2022 Week 12A: An Evenly Matched Open Division Title Game

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 16th and Lincoln 17th.  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.



2022 Week 12: Seeds and Pairings Free of Acrimony; Playoffs Move on to Quarterfinals.

The 62nd 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.

DIVISION SEED/FAVORITE SEED/UNDERDOG UPSET SCORE
I @8 Eastlake 9 St. Augustine 13-6
III @7 El Capitan 10 Morse 52-28
IV @8 Hilltop 9 Francis Parker 24-21
6 Calexico @11 Chula Vista 35-27
VI (8) 4@ San Pasqual Academy 5 Coastal 22-14
6 Foothills Christian 3 Rock @Francis Parker 51-8

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.



2022 Week 11A: As Regular Season Ends, Playoffs Begin

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.

LEAGUE TEAM RECORD OVERALL COACH
Avocado Carlsbad 6-0 9-1 Thadd MacNeal
Central Crawford 4-0 9-1 Matt Marquez
City University City 4-0 8-2 Paul Lawrence
Coastal The Bishop’s 3-0 8-2 Shane Walton
Desert Blythe Palo Verde Valley 3-0 9-1 Wally Grant
Eastern Christian 4-0 6-4 Patrick Bugg
Grossmont Hills Granite Hills 3-0 8-2 Kellan Cobbs
Grossmont Valley El Capitan 6-0 8-2 Ron Burner
Imperial Valley El Centro Central 4-0 6-3 David Pena
Metro Mesa Mater Dei 3-0 6-4 John Joyner
Metro Pacific Chula Vista 4-0 6-4 Howard Bannister
Metro South Bay Montgomery 3-0 8-2 Freddie Dunkle
Pacific Escondido Charter 3-0 8-2 Jon Goodman
Palomar Poway 5-0 10-0 Kyle Williams
Sunset Army-Navy 3-0 9-1 Nehemiah Brunson
Valley* San Pasqual 4-1 7-3 Tony Corley
Fallbrook 4-1 7-3 Ross Johnson
Western Lincoln 4-0 9-1 David Dunn

*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

LEAGUE TEAM RECORD OVERALL COACH
Manzanita San Pasqual Academy 3-0 5-2 Mark Dederian
Ocean Victory Christian 4-0 9-0 Earl Benson
Surf Rock 3-0 8-1 Ben Jameson


2022 Week 11 B: Overtime, How it Began; Lincoln Regular-Season Champion

Granite Hills’ epic, four-overtime, 46-44 win over Helix for the Grossmont Hills championship represented the longest game in San Diego County history, although the first overtime contest also was long, for another reason.

From the 1976 season narrative:

NEW TIE-BREAKER TESTED

“History-making events are supposed to be heralded with sounding trumpets and helium-filled balloons,” wrote Steve Brand of The San Diego Union.

But the writer noted that a 6-6, semifinals playoff  tie between Morse and El Camino resulted in “disappointment and confusion,” all because of new tie-breaking rules.

Brand, on a morning newspaper deadline, was not a happy camper when he described what happened following the regulation tie:

“A twenty-minute discussion between officials, coaches, players, and statisticians over first downs, penetrations inside the 20-yard line, and a mysterious stopping of the clock just before the game ended.”

The teams tied with 7 first downs each and both had made two penetrations inside their opponent’s 20-yard line.  Those represented the first two elements of the new “California Tie-Breaker”  system.

Play resumed when the third tie-breaker kicked in.  Each team was given four plays from the 50-yard line.  Morse lost the coin toss and had first possession.

The Tigers had a net of minus two yards after four plays that included a 15-yard penalty. El Camino took over and essentially fell on the ball four consecutive plays, according to Brand.

The Wildcats were declared winners but the game went into the books as a tie.

The game was played at Vista, a technically neutral site, but the  the clock ‘inadvertantly’ stopped as time was running out and El Camino close to what would be an eighth and tie-breaking first down.”

Brand did make his deadline for the game story and overtime, after some refinements, became an exciting part of the landscape.

