Notes about this week’s San Diego Section finalists. Webmaster and researcher Henrik Jonson contributed much of the information:

DIVISION I

1 Mission Hills (9-3) vs. 3 Mater Dei (8-4), tonight, 7:30 p.m., Southwestern College.

The Grizzlies advanced from the semifinals with a 28-21 win over No. 5 El Camino.

Mater Dei defeated No. 2 Cathedral, 14-9.

Chris Hauser is the only coach in the 19-year history of Mission Hills.  Including four seasons as coach at Vista, Hauser has an all-time record of 189-81-2 for a .699 won-loss percentage.

The Avocado League runners-up Grizzlies are playing in their sixth championship game and have a 1-4 record.

Mission Hills defeated Oceanside, 36-14, for the section championship in 2013 and lost to Bakersfield, 35-28, in the Southern California playoffs.

Mission Hills’ first season was 2004.  The Grizzlies were 10-2 in 2007, 10-3 in ’10, 10-3 in ’12, 12-2 in ’13, 11-1 in ’15, 12-1 in ’17, and 5-0 in ’20, plus five seasons of 9-3.

The Grizzlies have met Mater Dei twice.  The Crusaders won, 41-14, in 2016 and the Grizzlies won, 56-7, in ’17.

Mission Hills has an all-time record of 155 wins, 66 losses, and 2 ties for a .700 won-loss percentage.

The Grizzlies have 16 had winning seasons of 19.

–John Joyner is in his 14^th season as the head coach at Mater Dei with a record of 95-65 for a won-loss percentage of .594.

–The Metro Mesa League champions have won eight in a row after four defeats.

–Mater Dei is playing its 14^th section championship game and has a 9-4 record.

–The Crusaders defeated Reedley Immanuel of the Central Section, 56-21, for the state V-AA championship in 2015.  They defeated Modesto Central Catholic of the Sac-Joaquin Section, 34-25, for the state II-AA title in 2021.

–The Crusaders lost to Lancaster Paraclete of the Southern Section, 34-18, in the state III-AA playoffs in 2016.

–Mater Dei was 11-2 in 1998, 11-2 in ’99, 12-1 in 2001, 13-0 in ‘02, 13-0 in ’03, 14-1 in ’15, 12-2 in ’16, and 14-0 in ’21.

–Mater Dei’s first season was 1960. The Crusaders have an all-time record of 328 wins, 309 defeats, and 8 ties for a won-loss percentage of .515.

The Crusaders have had 29 winning seasons of 62.

Calpreps.com assigns Mission Hills a 41.9 power rating and Mater Dei 41.7.

Mater Dei ranks 34^th in the state by Cal-Hi Sports and the Grizzlies 48^th.

Mater Dei is fourth in the San Diego Section and Mission Hills fifth, according to Max Preps.

The pick: Mater Dei.

D-II

1 Granite Hills (10-2) vs. 3 Ramona (8-4), Saturday, 7:30 p.m., Escondido High.

Granite Hills won in the semifinals, 45-8, over No. 5 Mira Mesa.

Ramona topped 2 El Centro Central Union, 19-7.

Kellan Cobbs is in his 11^th season as coach the Eagles with a record of 78-47.

The Eagles, Grossmont Hills champions, have an 0-2 record in San Diego Section championship games, losing, 25-14, to Oceanside in 1975 and 28-7 to Morse in 1979.

The schools are 24 miles apart and in close proximity to California Highway 67 but they’ve met only once, the Eagles defeating Ramona, 27-14 in the 2017 D-II playoffs.

Granite Hills’ first season was 1960.  The Eagles have an all-time record of 345 victories, 291 losses, and 6 ties for a .542 won-loss percentage.

Granite Hills was 11-2 in 1975, 10-1 in ’76, 10-1 in ’77, 10-1 in ’79, 11-1 in ’85, 9-2 in ’15, 10-3 in ‘17, 10-2 in ‘18, and 5-1 in ’20.

The Eagles have had 33 winning seasons of 63.

Granite Hills gets a 37.3 rating by Calpreps.com and Ramona 23.1.

