John Maffei of The San Diego Union-Tribune and three other ranking services have offered their opinions on 2022 football in the San Diego Section.

Maffei canvassed coaches, noted the results of summer 7-on-7 passing competitions, and compared roster compositions, among other factors.  The U-T’s weekly poll will begin after this week’s opening round of games.

Cal-Hi Sports and Maffei agree that Cathedral is No. 1 in San Diego, although the Max Preps and Cal Preps.com computers are going with Mater Dei.

It won’t take long to see who is prescient.  Cathedral visits Mater Dei Saturday night in the season’s featured opener and ‘Dei plays Maffei’s No. 2 Carlsbad next week.

MAFFEI RANK	TEAM	2021 RECORD	MAX PREPS	CAL PREPS	CAL-HI SPORTS
1	Cathedral	12-2	2	57.8	12
2	Carlsbad	11-1	3	40.2	18
3	Mater Dei	13-0	1	58.12	15
4	Madison	9-3	6	34.4	41
5	Lincoln	8-4	4	34.4	31
6	Helix	9-4	5	34.4	35
7	Mission Hills	8-3	8	24.8	On the Bubble
8	Torrey Pines	6-4	9	22.0	On the Bubble
9	Scripps Ranch	13-1	8	28.3	Not Ranked
10	Poway	7-4	11	20.5	Not Ranked

Others considered, with 2021 records in parenthesis:

Patrick Henry (10-3), Granite Hills (5-7), Ramona (9-4), Steele Canyon (3-8), Brawley (9-3), Eastlake (8-4), La Costa Canyon (5-6), El Camino (7-6), Christian (6-5), University City (8-5), Oceanside (4-7). La Jolla Country Day (9-3).

COACHING CHANGES

Fifteen jobs opened and closed, with two coaches changing addresses.  Syd Reed, 5-5 at Mar Vista in 2021, takes over for Charles James at San Diego.  Ron Gladnick (43-30-1) at Clairemont (2013) and Torrey Pines (2016-21) replaces Joe Kremer at St. Augustine.

SCHOOL	IN	OUT
Christian	Patrick Bugg	Danny Mitchell
Escondido	Aron Gideon	Jud Boardman
Fallbrook	Ross Johnson	Troy Everhart
Helix	Damaja Jones	Robbie Owens
Mabel O’Farrell	Jake Passot	Tim Baxter
Mar Vista	David Moore	Syd Reed
Otay Ranch	Brad Burton	Lance Christensen
Patrick Henry	Colby Davies	J.T. O’Sullivan
San Diego	Syd Reed	Charles James
San Marcos	Tom Carroll	Derek Stank
St. Augustine	Ron Gladnick	Joe Kremer
Torrey Pines	Robby Collins	Ron Gladnick
Valhalla	Wayne Cherry	Charles Bussey

Late additions:  Ben Jameson for Rali Schwartz at Rock; Andrew Serrano for Mario Gonzalez at Salton City West Shores.

LEAGUE CHANGES

SCHOOL	NEW	OLD
Army-Navy	Sunset	Pacific
Tri-City	Sunset	Coastal
Mabel O’Farrell	Sunset	Pacific
Maranatha	Sunset	Pacific
Coronado	Central	City
Mission Bay	City	Central
Point Loma	City	Eastern
Patrick Henry	Eastern	City
Classical	Pacific	Coastal
La Jolla	Eastern	Western
Scripps Ranch	Western	Eastern
Hilltop	Metro Mesa	Metro South Bay
Olympian	Metro Mesa	Metro South Bay
Mar Vista	Metro South Bay	Metro Pacific
Chula Vista	Metro South Bay	Metro Pacific
San Ysidro	Metro South Bay	Metro Pacific
Sweetwater	Metro Pacific	Metro South Bay

 

Grossmont’s Southern California Minor Division football championship for schools with less than 1,000 students was achieved following a series of competitive and administrative tug of wars.

