San Diego Section teams were 1-2 in state championship games last week, with Lincoln’s hard fought, 28-26 win over Pittsburg at Mission Viejo Saddleback College in Division 1-AA a tribute to coach David Dunn and his staff.

Dunn coached the Hornets to a second D1-AA title in three seasons and their 35^th victory in the last 39 games.

The 12-2 Hornets kept the North Coast Section Pittsburg Pirates at a distance, never trailing and completing a year in which they never were at home, for practice or a game.

The playing surface at Vic Player Stadium on the Hornets’ campus was declared unsafe, so Lincoln bused for games to Southwestern College, nine miles away in Chula Vista, and they bused to more than one venue for practice.

According to Hornets assistant coach Brian Crusoe, Lincoln practiced at Logan Memorial Education Center, a soccer field with no goal posts or correct yard markings; San Diego State, and Crawford.

“Never had a season like it,” understated Dunn, who played at Morse and Fresno State before being a fifth-round draft choice of the Cincinnati Bengals in 1995 and playing seven seasons as a wide receiver-tight end in the NFL.

“We said we’d be road warriors and we backed it up,” added offensive coordinator Jason Carter to Don Norcross of The San Diego Union-Tribune.

Lincoln took to the low forties football temperature and rushed for 272 yards in 64 attempts.  Quarterback Akili Smith, Jr., completed 6 of 11 passes for 171 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 44 yards in 10 carries, including the Hornets’ final touchdown with 3:44 remaining. The score culminated a12-play, 80-yard drive.

Leading rusher Aden Jackson, who had gained 1,462 yards and scored 20 touchdowns, did not play, out with an ankle injury.  Donald Reed, Jr., who hadn’t handled the ball since Week 5, stepped in and contributed 126 yards in 21 carries.  Junior Curtis had 121 yards in 28 as the deep and talented Hornets mounted a stout running attack.

Akili Smith, Jr., (left) and Lincoln  teammates celebrate with trophy after state Division 1AA championship.  Courtesy, Mark Tennis, Cal-Hi Sports.

DIVISION V-AA

Central Coast Section champion Carmel defeated El Capitan, 48-7, at the Fullerton Union High School District Stadium.

“We have nothing to be sad about,” Vaqueros coach Ron Burner told John Maffei of the Union-Tribune.  “We played hard.  We competed.  I’m sorry it had to end this way for the seniors…but we’re still (San Diego Section) champions.”

DIVISION VI-A

Tuolumne Summerville of the Sac-Joaquin Section, defeated Monte Vista, 38-21, at the Fullerton stadium.

Coach Ron Hamamoto’s Monarchs were treading water with a 5-5 record at the end of the regular season and were about to turn out the lights.

But Rancho Buena Vista opted out of the playoffs and the Monarchs went in as a 12 seed in Division 5 of the San Diego Section playoffs.

The Monarchs gathered and went deep into the post season with five straight wins, along the way elevating Hamamoto to No. 3 among San Diego County coaches in all-time wins.

Hamamoto’s 246 victories trail the 339 by Herb Meyer and 248 by John Carroll.  Ron passed Bennie Edens (238) and Rob Gilster (243) this season.

“I’m proud of what this group accomplished,” Hamamoto told John Maffei. “We improved so much over the course of the season.”

Monte Vista became the fifth team in County history to play a 16th game, following La Jolla Country Day in 2016, Steele Canyon, 2017, Lincoln, 2018, and El Camino, 2019.

Three veteran coaches will lead the San Diego Section contingent in state championship games this week at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo and Fullerton High.

Monte Vista’s Ron Hamamoto, who also coached at University, Rancho Bernardo, and Lincoln, has an all-time record of 246-193-2 (.560) and trails only Herb Meyer (339) and John Carroll (248) in victories.

El Capitan’s Ron Burner (122-102-2 (.547) has state championship game experience, losing to Moraga Campolindo, 35-28, in 2014.

Lincoln’s David Dunn (104-60-1 (.633) goes for his second state 1-AA title after winning in 2022 and is 35-4 in the last three seasons.

The competing teams:

DIVISION I-AA

Lincoln (11-2) versus Pittsburg (12-2) Friday, 8 p.m., Mission Viejo Saddleback College.

David Dunn’s Hornets played one of the toughest schedules in the state and emerged in the final seconds last week to win the Southern regional, 34-27, over Newbury Park…Lincoln opponents posted an overall record of 101-60, actually bettered by the 105-53 by opponents of Pittsburg, about 41 miles East of San Francisco and winner of the Sac-Joaquin Section, 28-27 over 13-1 Folsom…the Pirates lost to Bellflower St. John Bosco, 35-14, and Concord de La Salle, 10-7…Pittsburg is Cal-Hi Sports No. 7 team this week, followed by Folsom and  then Lincoln at No. 9…Calpreps.com is calling a 31-27 victory for Lincoln….

DV-AA

El Capitan (11-3) versus Carmel (14-0) Friday, 8 p.m., Fullerton High.

Ron Burner is in 20^th consecutive season as Vaqueros’ coach…14-0 El Cap lost the state D-III championship game in 2014 to Moraga Campolindo, 35-28…Carmel won the Central Coast Section title and the Northern regional, 42-41, over Acalanes Lafayette…Carmel High opened in 1940 and the school mascot is known as the Padre…a beautiful community along state Highway 1, Carmel’s many attractions include the Hog’s Breath Inn, opened in 1970 by Clint Eastwood, who sold the restaurant a few years ago…a popular item still on the menu is the Dirty Harry New York strip steak with garlic mashed potatoes, chef veggies and grain mustard mushroom sauce…Calpreps.com predicts a 41-26 Padres victory….

