It has been said for years that San Diego produces many of the best of the best players, but falls short when matching up with teams from North of the County line. That holds true in 2012.
Not counting Imperial County members, San Diego Section squads were 29-25-2 in pre-league intersectional games this season, but many of those involved lower division or 8-man squads.
Well-regarded local clubs were 0-5 in high profile contests against ranked, Southern Section tough guys from Orange and Riverside Counties.
The breakdown, including up-to-date won-loss records of the Southern Section teams in parenthesis:
(4-1) Temecula Chaparral 40, Oceanside 30.
(6-0) Mission Viejo 35, Mission Hills 21.
(4-2) San Clemente 21, La Costa Canyon 10.
(5-0) Vista Murrieta 21, Cathedral 10.
(6-0) El Toro 77, Valhalla 46.
There were exceptions:
LaCosta Canyon 42, Baldwin Park 0 (0-6).
Orange Glen 41, Oxnard Hueneme 7 (1-4).
Oceanside 34, Oakdale, Sac-Joaquin Section, 14 (4-1)
Steele Canyon 49, Canyon Country Canyon 49 (3-1-1).
Oceanside is the No. 1 team in the latest North County Times poll. La Costa Canyon is second, Cathedral third, and Mission Hills fifth. Valhalla is unranked.
Demographics, population areas, interest, and facilities aren’t that much different. Most Orange and Riverside County schools are within at least an hour from most of the San Diego schools.
Despite the losses, those San Diego coaches willing to schedule the tough nonleague games at the expense of wins and win streaks deserve some props.
WHAT GIVES?
Why the domination?
“It’s the intensity of the programs up here,” says Dave Ogas. “Nothing is overlooked.”
Ogas played for Don Coryell at San Diego State and was with the Oakland Raiders and Buffalo Bills in the NFL. Ogas was head coach for more than 20 years at Rancho Santiago College in Santa Ana and coached in San Diego at Mount Miguel and Mission Bay.
Intensity may be the answer if you’re to believe the report out of Orange County recently that the coach and team president were offering bounties …to their Tustin Pop Warner League team.
Give those San Diego Section coaches credit who are willing to schedule the tough nonleague games year in and year out.
Hoover, Otay Ranch, Olympian, Calexico, Grossmont, Army-Navy, Patrick Henry, and West Hills represent the San Diego Section’s Elite 8 this week as teams reached the halfway pole in the season and get ready to open league play.
The eight teams are the only 5-0 squads of the 95 playing football in the San Diego Section.
Grossmont (11) and Hoover (8), the oldest schools, have more 5-0 starts than the others combined.
5-0 prior to 2012:
Grossmont , 1925, ’33, ’34, 47, ’61, ’66, ’67, ’70, ’95, ’02, ’10.
Hoover, 1934, ’35, ’49, ’54, ’56, ’99, ’07, ’09.
Patrick Henry, 1971, ’74, ’96, ’97, ’99.
Army-Navy, 1987, ’90, ’02.
Otay Ranch, 2004, ’05.
West Hills, 1995.
Olympian, 2009.
Calexico’s 5-0 is its first in the San Diego Section. The Bulldogs and other Imperial Valley schools joined the San Diego Section in 2000 and prior records have not been researched.
ONE UNHAPPY POWEGIAN
No one is claiming a record, except on the frustration meter.
Poway’s Ryan Sharpe returned three second-quarter punts for touchdowns against Valley Center…and all three were nullified by penalties.
The Division II Titans still overpowered the Jaguars, 38-6. It was the second straight smackdown for D-IV Valley Center, which stepped up to face D-I Mission Hills in Week 4 and lost 38-14.