Coach Ladimir (Jack) Mashin’s Foothillers defeated Calexico High, 9-0, on the Grossmont gridiron to complete an 8-0-3 season that included a championship in the San Diego County League.

With a 4-0-2 league record and two nonleague wins behind them, the Foothillers opened the playoffs at home with a 14-7, semifinal victory over the Oxnard Yellowjackets, Holly Partin scoring the winning touchdown on a 10-yard run, reportedly as the gun sounded to end the game.

The championship was to be decided at El Centro’s Central High, Grossmont taking on the Calexico Bulldogs. But after four hard-fought quarters the teams were tied, 0-0.

Grossmont had a chance to win in the closing seconds, but Partin’s field goal attempt from the 15-yard line, on a sharp angle, “failed to clear the crossbar by less than an inch,” according to Charles Savage, The San Diego Union reporter who had made the three-hour trek across the Laguna Mountains to the Imperial Valley locale.

PRECIPITATION AND THEN NIGHTFALL

“A heavy rain fell during the entire contest,” Savage wrote. “Officials were forced to abandon the required playoff rule at the end of sixty minutes of play because of darkness. This arrangement calls for five plays by each team, with two points going to the eleven making the most yardage.”

Grossmont’s 12-8 advantage in first downs was not a factor.

Savage pointed out that conditions had become such in the Imperial Valley that players and spectators could not follow the action in the game’s closing moments.

Instead of being declared co-champions,   CIF Southern Section rules decreed that the teams  should play again.  Mashin and Calexico coach Ed Covington both announced that the CIF Southern Section  would be requested to fix a playoff date.

“It is probable that the battle will be replayed in the San Diego stadium next Saturday,” Savage wrote.

“Not so fast,” actually words much stronger, were uttered by Calexico’s Covington. Five days after the game a site for the rematch had not been selected.

WHO PLAYS AT HOME?

Long Beach Wilson principal Harry J. Moore was the official who coordinated the CIF Minor Division playoffs.

On Monday, two days following the 0-0 deadlock, Moore notified Mashin that the contest could be played at Grossmont “or any field the Foothillers selected,” according to The San Diego Union.

But Covington protested that the previous game, having been played at El Centro Central (approximately five miles from the Calexico campus) was on a neutral field and that Calexico should be the home team in title game II.

Covington’s argument was specious, but Moore waffled.

Long-distance telephone calls flooded the lines from La Mesa and the Imperial Valley into Moore’s office.  Finally Moore declared that the rematch could be played on the “neutral” Navy Field in San Diego or at San Diego’s City Stadium.

Both venues would be favorable to Grossmont.

The Foothillers argued that they already had made arrangements for a home game, prepared their playing field, and had sold tickets.

PARTIN PAVES THE WAY

Grossmont finally prevailed on choosing of the site, then defeated the Bulldogs before a large crowd on the Foothillers’ field.

Holly Partin was the scoring star for Grossmont.  He kicked a 25-yard field goal in the first quarter and fielded a Calexico  punt and raced 60 yards  to a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Grossmont had a 10-1 edge in first downs and was 2 for 4 on passing attempts, while Calexico did not complete a pass in seven attempts.

Grossmont’s season had begun with the Foothillers scrambling for a game when Mountain Empire dropped out of the County League four days before the eight-game, round-robin league schedule was to begin.

Rumors swirled that the Redskins, who participated in the league in 1925-26, were going to bail.

The Union reported days before that “coaching gossip” indicated the Campo school did not have enough players or suitable talent to compete.

Grossmont filled the open date at the start of the season and scored a 13-0 victory over the San Diego High B team.

COACH FOR ALL SEASONS

Mashin coached two other undefeated teams during his 25 seasons as head coach at the school which overlooks the El Cajon valley from its perch near the Grossmont summit, hard by Interstate 8.

