North County’s game of the year is  Friday night, when  Oceanside and Mission Hills, ranked 1-2 in the UT-San Diego football voting, will roll in the dirt for more than just neighborhood bragging rights.
Mission Hills (4-0), which  became a San Diego Section force under former Vista coach Chris Hauser, seeks its first-ever win over John Carroll’s Pirates (3-1). Oceanside holds a 5-0-1 advantage in a series that has been played regularly since 2009.
The teams tied 10-10 in 2011 and Oceanside has  beaten the Grizzlies in Section finals in 2007 and 2010 and in the semifinals in 2009.  The Pirates have had an average scoring advantage of 31-12 and outscored their Highway 78 rivals 185-76.
Another big game will match Cathedral and Southern Section power Murietta Vista Murietta.
The Broncos, Riverside County’s premier team and a Southern Section power, have victories of 66-28 over Downey, 52-13 over Yucaipa, and 69-21 over Redlands East Valley.
Cathedral is 2-1 and figures to be Murietta’s biggest test in the regular season.
The Top 10 still is the same at the top, but San Pasqual (4-0), and Eastlake (3-1) have been coming on.
| Team/1st Place Votes in ( ) | 2013 Record | Points* | Last Week | |
| 1 | Oceanside (25) | 3-1 | 304 | 1 |
| 2 | Mission Hills (6) | 4-0 | 292 | 2 |
| 3 | Helix | 3-1 | 227 | 4 |
| 4 | San Pasqual | 4-0 | 180 | 5 |
| 5 | Eastlake | 3-1 | 159 | 8 |
| 6 | Cathedral | 2-1 | 140 | 6 |
| 7 | St. Augustine | 3-1 | 127 | 7 |
| 8 | Madison | 3-1 | 92 | 3 |
| 9 | Ramona | 4-0 | 83 | 9 |
| 10 | Carlsbad | 4-0 | 71 | 10 |
Note: Vista Murrieta Broncos. The Nighthawks play for Murrieta Valley.
This week the Broncos are the #1-ranked team in the Southern Section.
Mission Hills will have a very difficult time with Oceanside, the Pirates are by far the best team in San Diego. The Open Division will be interesting come playoff time, hopefully the Grizzlies get a fair shake from the seeding committee.
Thanks for your excellent website!
Thank you. I’ll make the correction. I picked Mission Hills No. 1 in my preseason poll and I figure I have to stick with the Grizzlies until they lose one. Oceanside appears to have hit its stride. We’ll see this week.