The CIF came up with an unusual pairing this week: teams representing the same section and which should have intimate knowledge.

Intimate knowledge was denied, because COVID canceled a Highlanders-Crusaders match in Week 3.

There is shared common knowledge, however. Mater Dei defeated Otay Ranch, 41-7, and St. Augustine, 35-0. Helix beat the former, 29-14, and the latter, 35-14.

The Highlanders (9-3) are a legendary program in the San Diego Section. Less visible in the South Bay, Mater Dei (12-0) also has compiled an impressive resume.  The the teams will match up Friday night at Mater Dei.

The Crusaders have won two-thirds of their games since 1992, with a 224-122, .667) record under three coaches, Mike David (88-33) from ’92-2001, Bill White (51-28) from ’02-08, and John Joyner (85-61) since ’09.

Helix is 295-77-6 (.789) over the same period, mentored by Jim Arnaiz, Gordon Wood, Donnie Van Hook, Troy Starr, and Robbie Owens, who is 53-19 since 2016.

Helix slumped to 2-4 in 2020 and was 3-3 this season before winning six in a row. It came from behind to defeat Lincoln, 28-21, last week.

Mater Dei likely will get a dose of Christian Washington, who carried the Scots with 191 yards, and 4 touchdowns in 41 carries. “They rode their horse,” Hornets coach David Dunn told Don Norcross of The San Diego Union.

Mater Dei, which averaged 41 points a game, got four touchdown passes last week from sharpshooter Dominick Nankil in a 37-10 win over Ramona.

Cal-Hi Sports ranks Helix 18^th and Mater Dei 24^th in California. Max Preps says Mater Dei is 33^rd and Helix 40^th. Cal Preps.com gives ‘Dei a 49.6 grade, Helix 45.0.

Cathedral has won its last two Southern California Division I-AA playoff games, 35-28 in 2016 and 24-21 in 2018, each time at home against Harbor City Narbonne.

In attempting to win a third the Dons will head 70 miles North Friday to play Orange Lutheran, a four-loss team that was fifth in its league, at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa.

In this case, records lie.

The Lancers were 1-4 in the Trinity League, a miniature NFL circuit arguably the best in California, maybe the U.S.

“O-Lu”, as insiders call it, is 10-4 overall and played seven teams with Cal Preps.com ratings of at least 61.

Cathedral is 10-2 and coming off impressive wins in the San Diego Section playoffs, 38-10 over Mission Hills and 48-19 over Carlsbad.

The teams faced one common opponent. Lutheran lost, 48-0, to Corona Centennial, which beat Cathedral, 57-14.

Cathedral is ninth and Orange Lutheran 10^th in Cal-Hi Sports’ weekly ratings. Max Preps says the Lancers are fifth and Cathedral ninth. Cal Preps.com gives Lutheran a 71.1 grade and Cathedral 67.4.

Next, D2-A, D3-A, DVI-AA.

RATINGS GAME, FINAL

Points on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES
El Camino (6-7, 10 points), Ramona (9-4, 10 points), Palo Verde Valley (11-2, 3 points), La Costa Canyon (5-6, 2 points), La Jolla (5-8, 2 points), Mt. Carmel (10-2, 1 point), Santa Fe Christian (10-1, 1 point).

VOTING PANEL
Twenty-four sportswriters and sportscasters throughout San Diego County.

• John Maffei, San Diego Union-Tribune.
• Steve Brand, Thomas Gutierrez, Rick Hoff, Jim Lindgren, Terry Monahan, Eric Williams, Thomas Gutierrez, freelance contributors.
• John Carroll, Nick Pollino, KUSI Ch. 51.
• John Kentera, Braden Suprenant, 97.3-FM The Fan).
• Adam Paul, ECPreps.com.
• Bodie DeSilva, scorebooklive.com.
• Rick Smith, Partletonsports.com.
• Christian Pedersen, San Diego Sports Association.
• Troy Hirsch, Fox 5 San Diego.
• Raymond Brown, sdfootball.net.
• Joe Heinz, Todd Cassen, Ron Marquez, Mike Dolan, CIF San Diego Section.
• Ramon Scott, Eastcountysports.com.
• Steve (Biff) Dolan, Mountain Country, 107.9-FM.

We’re on holiday, in the process of enriching the Las Vegas economy, so this will be short, in more ways than one.

This week’s fearless, if not peerless, Division I-V predictions:

D-I, Lincoln 31, Helix 20.  Can’t go against my alma mater.

D-II, Scripps Ranch 38, La Jolla 35. I live in the community of three million eucalyptus trees and my daughter went to school there.

D-III, Mater Dei 26, Ramona 21. Bulldogs have bite but this is coach John Joyner’s best Crusaders team since 2015 state champion.

D-IV, Patrick Henry 49, University City 42. Gotta’ roll with club coached by J.T. O’Sullivan, friend of my son-in-law’s since their days at University of California-Davis.

D-V, Mission Bay 35, Blythe Palo Verde Valley 14. Yellowjackets travel more than 200 miles for first championship game since 2015. Buccaneers beat Mountain Empire, 49-0.  Blythe measured the Red Hawks, 34-21.

And congratulations to Cathedral and coach Sean Doyle, who coached his 11^th San Diego Section championship, a 48-19 win over Carlsbad.

Have a happy Thanksgiving.

I went out on a very unstable limb last week and crashed.

Picking Torrey Pines to beat Carlsbad and Mission Hills to knock off Cathedral not only was ill-advised but was punctuated with an in-your-face (mine) combined, 82-17 score  by the winning teams.