Mashin had posted a 125-66-23 record for a winning percentage of .633 when he retired from the position after the 1947 season. When he passed away in San Diego at age 92 in 1987 Mashin’s career as a football coach and game official was almost forgotten.

Known as the “Fox of the Foothills,” the kindly Mashin also was track and field coach at Grossmont and developed teams that battled mighty San Diego High and other Coast League and City Prep League powers for league and Southern California supremacy.

In the 1950s Grossmont distance runners and field event competitors were among the best in the country.

Mashin and his wife, Virginia, for many years a math teacher at Kearny, had met when both were on  staff at Grossmont. They traveled internationally, attending several Summer Olympics. At behest of the U.S. State Department, Mashin coached Pakistan’s 1956 and first Summer Olympics team.

The Fox still was coaching and developing top-flight shot putters in his seventies.

Mashin’s widow died in 2005. She and her husband left much of their estate, almost $2 million, to the Grossmont Union School District, San Diego Education Fund, the San Diego Hall of Champions, and their alma maters, Purdue University for her and Montana State for he.

SAN DIEGO HIGH ON THE OUTS?

Relations between San Diego High and its Coast League counterparts were viewed with suspicion.

Evening Tribune columnist Ted Steinmann wondered whether the league’s Northern entries were trying to “freeze out” the Hillers, not notifying them of recent league meetings, and creating an embarrassing situation surrounding the appointment of game officials for the Hilltoppers’ home contest against Glendale.

Steinmann wrote that three days before kickoff league president Harry Moore of Long Beach Wilson asked San Diego principal John Aseltine to appoint officials from those available in San Diego.   At game time four Los Angeles-area officials showed up.

The San Diego officials “gracefully bowed out after learning to their surprise that the Los Angeles group had been appointed two weeks in advance,” Steinmann wrote.

Steinmann’s report was at odds with that which was reported by The San Diego Sun, which noted two days before kickoff that game officials were coming from a Los Angeles-area association.

ASELTINE DENIES RUMORS

San Diego High principal John Aseltine issued a statement saying that Coast League officials took no action to oust the Hilltoppers during a league meeting Dec. 6 at Whittier, but Aseltine hinted of a new direction for his school.

“We are strongly considering the proposition of becoming a free-lance school next year (it did not),” said Aseltine, who spoke in concert with his director of athletics and former head football coach, John Perry.

Travel time and travel expenses were cited.

Sitting south and alone in  the “Border Town”, San Diego and its league partners were dogged by distance from 1923-49, the years the Hillers were in the league (not counting 1941 and the travel-restricted World War II period, 1942-45).

The San Diego Sun pointed out that each school year the “Hillers travel more than 100 miles each way for at least three games in all four major sports, football, basketball, baseball, and track and field”.

In addition, all swimming, tennis, and wrestling meets were held at northern schools in the 1926-27 school year, The Sun reported.

“And when northern league members come to San Diego we must split the gate receipts on a fifty-fifty basis,” said Aseltine.

In another move, the CIF said the annual state football playoffs were being canceled.

THE PLACE TO LIVE

Realtor Oscar Cotton, whose promotional vision led to the creation of the San Diego Convention and Tourist Bureau, urged San Diegans to “Go North”, touting the advantages of buying and building on 60-foot residential lots priced from $150 to $350 in Chesterton, an area in the undeveloped Kearny Mesa.

Completion of the Sixth Street Extension had created an artery to what became Ulric Street and the Chesterton and Linda Vista areas. Chesterton also was accessible from “the inland paved highway, Camp Kearny Boulevard”, later known as Linda Vista Road.

The Sixth Street Extension exists today as that snippet of Sixth Avenue, north of University Avenue, that connects with State 163 (and former U.S. 395) into Mission Valley.

SIGNS OF THE TIME

William and Ida Church made history.  They were the first husband and wife in the history of the San Diego Courts system to sit on the same jury.