The Eagles are not among Cal-Hi Sports top 50 in the state but are one of the “on the bubble” teams.

Max Preps ranks Granite Hills sixth in the San Diego Section and Ramona 14^th.

–Damon Baldwin is in his 18^th season as head coach for the Bulldogs, winners of the Valley League.

–Baldwin has a 123-77-1 record for a won-loss percentage of .614.

–The Bulldogs have been in 10 section championship games and have a 5-4-1 record.

–Ramona defeated Needles, 26-21, in 1958 and Rialto Eisenhower, 14-7, in 1959 for Southern Section small schools championships. They are 0-3 in San Diego Section championship games.

–Ramona opened in 1893 but did not field a football team until 1938.  The Bulldogs have an all-time record of 358 wins, 426 losses, and 13 ties for a .457 won-loss percentage.

The Bulldogs were 7-0 in 1954, 8-1 in ’55, 7-1 in ’57, 11-0 in ’58, 12-0 in ’59, 9-2 in 2001, 10-2 in ’13, and 12-1 in ’17.

The Bulldogs have 36 winning seasons of 84.

The Pick: Ramona.

Notes about this week’s San Diego Section finalists. Webmaster and researcher Henrik Jonson contributed much of the information:

Division V

1 Crawford (11-1) vs. 3 Classical (8-3), Saturday, 2 p.m., Escondido High.

Crawford moved on after a 26-7 victory in the semifinals versus No. 5 Mar Vista.

Classical retired 2 Escondido Charter, 28-14.

Crawford’s Matt Marquez is in his fourth season as head coach, 23-18 overall, with records of 5-7, 3-2, 4-8, and 11-1.

–Classical’s Josiah Cruz is in his second season, 9-12 overall, with records of 1-9 and 8-3.

Central League champion Crawford opened in 1957 and is playing in sixth championship game. Other appearances were in 1961, ’85, 2013, 15, and ’17, with 1-4 record.

The Colts defeated Kearny, 13-0, in 1961; lost to Lincoln, 28-0, in ’85, 42-6 to Holtville in 2013; 21-7 to Coronado in ’15, and 45-3 to Calexico, in ’17.

Crawford was 8-0-2 in 1961 and 12-1 in 2013. They were 7-2 in 1972, 8-2-1 in ’83, 8-2 in ’84, 11-1 in 2003, and 9-2 in ’04.

Crawford has an all-time record of 290 wins, 358 losses, and 12 ties for a .448 won-loss percentage.

The Colts have had 27 winning seasons of 65.

–Pacific League No. 3 team Classical opened in 2010 and is playing in first championship game.

–Classical’s all-time record is 64-60 for a .532 percentage.

–The Caimans have had 6 winning seasons of 13.

The teams have met twice, with Crawford winning, 32-19, in 2013 and 15-13 in 2015.

Crawford has a -2.3 power rating as assigned by Calpreps.com. Classical’s is -4.1.  Max Preps ranks Crawford 41st and Classical 43rd in the San Diego Section.

The pick:  Crawford.

D-IV

1 Fallbrook (9-3) vs. 7 Blythe Palo Verde Valley (12-1), Friday, 7 p.m., Escondido High.

Fallbrook advanced with a 21-3 win over 5 Mission Bay.

Blythe Palo Verde Valley defeated 3 Coronado, 35-15, in the semifinals.

Ross Johnson’s is in his first year as head coach at Fallbrook, which has a 9-3 record.

–Wally Grant is 32-11-1 in four years with the Yellowjackets, with records of 6-6, 3-1, 11-3, and 12-1.

Fallbrook opened in 1893 but did not field a football team until 1936.  The Warriors also did not play football in the World War II years of 1942 and ’43.

Valley League champion Fallbrook is playing in its fourth championship game. Other appearances were 1986, 2000, and ’03, with a 2-1 record.

The Warriors defeated Vista, 28-14 in 1986 and Carlsbad, 50-12 in 2000.  The Warriors lost to Torrey Pines 7-3, in ’03.