DVI-A

Monte Vista (10-5) versus Tuolumne Summerville (13-1) Saturday, 3 p.m. at Fullerton High.

Monte Vista’s Ron Hamamoto won San Diego Section championships in 1994 at University (34-0 versus La Jolla), 2017 at Monte Vista (71-48 versus San Diego), and 38-20 over Bonita Vista two weeks ago…the Monarchs, a No. 12 seed, got into the San Diego Section DV playoffs only after 1-9 Rancho Buena Vista bailed on the postseason, opening the door for Monte Vista to squeeze in…a graduate of Long Beach Poly, Hamamoto became a head coach in 1985 at University…succeeded at Uni in 1996 by Sean Doyle and succeeded in 2011 at Lincoln by David Dunn…the orange and black-clad Summerville Bears’ only loss was to Mother Lode League rival Calaveras San Andreas (9-3 with minus 1.2 Calpreps.com rating), 35-34…the Sac-Joaquin Section champion defeated Atherton Sacred Heart, 45-28, in the Northern California regional final…Tuolumne is located in the California Gold Country, approximately 60 miles east of Modesto…Calpreps.com predicts  a 48-21 Summerville victory….

The six San Diego Section teams playing in the Southern California regional playoffs this week, their opponents, and the Calpreps.com rating for each team.  Winners will play champions of the Northern California regional.

Competitive Equity is defined by the CIF as “finding ways for teams to compete that are similar with each other in a competitive nature.”

Back in the day school enrollment and geography determined the levels on which teams competed. You wouldn’t see a school with almost 2,500 students playing one with 120 in the playoffs.

You will this Saturday when big school Poway (6-7) plays host to tiny Arcadia Rio Hondo Prep (12-1) in the Southern California regional III-A playoffs.

It’s happening because The CIF gradually moved to the system employed this year, in which teams’ won-loss record and strength of schedule is computed by Calpreps.com.

Rio Hondo, with 71 boys and total enrollment of 120 for grades 7-12, has a higher Calpreps.com grade (31.6) than Poway (30.1), which was 4-7 in the regular season but won a San Diego Section championship by outscoring its last two opponents, 63-27 and 62-24.

Titans coaches probably had conversations with Francis Parker coaches this week.

Rio Hondo defeated the Lancers, 55-28, in the 2024 opener enroute to a season in which its only loss was to a large school, Torrance, 28-21.

Poway’s opponent may have set a CIF record for enrollment differential last week when many of the school’s 71 males teamed to defeat Warren High of Downey, with 3,635 students, 43-16.

Noah Penunuri led the winners’ attack with 228 yards in 36 carries and three touchdowns.

The Kares, in business since 1964 to Poway’s 1961, own a 6-2 record against Parker, Midway Baptist (now Ocean View), and Santa Fe Christian since 1977.  They played eight-man football many years in the Prep League but switched to the Gold Coast loop in 2018 to play the 11-man game.

John Maffei’s final The San Diego Union poll:
Points awarded on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. *First-place votes. Previous ranking in (italics). Previous rankings were before San Diego Section playoffs.
Bold indicates latest. NR–Not ranked. MaxPreps‘ and Cal-Hi Sports‘ are state rankings.

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES
Torrey Pines (5-7, 16 points) Monte Vista (9-5, 11), Rancho Bernardo (9-3, 9), El Capitan (10-3, 7), St. Augustine (4-10, 5), Scripps Ranch (9-2, 2), Del Norte (7-5, 1).

VOTING PANEL

Twenty-nine 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).
• Brandon Stone, Allison Edmonds, John Carroll, Chase Izidor (KUSI, Channel 51).
• Rick Smith (partletonsports.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).
• Raymond Brown (sdfootball.net).
• Bodie DeSilva, John Kentera, Steve (Biff) Dolan, Dennis Ackerman, Eric Williams, Thomas Gutierrez, Tom Ronco, Adam Paul (Freelance contributors).

Coach Kellan Cobbs’ Granite Hills Eagles (11-2) take on another tough Orange County opponent when they visit Huntington Beach Edison (10-4) Saturday at Huntington Beach High.

Granite Hills was a 49-21 loser to eventual state champion Mission Viejo in a 2023 regional playoff and Edison dropped a 49-24 decision to Mission Viejo this season.

Another of Edison’s losses in 2024 was 21-17 to San Clemente, a 27-17 loser to La Costa Canyon.  The Chargers lost their first two games, 29-28, to Clovis West and 22-21 to Yorba Linda.

Granite Hills dopped a 39-21 decision to Perry of Gilbert, Arizona, at Cathedral and, in a shocker later in the season, to Cathedral, 52-6.

The Eagles, with a 46.6 Calpreps.com rating, will face one with a 56.1 Calpreps grade and a strong running attack, led by Julius Gillick, who is averaging 163 yards a game rushing and has scored 33 touchdowns.

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

Edison is not named after Thomas A. Edison, whose many inventions included the electric light.

A contest to name the school, which opened in 1969, resulted in honoring Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, who was assassinated during the 1968 presidential campaign.

School honchos stepped in.

The land on which the campus was built had been donated by Southern California Edison, a public utility, and after some discussion Kennedy High became Edison High.

Perhaps as a bow to electricity and to Thomas Edison, the green and gold-clad school athletic teams became identified as the Chargers.

Granite Hills has never played Edison, but the Chargers have vintage and recent history here.

Coach Dick Haines’ Vista Panthers split a home-and-home series with Bill Workman’s Chargers, winning here, 6-0, in 1982, and losing, 20-15, at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa in 1983.

Helix split a series with the Chargers, winning at home, 38-34, in the 2023 opener and losing this season, 42-14, at Westminster High, near Edison.

Next:  D-II, Poway versus Arcadia Rio Hondo.