The Churches were on the panel  trying Hazel Blair, charged with selling beer.

Blair failed to appear as the trial began.  Her sister advised the court that Blair was suffering from “chills and fever”, and her trial was postponed.

BOOK CRACKDOWN

The Evening Tribune reported  that students at San Diego High who lost their books or failed to pay for them would be given a “dishonorable dismissal from school”.

HERE COMES HOOVER

The need for a new high school on the “East side” was evident when  enrollment at Woodrow Wilson Junior High, 37th Street and El Cajon Boulevard, jumped from 1,300 to 1,650.

Hoover High would come along in three years, with Wilson principal Floyd Johnson moving on as principal of the new school.

2 FOR 1 

San Diego offered “bargain day” at the Stadium, a football doubleheader on the final Saturday of the season.

Lathrop Junior High of Santa Ana played Memorial Junior High of San Diego in the opening game, followed by old rivals Santa Ana and San Diego in the nightcap.

HUDDLE UP!

San Diego coach John Hobbs announced that the Hilltoppers would use the “huddle system” before plays against  Santa Ana.

Ashley West usually barked signals for the Cavers from his quarterback position but Hobbs opted for more  security as far as which play the Cavers would employ.

Santa Ana coach Tex Oliver was a former coach at Memorial Junior High.

QUICK KICKS

Grossmont footballers John Cornelius and Walter Barnett went on to long careers in administration…Barnett was Grossmont’s principal from 1959-76…Cornelius was boss when El Cajon Valley High opened in 1955…Grossmont playoff opponent Oxnard was coached by former Coronado mentor John Nichols…John Perry, who had stepped down as coach at San Diego but remained on the physical education staff, welcomed some 600 students to the first annual interclass handball doubles tournament…Oceanside coach Joe Reynolds promised to field a “much better team” in 1927… Oceanside was 0-8 and scored 6 points; it was 1-6-1 in 1926…Coronado picked up Brawley as an opponent after Mountain Empire dropped out of the County League and defeated the Wildcats, 6-0, before 3,000 at Coronado…San Diego High’s Class B team defeated Alhambra’s lightweights,  71-0…San Diego’s game with South Pasadena was switched from Saturday to Friday, allowing  Hillers coaches  to scout Santa Ana, their next opponent… Point Loma completed 15 of 16 passes against Sweetwater…the Pointers-Red Devils game was one of 10 scoreless ties involving San Diego teams… La Jolla erected bleachers for 500 spectators for the Vikings’ game with Sweetwater…Kendall (Bobo) Arnett scored all of San Diego’s points in a 13-9 loss at Pasadena on a touchdown and 35-yard field goal… Monrovia, the opponent for St. Augustine in the last game of the season, was coached by former San Diego High standout and future Cavers coach Hobbs Adams… Whittier came into the game with the Cavers with a team average of 190 pounds, making the Poets the largest high school team in the country, according to The Union… Poly defeated Pasadena 6-3 for the Coast League championship before 10,000 fans at Long Beach’s Burcham Field…Fullerton defeated Santa Maria, 20-13, for the Southern California championship… San Diego High finished the season in Arizona, helping Phoenix Union dedicate its new campus stadium and dropping a 7-0 decision to the Coyotes…almost 1,000 students marched the night before, rallying for the “interstate game”…tackle Gordon Cox was named Captain at Sweetwater…Cox would become the Red Devils’ head coach in 1943…Research by The San Diego Sun writer Nelson Fisher revealed that 40 San Diego High graduates had earned college football letters since 1914…thirteen schools, from  USC to California and Notre Dame to Centre, were represented…leading 49-0 at halftime, St. Augustine and South Pasadena Oneonta Academy agreed to eight-minute quarters for the second half…the Saints didn’t slow down with the final score 73-0….

 

Lucky Sutton became one the 10 highest single-season scorers in San Diego County history this season.