Fallbrook was 8-2 in 1947, 10-1 in ’83, 11-2-1 in ’86, 11-2 in 2000, and 10-4 in ’01.

Fallbrook has an all-time record of 316 wins, 472 losses and 21 ties, for a .404 won-loss percentage.

The Warriors have had 24 winning seasons of 84.

–Desert League champion Blythe Palo Verde is playing in its third championship game since joining the San Diego Section in 2000 with a 1-1 record.

–The Yellowjackets lost to Santa Fe Christian, 20-12 in 2004 and defeated Mission Bay, 41-19, in ’21. They lost to Quartz Hill of the Southern Section, 26-21, in a Southern California D-VI playoff.

–Palo Verde Valley was 10-2 in 2004, 8-4, in ’06, and 11-3 in ’21.

Fallbrook has a 14.2 Calpreps.com strength rating. Palo Verde Valley’s rating is 7.2.

Max Preps ranks Fallbrook 21st and Palo Verde Valley 25th in the San Diego Section.

The Pick:  Palo Verde Valley.

D-III

1 University City (10-2) vs. 2 Point Loma (10-2, Friday, 2 p.m., Southwestern College.

University City eliminated 4 The Bishop’s, 24-20, in the semifinals.

Point Loma was a 49-14 victor over 3 Del Norte.

Joel Allen is in his third season as head coach of the City League runner-up team, with a record of 14-9. Allen was 100-35-7 as head coach at The Bishop’s from 2009-19.

Allen’s career won-loss percentage is eighth best among coaches with at least 100 victories.

Allen coached The Bishop’s to a state D-V championship in 2014, defeating Stockton Brookside, 40-14.  The Knights were defeated, 47-0, by Oakdale in the state D-V title game in 2016 and his teams were 3-3 in San Diego Section championship games.

The Pointers’ first season was 1926.  They have an all-time record of 532 victories, 368 losses, and 37 ties, for a .588 won-loss percentage.

The Pointers have had 63 winning seasons of 97.

Point Loma is playing in its 10^th section championship game, including 1949, when the Pointers defeated Bonita, 27-14, for the Southern Section small schools title.

The Pointers are 4-4-1 in championship games.  They tied El Camino, 6-6, in in 1982 in a California Tiebreaker overtime.

The Pointers were 6-0-1 in 1936, 8-0 in ’37, 8-1 in ’38, 7-0 in ’39, 7-0-1 in ’46, 9-1-1 in ’49, 7-1 in ’62, 11-0-1 in ’82, 13-0 in ’87, 13-1 in ’91, and 12-1 in 2005.

–Paul Lawrence is in his third season as coach of University City, with a record of 19-10.

–The Centurions are making their first appearance in a section championship game.

–U. City’s first season was 1983.  It has an all-time winning record of 171 wins, 243 losses, and 6 ties for a won-loss percentage of .414.

–The Centurions have had 13 winning seasons of 41.

–U. City was 7-3 in 1986, 7-3 in ’88, 9-2 in ’92, 9-3 in 2015, and 10-2 in ’17.

Calpreps.com gives Point Loma a 29.3 strength rating and University City 25.1.

Point Loma ranks 10th and University City 13th  in the San Diego Section, according to Max Preps.

The Pick:  Point Loma.

NEXT:  Divisions I and II.

Tonight’s Lincoln-Carlsbad game for the San Diego Section Open Division championship in Snapdragon Stadium  will be the first since 2013 not involving Helix or Cathedral.

Lincoln and Carlsbad have been here before, as recently as 2019 and 2021, and each is looking for a breakout.

The Hornets lost in the Division I championship game to Oceanside, 28-10, in 2019 and to Helix, 28-21 in 2021.

Carlsbad, competing in the Open Division, lost to Cathedral, 28-20, in ’19 and to the Dons again in ’21, 48-19.

Carlsbad is 36-4 since 2019.  Lincoln is 32-9 over the same period.

RECORDS EVEN

Each is 10-1.  Lincoln dropped a 14-7 decision at Los Angeles’ Mission Hills Bishop Alemany in Week 2.  Carlsbad was defeated at home, 34-18, by Inglewood in Week 2.