HORNETS WIN POLL, BUT…

Lincoln finished first (see below) but there will be a final, final poll at the end of the playoffs.  The Hornets won the head-to-head with Madison, 24-12,  and moved into first place for the first time. The Hornets will have to beat the Warhawks again, in a Open Division game between No. 2 and No. 3 seeds in the playoffs’ second round.

Pairings are available elsewhere on the site.  Follow the drop-downs in the “Football” menu to “Scores” or “Teams”.

The San Diego Union-Tribune Week 11 Top 10:

First-place votes in parenthesis.  NR—Not ranked.
Points on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.
*First-place votes.
Last entries in columns indicate previous rank. **Ranking unchanged.
Cal-Hi Sports’ and Max Preps’ represent state rankings.
RANK TEAM/RECORD POINTS MAX PREPS.COM CAL-PREPS.COM CAL-HI SPORTS
1 Lincoln (9-1) 22*/292/2 17/24 51.1/48.5 15/17
2 Carlsbad (9-1) 8*/271/3 20/18 50/51.8 18/19
3 Madison (9-1) 239/12 30/29 45.2/46.9
 29/18
4 Poway (10-0) 216/4 46/45 39.8/39 43/On the bubble
5 Granite Hills (8-2) 156/7 56/65 37.4/35.5
 **On the bubble
6 Cathedral (5-5) 151/6 51/47 39/40.2 35/35
7 Helix (7-3) 105/5 79/58 33.9/37 NR/NR
8 Mater Dei (6-4) 89/8 82/80 32.7/32.1 **On the bubble
9 Mission Hills (7-3) 81/9 59/63 37.2/35.8 On the bubble
10 El Camino (7-3) 38/10 76/76 34.3/36.4 NR/NR

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 81st 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.

 



2022 Week 10: Many League Races Too Early to Call

Five league championships have been decided in the San Diego Section and 14 more will be settled this week or end with ties. No. 1 Madison is at No. 2 Lincoln for the Western League flag and No. 7 Granite Hills is at No. 5 Helix for Grossmont Hills honors in featured jousts.

Carlsbad (Avocado), University City (City), Blythe Palo Verde Valley (Desert), Christian (Eastern), and El Capitan (Grossmont Valley)  are in the house or about to knock down the front door.

The weekly poll below will be on hiatus after this week’s final round of regular season games.  Poll honcho John Maffei will ask voters to cast choices one more time after the postseason championships and the following Southern California and state playoffs.

The San Diego Union-Tribune Week 10 Top 10:

First-place votes in parenthesis.  NR—Not ranked.
Points on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.
*First-place votes.
Last entries in columns indicate previous rank. **Ranking unchanged.
Cal-Hi Sports’ and Max Preps’ represent state rankings.
RANK TEAM/RECORD POINTS MAX PREPS.COM CAL-PREPS.COM CAL-HI SPORTS
1 Madison (9-0) 20*/285/1 29/25 46.3/47.6 18/19
2 Lincoln (8-1) 5*/266/2 24/24 48.5/47.6 17/18
3 Carlsbad (8-1) 5*/265/3 18/21 51.8/49.3 19/20
4 Poway (9-0) 202/4 45/48 40.4/39 **On the bubble
5 Helix (7-2) 172/5 58/50 37/38.5
 **On the bubble
6 Cathedral (4-5) 154/6 47/43 40.2/41.2 35/37
7 Granite Hills (7-2) 106/7 65/70 35.5/33.2 NR/NR
8 Mater Dei (5-4) 89/8 80/75 32.7/32.1 **On the bubble
9 Mission Hills (6-3) 57/NR 63 35.8 NR/NR
10 El Camino (6-3) 27/9 71/55 34.3/36.4 NR/NR

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES
Mira Mesa (6-3, 7 points), La Costa Canyon (5-4, 7) University City (7-2, 4), El Capitan (7-2,  4).