Sutton’s 40 touchdowns for 240 points tied the Cathedral senior and San Diego State-bound running back for ninth with Imperial’s Royce Freeman, who also scored 240 in 2011.

Sutton played in 13 games and was deprived of a 14th when Cathedral sat out a 1-0 forfeit victory over Lincoln.

The Dons’ school and County record is 336 by Tyler Gaffney, who played in 14 games in 2008.

For a complete list of seasonal leaders, dating to the 1920s, see the All Time Individual Leading Scorers page.

EVOLUTION OF HIGHEST SCORERS

YEAR	POINTS	NAME	TEAM	RECORD
1916	132	Byron (Pesky) Sprott	San Diego	12-0
1929	164	Frank (Toady) Green	Coronado	8-1
1953	194	C.R. Roberts	Oceanside	7-2
1985	200	Terry Rodgers	Sweetwater	11-1
1988	214	Scott Garcia	Rancho Buena Vista	13-0
1998	262	Chad Cox	Mountain Empire	8-4
2004	276	Zay Shepard	Brawley	12-1
2008	336	Tyler Gaffney	Cathedral	14-0

*Rashaan Salaam of La Jolla Country Day scored 322 points in 1990, but his team played both 11-man and eight-man games.

**Julian’s Evan Fisher scored 342 points in 12 games in 2001, playing a full schedule of eight-man games.

GARDINERA HONORED

Scripps Ranch’s Marlon Gardinera, who led the Falcons to a 13-1 record and the state Division II-A championship, has been named the overall State Coach of the Year by Cal-Hi Sports.

The Falcons’ mentor is the seventh San Diego coach honored by Cal-Hi Sports. Others:

NAME	TEAM	RECORD	YEAR
Clarence (Nibs) Price	San Diego	12-0	1916
Duane Maley	San Diego	11-0-1	1955
Dick Haines	Vista	13-0	1974
Bennie Edens	Point Loma	13-0	1987
Herb Meyer	El Camino	13-0	1991
Bob McAllister	Carlsbad	10-0-2	2006

Cal-Hi Sports also recognized Gardinera as state medium schools coach of the year, an honor won by Madison’s Rick Jackson in 2012 and Cathedral’s Sean Doyle in 2008. Matt Oliver of Christian was state small schools coach of the year in 2013.

HENRY LOSES COACH

J.T. O’Sullivan, who resurrected a flailing Patrick Henry program, has stepped down.  O’Sullivan has been rumored to already have received an offer for another coaching position in San Diego.

O’Sullivan, who played quarterback at the University of California at Davis and in the NFL, coached the Patriots to a 20-10 record in three seasons after inheriting a program that was 4-17 the previous two years.

Scripps Ranch Coach Marlon Gardinera would have been in the spotlight on every college, NFL pregame or postgame show.

But Gardinera’s gutsy (crazy?) move did not go “national”, instead raising eyebrows and begging comment on a level just as significant to all involved.

Gardinera decided to “relax” his defense and allow Santa Clara Wilcox to score a go-ahead touchdown late in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s state Division II-A championship game at Mission Viejo Saddleback College.

Wilcox, which had battled back from a 21-0 deficit, took a 28-24 lead with less than two minutes to play.

“We backed off,” said Gardinera, according to Bodie DeSilva of Scoreboard Live.  “I knew if we got our offense back on the field we’d be okay….”

The Falcons, behind 6-foot, 6-inch quarterback Jax Leatherwood, embarked on an 11-play, 80-yard drive that culminated with Leatherwood‘s 10-yard pass to Dean Paley for the winning touchdown and 31-28 victory with 31 seconds to play.

The touchdown pass was Leatherwood’s 52^nd of the season, against two interceptions.

SECTION IS 3-0

Scripps Ranch’s and Cathedral’s 33-21 win over Folsom and Mater Dei’s 34-25 triumph against Modesto Central Catholic represented the first San Diego Section three-game sweep since state playoffs were resumed in 2006.