Cal-Hi Sports rates Lincoln as the No. 13 team in the state and Carlsbad No. 14 (Inglewood, 12-0, is No. 9; unranked Alemany finished 3-8).  Max Preps rates Carlsbad 16^th and Lincoln 17^th.  Cal Preps.com assigns the Lancers a 57.6 strength rating and Lincoln 56.5.

Lincoln defeated Mater Dei, 56-20, in a Week 4 home game.  Carlsbad won its opening game, 36-35, in double overtime at Mater Dei.

Lincoln is 9-7 in championship games since the school played its first varsity schedule in 1954.  Carlsbad is 6-6 in championship games since it opened in 1957.

COACHES HAVE STAYED

Each team has longevity at the head coach position.

Carlsbad’s Thadd MacNeal is 86-46 since 2011.  Lincoln’s David Dunn is 80-57-1 since 2011.

The rival coaches are 1-1 after a home-and-home series in 2014-15. MacNeal’s host team blanked Lincoln, 45-0, in 2014 but lost at Lincoln, 20-16, in 2015.

The Lancers (Avocado) and Hornets (Western) play in the toughest leagues in the San Diego Section.

Each team has a superstar player headed for the Southeast Conference.  Carlsbad quarterback Julian Sayin has committed to Alabama and Lincoln running back Roderick Robinson has announced for Georgia.

Another Hornet, linebacker DJ Peevy, has committed to USC.

The pick:  Lincoln.

Full disclosure:  I graduated from Lincoln.

THE OTHER GAMES

Semifinal contests in Divisions I-V are tonight.  Finals will be next week at Escondido High and Southwestern College.

The D-VI eight-man championship, Victory Christian (10-0) vs. St. Joseph’s (9-1), will be Saturday night at Escondido.

The 62^nd San Diego Section playoffs, 64 teams strong, opened last week, with favorites prevailing in 16 of 22 first-round games, a 72.7 winning percentage.

Hats off to CIF commissioner Joe Heinz and his staff, and the voting representatives from the City, North, East, Desert, South, Coastal, and eight-man regions who got the seedings and pairings done with minimal complaints and no controversy, according to an observer.

Such sessions don’t usually evoke thoughts of harmony and campfire songs.

The seven envoys, all coaches from their respective areas, were close in their seeding choices, with only two surprises, but no shockers.

No. 10 Morse (6-4) upended 7 El Capitan (8-2) in a contest coached by recent 100-game winners Tracy McNair (Tigers) and Ron Burner (Vaqueros).

No. 11 Chula Vista eliminated 6 Calexico, which, despite the better seed, had to travel 120 miles over the mountains.

The higher seed Spartans had a legislative edge. Chula Vista automatically was home team after winning its league (Metro South Bay).  Upsets highlighted.

RANDOM MATCHUPS 

Open Division: No. 2 Lincoln Hornets (9-1) play host to 3 Madison Warhawks (9-1) for the second week in a row in the feature game of the quarterfinals round.  The Hive will try to sting again, having won the Western League with a 24-21 win over the Warhawks in Week 10.  The Pick: Lincoln.

D-I: No. 5 El Camino (7-3) has come on, winning 6 of last 7. Helix (7-3) is traditionally dangerous, but this Helix is diminished compared to, say, the 13-2 Highlanders of 2017 and those of more recent vintage. The pick: El Camino.

D-I: No. 7 Torrey Pines (4-7) @2 Cathedral (5-5). Schools are two miles and five minutes apart on Del Mar Heights Road. Two old-line powers not so powerful this season. The pick:  Cathedral.

D-I:  No. 6 La Costa Canyon (7-4) @3 Mater Dei (6-4).  North County public school versus South County private. Crusaders have posted six shutouts in a row. They lost to Carlsbad, 36-35.  Mavericks lost to Carlsbad, 35-0. The pick:  Mater Dei.

D-I:  No. 9 St. Augustine (4-6) @1 Mission Hills (7-3).  Saints rebuilding under first-year coach Ron Gladnick should be saluted for getting this far. They were 1-9 in ’21 amid coaching crisis. The pick:  Mission Hills.