  • 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 

Helix has won 16 of the last 20 Grossmont South or Grossmont Hills championships, dating to the early 2000s and the era of Reggie Bush and Alex Smith…the Highlanders won 17 loop titles before the millennium, their first in 1956…Granite Hills has won four and tied for one Grossmont Valley or Grossmont Hills gonfalon since 2015, but is 1-3 against Helix during that span and the Highlanders hold a 45-12-1 edge in the series that began when Granite Hills opened in 1960…Eagles coach Kellan Cobbs is 76-38 since a 1-9 start in 2012…Damaja Jones is 7-2 in his first season at Helix…Lincoln holds a 13-12 edge over Madison in a series that goes back to 1970…Madison coach Rick Jackson is 16th all-time in the section with 162 wins and Jackson’s .742 winning percentage is third to John Carroll’s .763 and Birt Slater’s .753 and ahead of George Ohnessorgen’s .735 among coaches with at least 100 victories (see Coach 100 Club)… David Dunn is 78-57-1 at Lincoln, but 57-22 since 2016….

 

 



2022 Week 9: Cathedral and St. Augustine Renew “Holy” Rivalry

The so-called  “Holy Bowl” tees up for the 61st time this week when St. Augustine visits Cathedral. They have met every year since 1966 except 2007, including playoff games.

Cathedral leads, 38-22, in a series that began six years after Cathedral, then known as University of San Diego High, played its first season of varsity football.

University’s first game was in 1960, but Uni was small time, for lack of a better term, usually competing against equally small North County schools. The Saints were established and playing  major schedules. That was the reason given by the Saints’ for their slow acceptance of a potentially outstanding annual rivalry.

The success of the Dons under coach Robert (Bull) Trometter resulted in mounting pressure for St. Augustine to eventually squeeze the younger school, located across Linda Vista Road from the University of San Diego, into its schedule.

The teams met for the first time in 1966.

Uni 30, St. Augustine 7.

A rivalry had begun.

The series was interrupted only by the raging 2007 Witch fire that forced cancelation of all County games for one week (see 2007: Oceanside’s First and 10th Titles, subhead “October, The Cruelest Month”).

The San Diego Union-Tribune Week 9 Top 10:

First-place votes in parenthesis.  NR—Not ranked.
Points on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.
*First-place votes.
Last entries in columns indicate previous rank. **Ranking unchanged.
Cal-Hi Sports’ and Max Preps’ represent state rankings.
RANK TEAM/RECORD POINTS MAX PREPS.COM CAL-PREPS.COM CAL-HI SPORTS
1 Madison (8-0) 19*/285/1 25/20 47.6/48.2 19/20
2 Lincoln (8-1) 6*/267/2 24/24 47.6/49.3 18/19
3 Carlsbad (7-1) 5*/248/3 21/25 49.3/46.8 20/21
4 Poway (8-0) 200/4 48/43 39/39.2 **On the bubble
5 Helix (6-2) 184/5 50/44 38.5/39
 **On the bubble
6 Cathedral (3-5) 155/6 43/40 41.2/39.2 37/37
7 Granite Hills (6-2) 111/7 70/65 33.2/32.1 NR/NR
8 Mater Dei (4-4) 85-8 75/76 32.1/31.9 **On the bubble
9 El Camino (6-2) 76-9 55/70 36.4/31.4 NR/NR
10 La Costa (5-3) 21/NR 84 30.4 NR/NR

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES
 Mission Hills (5-3, 8 points), Mira Mesa (5-3, 7),  University City (6-2, 3)..

VOTING PANEL

  • 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.
  • Will Torrez, Valley Sports Network.
  • Raymond Brown, sdfootball.net.
  • Tom Helmantoler, Southern Conference Advisor.
  • MaxPreps.

TRUE GRID  

Granite Hills, seventh in San Diego, is unranked by Cal-Hi Sports. Or is it? The  publication also has categories for  so-called medium-sized schools and small schools…the Eagles are 17th among medium schools and Mira Mesa is on the bubble…Escondido Charter is a small schools bubble team…things have picked up at Chula Vista…prevail this week and the Spartans will have a five-game winning streak for the first time since 2008…El Camino’s 6-2 record after eight games is the best since Herb Meyer’s last good team in 2001 opened 7-2…Mike Hobbs’ Wildcats started 3-6 in 2019, and went on a six-game winning streak before bowing to Santa Rosa Cardinal Newman, 31-13, in the state III-AA championship…Kyle Wiliams’ Poway 11 hasn’t been 8-0 since Damian Gonzalez’ last club opened 9-0 in 2016….