Cathedral and Madison won titles in 2016. San Diego teams were 1-2 in 2015, 2-2 in 2016, 1-2 in 2017, 1-3 in 2018, and 0-2 in 2019.

DOYLE GAINS

Cathedral’s Sean Doyle continues to move up the ladder in all-time wins.

Doyle’s 1-AA win over Folsom was the 221^st of his 26-season career, moving the Dons’ mentor into seventh place in the San Diego Section, past Jim Arnaiz, Ed Burke, and Gil Warren.

Nine wins in 2022 would elevate Doyle to fifth.  John Shacklett is next at 229.

Valley Center’s Rob Gilster now is third with 239 wins, edging the late Bennie Edens, who had 238.

Go to the “Football” menu on the website and select “”Coaches”, then scroll down to “Coach 100 Club” for a complete list.

HOW OTHERS SEE US

TEAM	RECORD	CALPREPS	MAX PREPS	CAL-HI SPORTS
Mater Dei	13-0	54.1	21	23
Scripps Ranch	13-1	44.2	55	55
Cathedral	12-2	70.8	5	8
Carlsbad	11-1	50.6	17	25
Madison	9-3	33.3	84	On the bubble
Mission Hills	8-3	44.3	39	42
Helix	9-4	43.8	43	23
Lincoln	8-4	43.2	44	26

And a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all the coaches, players, administrators, and fans who love the San Diego Section brand of football.

Cathedral, Mater Dei and Scripps Ranch will seek state championships this week in games that are ranked tossups.  All games Friday and Saturday will be at Mission Viejo Saddleback College.

Cathedral (11-2) will get an opportunity to reverse a 21-14 loss in 2018 to Folsom (11-3).  Folsom is eighth in the weekly Cal-Hi Sports poll, Cathedral 10th.  The Dons have a 70.7 Cal Preps.com rating and Folsom 59.5.  Cathedral is fifth, according to Max Preps and Folsom 17th.

Cathedral won a legendary playoff last week, 71-62, over Orange Lutheran as running back Lucky Sutton posted pinball machine numbers: seven touchdowns, 27 rushing attempts and a Southern California playoffs record of 435 yards.

Folsom topped Concord De La Salle, 28-27, after dropping an early-season 31-0 decision to the Spartans, who hold a 49-21 win over Cathedral.

Kickoff is at 8 p.m. Friday.

Mater Dei (12-1) meets Modesto Central Catholic (13-1) at 4 p.m.  Friday.

The  Crusaders from Chula Vista are 21st in the state according to Cal-Hi Sports, Central Catholic 25th. Mater Dei is 24th with Max Preps, the Raiders 30th.  Mater Dei has a 51.5 Cal Preps.com rating, Central Catholic 49.8.

‘Dei beat Helix, 24-21, for the San Diego Section DII-AA title and Central advanced, 44-42, over Fresno Bullard.

Scripps Ranch (12-1) plays Santa Clara Wilcox (10-4) at noon Saturday.

The Falcons and Chargers are not among Cal-Hi Sports’ top 50 teams, each receiving “0n the Bubble” status. Scripps is 47th, according to Max Preps and Wilcox 59th.  The Falcons have a 42.4 grade from Cal Preps.com and Wilcox 39.0.

Scripps advanced with a 45-38 win at Santa Clarita Valencia.  Wilcox beat Manteca, 35-21.

