Not the most significant achievement in school history, but St. Augustine celebrated.
The Saints won at Los Angeles Loyola, 17-14, last week, defeating the Cubs for the first time since Prohibition.
Okay, so it was only the eighth time the teams had faced each other in the 88 years and 89 seasons since 1928.
But the victory was the San Diego squad’s first since the series resumed in 2014. Loyola won as the host, 42-35, two years ago and 23-20 as the visitor in 2015.
Wheel and Deal Herb Corriere was the Saints coach when the schools first got together for a 0-0 tie in 1926.
BUT NOT OF VOTING AGE
Strengthened by the addition of six San Diego High graduates who were eligible because none had reached the age of 21, the Saints defeated the Cubs, 25-0, two seasons later.
(Relations between San Diego and St. Augustine were poor during the ‘twenties, but a truce was reached after principal John Aseltine and Father O’Meara of St. Augustine issued a joint statement of athletic cooperation. Search 1928: Eligibility Showdown for Saints and Hilltoppers.)
The Saints’ victory in the final game was the highlight of a 6-3 season, since Loyola had been 9-0 in 1927. Despite the influx of Hilltoppers, St. Augustine had dropped its opener to San Diego, 6-2.
The local team and the Cubs did not meet again until St. Augustine, struggling in its attempt to land a league affiliation, joined the far-flung Southland Catholic loop in 1945.
All of the Saints’ league opponents were in the Los Angeles area, but at least some of the games were played in Balboa Stadium, the Saints’ home turf in those days.
The Saints were part of this long-distance alignment through the 1950 campaign. They lost to the Cubs, 26-0, in 1945, 25-7, in 1947, 35-0 in 1949, and 27-6 in 1950.
Loyola holds a 6-2-1 lead in the series.
Heading into Week 4, St. Augustine retained the top spot in the Union-Tribune poll.
THREE IN FIRST 18
The Saints’ 248 points were one less than in Week 3. Maybe that was because I voted for Helix No. 1 this week and the Saints No. 2, after having the Saints on top last week.
The situation is reversed in the Cal-Hi Sports rankings. Helix is 13th, Cathedral 14th, and St. Augustine 18th. Madison, Oceanside, and Rancho Bernardo are teams “on the bubble.”
First-place votes in parenthesis.
Points awarded on basis of 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1.
| Rank | Team | W-L | Points | Last Week |
| 1. | St. Augustine (13) | 3-0 | 248 | 1 |
| 2. | Helix (6) | 2-1 | 237 | 2 |
| 3. | Cathedral (3) | 3-0 | 218 | 3 |
| 4. | Oceanside (3) | 3-0 | 195 | 4 |
| 5. | Rancho Bernardo (1) | 3-0 | 168 | 5 |
| 6. | Madison | 2-1 | 124 | 7 |
| 7. | Mission Hills | 2-0 | 110 | 6 |
| 8. | Mater Dei | 2-0 | 80 | 9 |
| 9. | San Marcos | 3-0 | 35 | 10 |
| 10. | Poway | 3-0 | 34 | 9 |
Others receiving votes: Mt. Carmel (3-0, 15 points); Grossmont (2-0, 10), La Costa Canyon (2-1, 6); Carlsbad (1-2, 5), Valhalla (2-0, 3), The Bishop’s (2-0, 1).
Twenty-seven sportswriters, sportscasters, and other representatives comprise the voting panel:
John Maffei, Union-Tribune. Terry Monahan, Don Norcross, Tom Saxe, Rick Hoff, Jim Lindgren, Union-Tribune contributors. Michael Bower, Pomerado News. Lisa Lane, Fox 5 News. Montell Allen, MBA Sports-SDFNL Magazine. Brandon Stone, Rick Willis, KUSI, Channel 51. Adam Clark, Ted Mendenhall, Taylor Quellman, The Mighty 1090. Steve (Biff) Dolan, Mountain Radio 107.9 FM. Bob Petinak, 1360 Radio. Bill Dickens, Adam Paul, Chris Davis, eastcountysports.com. Bodie DeSilva, sandiegopreps.com. Drew Smith, sdcoastalsports.com. Raymond Brown, sdfootball.net. Rick Smith, partletonsports.com. Steve Brand, San Diego Hall of Champions. Jerry Schniepp, John Labeta, CIF San Diego Section. John (Coach) Kentera, Prep Talent Evaluator.
QUICK KICKS—Carlsbad’s record went from 2-1 to 1-2 after the Lancers self-reported to the CIF the use of an ineligible player, who got into five plays at the end of the 27-0, season-opening win over Del Norte…Lincoln’s Asante Hartzog threw for 379 yards and six touchdowns in a 40-27 win over Point Loma…the Hornets led, 40-13, after three quarters and are 2-0 with a home game coming up against Hilltop…Lincoln was 2-0 last season, then bottomed out at 2-8…University City quarterback Kees Van Daelen is Dutch, so his first name is pronounced “Case”…Van Daelen was 20 x 29 for 294 yards and two touchdowns but lost a passing duel to Scripps Ranch’s Kyle Mullin, who threw for 436 yards and 4 touchdowns in the Falcons’ 35-19 victory…Escondido may wonder why it resumed playing La Costa Canyon after dropping a 40-14 decision…it was the first time the teams had played since 2009 and increased La Costa’s all-time record in the series to 8-0 since 1996….
