | El Camino (1-0) | 124 | 60 | 25.8 | On Bubble |
| 9 | La Costa Canyon (1-0) | 92 | 83 | 21.4 | NR |
| 10. | La Jolla (1-0) | 33 | 111 | 15 | NR |
OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES
Helix (0-1, 15 points), Del Norte (1-0, 9), El Centro Central (1-0, 2), Mt. Carmel (1-0, 2).
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 office.
- Brandon Stone, Allison Edmonds, John Carroll, Chase Izidoro (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 Committee.
- Raymond Brown (SDfootball.net).
- John Kentera, Steve (Biff) Dolan, Dennis Ackerman, Eric Williams, Thomas Gutierrez, Tom Ronco, Adam Paul (freelance contributors).