Previous state championship games, with San Diego teams’ score listed first:

YEAR	DIVISION	TEAM (W-L)	TEAM (W-L)	SECTION	SCORE
2007	II	Oceanside (12-1)	Novato (13-1)	North Coast	28-14
2008	II	Cathedral (14-0)	Stockton St. Mary’s (12-3)	Sac-Joaquin	37-34
2009	II	Oceanside (14-0)	San Jose Bellarmine (11-2-1)	Central Coast	24-19
	Small	Francis Parker (11-3)	Modesto Christian (15-0)	Sac-Joaquin	40-44
2010	III	Madison (12-2)	Escalon (14-1)	Sac-Joaquin	14-30
2011	II	Helix (13-1)	Loomis Del Oro (13-2)	Sac-Joaquin	35-14
2012	III	Madison (14-1)	Kentfield Marin Catholic (14-2)	North Coast	38-35
2014	I	Oceanside (14-1)	Folsom (16-0)	Sac-Joaquin	7-68
	II	El Capitan (14-1)	Moraga Campolindo (16-0)	North Coast	28-35
2015	III	Rancho Bernardo (13-2)	Atherton Sacred Heart Cathedral (11-4)	Central Coast	35-14
	V-AA	Bonita Vista (12-3)	Hanford (14-1)	Central	21-33
	VI-AA	Coronado (10-5)	East Nicalous (13-2)	Sac-Joaquin	6-16
2016	I-AA	Cathedral (15-0)	Stockton St. Mary’s (14-2)	Sac-Joaquin	38-35, OT
	III-A	The Bishop’s (14-1)	Oakdale (14-2)	Sac-Joaquin	0-47
	V-A	La Jolla Country Day (12-4)	Oakland McClymonds (13-1)	Oakland	17-20
2017	I-AA	Helix (13-2)	Folsom (16-0)	Sac-Joaquin	42-49
	III-A	Steele Canyon (12-4)	Half Moon Bay (14-1)	Central Coast	44-42
	IV-A	El Centro Southwest (14-1)	Milpitas (13-1)	Central Coast	41-45
2018	I-AA	Cathedral (12-2)	Folsom (14-1)	Sac-Joaquin	14-21, OT
	II-AA	Lincoln (11-5)	Atherton Menlo (13-2)	Central Coast	7-21
	V-A	San Diego (12-2)	Colfax (13-1)	Sac-Joaquin	21-10
	VI-A	Orange Glen (9-4)	S.F. Lincoln (13-0)	San Francisco	13-24
2019	III-AA	El Camino (9-7)	Santa Rosa Cardinal Newman (14-1)	North Coast	14-31
	IV-A	La Jolla (10-5)	Escalon (14-1)	Sac-Joaquin	21-52
2021	I-AA	Cathedral (11-2)	Folsom (11-3)	Sac-Joaquin
	II-A	Scripps Ranch (12-1)	Santa Clara Wilcox (10-4)	Central Coast
	III-AA	Mater Dei (12-0)	Modesto Central Catholic (13-1)	Sac-Joaquin

The teams in the Southern California Division 6-AA playoffs tonight play the long game.

The Quartz Hill Royals (9-4), located 70 miles north of Los Angeles and on the upper edge of the Southern Section boundary, will travel almost 250 miles, a distance not  unfamiliar to their opponent, Blythe Palo Verde Valley.

The Yellow jackets have represented the furthest  point in the San Diego Section since they joined in 2000, 216 miles from the city and 173 miles from Desert League rival Mountain Empire.

The Yellow jackets sustained 11 losing seasons in the next 14 after posting 10-2 record  and 20-12 loss to Santa Fe Christian in 2004 in the D-IV championship.

Enter Wally Grant in 2019.  Blythe was 6-6 in Grant’s first season as coach, followed by a 3-1 record in 2020, and 11-2 this season, including a  41-19 victory over Mission Bay and D-V title last week.

The ‘Jackets come to run the ball, averaging as few as three passes a game, putting the ball in the hands of running backs Zavier Bejarano and Marcus Macon, who’ve rushed for almost 3,200 combined yards and 42 touchdowns.

Quartz Hill defeated once-powerful Compton, 43-8, for the Southern Section D-XII championship last week and depends on quarterback Chalin Crawford, who has rushed and passed for 2,500 yards and 18 rushing touchdowns.