D-II:  No. 7 Brawley (8-3) @2 El Centro Central (6-3).  Wildcats will try to reverse 20-16 loss to neighbors in Week 10.  The two desert stalwarts have been dodging cactus and chaparral since 1921. The pick:  Brawley.

D-V: No. 5 Mar Vista (6-5), behind quarterback Aleks Wojcik, who passed for eight touchdowns last week (35 for the season) in the Mariners’ 69-40 win over Hoover, will test defensively potent and No. 4 @Army-Navy (9-1), which has given up 13 points. The pick:  Mar Vista.

WEIRDNESS

There have been 37 games decided by 8-0 scores since the first in 1892, according to our webmaster Henrik Jonson.

Not unheard of but Brawley’s 8-0 playoff win over Mt. Carmel still seemed unique. The Wildcats advanced on two field goals and a safety.  Since high schools embraced the two-point conversion option in 1969 many if not most of the other twenty-two 8-0 scores were reached by a touchdown and a successful two-point try.

Ten things, among many, to remember about the 63rd San Diego Section regular season:

–Nineteen teams won or tied for 18, eleven-man league championships.  Fallbrook and San Pasqual deadocked for first in the Valley.

–Carlsbad ruled the Avocado League for the fourth consecutive year.

–Chula Vista won an outright championship for the first time since 2003.

–Poway is undefeated and untied (in a post-pandemic, full season) for the first time since 2007.

–Granite Hills won the Grossmont Hills and defeated Helix for the 13th time in 59  games, and did it in four overtimes, a first in San Diego Section history.

–Blythe Palo Verde Valley’s 9-1 is its best since the 10-0 of 2004.

–Crawford’s 9-1 is its best since 2013.

–Oceanside (0-10) was winless for the third time in the school’s 97 seasons, matched by the 1941 (0-7) and 1927 (0-7-1) squads.

–Grossmont (0-10) was winless for the fourth time in the school’s 103 seasons, rivaled  by the 1953 (0-8), 1944 (0-5-2), and 1920 (0-4) teams.

–Army-Navy’s 13 points allowed the best since the 1976 (59 points) and 1940 (36) squads, which played eight-game seasons.

*San Pasqual defeated Fallbrook, 14-6, in head-to-head matchup. San Pasqual lost to Valley Center, 19-7. Fallbrook defeated Valley Center, 42-20.

EIGHT-MAN

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES
Mira Mesa (7-3, 3 points), La Costa Canyon (6-4, 2) University City (7-2, 1), El Capitan (7-2,  1).

• John Maffei, San Diego Union-Tribune.
• Steve Brand, Thomas Gutierrez, Rick Hoff, Terry Monahan, Don Norcross, Eric Williams, Freelance contributors.
• Brandon Stone, Allison Edmonds, John Carroll, KUSI-Channel 51 TV.
• Rick Smith, partletonsports.com.
• Ramon Scott, Adam Paul, eastcountysports.com.
• John Kentera, Braden Suprenant (97.3 FM The Fan).
• Bodie DeSilva, scoreboardlive.com.
• Steve (Biff) Dolan, Mountain Country 107.9 FM.
• Christian Pedersen, San Diego Sports Association.
• Troy Hirsch, Nic Pollino (Fox 5 San Diego).
• Todd Cassen, Joe Heinz, Ron Marquez, CIF San Diego Section.
• Mike Dolan, Rex Johnson, CIF Advisory Committee.
• Joe Evangelist, San Diego Coaching Legends Committee.
• Will Torrez, Valley Sports Network.
• Raymond Brown, sdfootball.net.
• Tom Helmantoler, Southern Conference Advisor.
• MaxPreps.

TRUE GRID

Granite Hills’  victory over Helix  marked the 81^st overtime since the first in 1976…the breakdown:  four overtimes (1), three  (4), two (18), one (58)…Sixty-four of 98 football-playing teams made the playoffs, 65.3 per cent…we’ve gotten used to teams with awful won-loss percentages getting in…this year’s champ, Westview, 1-9.