Now we have a championship that brings together two clubs representing, on paper, the closest matchup in several years of teams in the highest division.

Coach Thadd MacNeal’s 11-0 Carlsbad Lancers take on the Sean Doyle-coached Cathedral Dons for the Open title at Escondido High.

Wilson Stadium, named after a 1946 Escondido Cougars player who financially backed a new stadium, which opened as a 5,111-seat concrete edifice in 1998, will be the site.

Championship games have been played at Balboa Stadium, Aztec Bowl, San Diego-Jack Murphy-Qualcomm Stadium, and Southwestern College since the San Diego Section was formed in 1960 .

Plus Escondido, site of championship games in 2012 and the smallest venue yet for the Section.

“You probably could get a comfortable six thousand or seven thousand, cheek to jowl,” said John Maffei of The San Diego-Union-Tribune.

Southwestern, which officially seats, 7,275, was the site since 2014.

Southwestern offered more seats but Escondido, especially for the two North County clubs in this week’s Open finale, is much easier to reach. Escondido High has a sports-oriented staff and was able to offer the CIF more agreeable arrangements.

11-0 vs. 9-2

Carlsbad (11-0) has won 16 in a row dating to the 2019 season and is 26-2 since 2018. The Lancers have won the last three championships in the deep and tough Avocado League.

Cathedral (9-2) played one of the toughest schedules in the state, most notably traveling and losing to Concord De La Salle and Corona Centennial.  They are 22-5 since 2018. The Dons have won four straight Western League titles and six of the last eight.

OUTSTANDING RECORDS

Lancers coach Thadd MacNeal, a 1985 Carlsbad graduate, replaced the retiring Bob McAllister in 2011 and has a 76-44 record.

Sean Doyle played at Cathedral and became their head coach in 1996, succeeding Ron Hamamoto.  Doyle last week moved into a tie with Helix’ Jim Arnaiz for ninth place on the all-list for victories and has a 213-96 career record.

Carlsbad holds a 9-8 lead in an off-and-on series.  The first time the teams met was in the 1964 Class A (small schools) championship and the then University of San Diego High, coached by Robert (Bull) Trometter, won 40-0.

A reintroduction was needed before the next Lancers-Dons meeting 17 years later, in 1981.  They didn’t cross paths again until 2010.

Doyle has a 5-5 record against Carlsbad and is 45-14 in postseason contests with a stunning, 10 championships.

MacNeal is 2-2 versus Cathedral, 7-9 in the postseason, and was on the winning end of a 21-20 game in the 2019 semifinals against Cathedral.

HOW OTHERS SEE THEM

Carlsbad moved up from 13^th to 10^th in Cal-Hi Sports’ rankings this week.  The Lancers are 17^th in the state, according to Max Preps, and have a 56.9 rating from CalPreps.com.

Cal-Hi Sports jumped Cathedral from 19^th to 13^th this week and MaxPreps ranks it 14^th.  The Dons have a 63.0 rating by CalPreps.com

THE PICK

It should be a Lucky (running back Sutton) night for Cathedral over the Lancers and sophomore QB Julian Sayin.

Round two of the San Diego Section playoffs offer quarterfinals in Divisions I-V and semifinals in the  Open Division.

The four clubs in the highest bracket, beginning play after a week off:

 4 TORREY PINES (6-3) @1 CARLSBAD (10-0)

The Falcons get another shot at the unbeaten Lancers, a team Torrey Pines had on the ropes, 33-27, only to lose, 34-33, in the final seconds after a 90-yard Carlsbad touchdown drive in Week 6.

The Falcons’ second and third losses were to the other semifinalists, Cathedral, 28-14, in the season opener and Mission Hills, 20-14, in Week 8.

Coach Thadd MacNeal is 75-44 in 11 seasons at Carlsbad.  Ron Gladnick is 38-23 in six seasons at Torrey. MacNeal and Gladnick are 3-3 against each other, but Carlsbad has won the last three.

Carlsbad takes a 15-game winning streak and 25 wins in the last 27 into the contest.

The Lancers lead the all-time series, 18-9.

Carlsbad has a 55.2 Cal Preps.com rating and Torrey Pines 44.4.  The Lancers are Cal-Hi Sports’ No. 13 team and Torrey Pines No. 37.

Another barnburner could be in the works and Carlsbad will try to defeat this tough opponent a second time in the same season.

The pick:  Torrey Pines.

3 MISSION HILLS (8-2) @1 CATHEDRAL (8-2).

Cathedral was a 44-21 winner in the 2016 playoff semifinals in the only meeting between the schools.

Sean Doyle and Chris Hauser have head-coached 429 games in their long careers but this will be only the second time they’ve been on opposite sidelines.

Doyle and Hauser are two of the most successful coaches in San Diego County history.

Doyle is 212-96, .688, in 26 seasons at University-Cathedral and a victory would tie Helix’ Jim Arnaiz for the ninth most wins in County history.

Hauser is 180-76, .703, in 22 seasons at Vista and Mission Hills.

Cathedral has a 58.0 Cal Preps.com rating, the Grizzlies 50.5. Cal-Hi Sports has Cathedral at 16^th in the state and Mission Hills 20^th.

Cathedral beat Torrey Pines, 28-14, in the season opener.  Mission Hills edged the Falcons, 20-14, in Week 8.

Cathedral received a forfeit, 1-0 win over Lincoln in Week 10.  Mission Hills lost to Lincoln, 30-13, in Week 3.

It will have been 18 days since their last game and the ensuing controversy surrounding Lincoln’s decision to not play the Dons after racial taunts last season by Cathedral players.

The pick:  Mission Hills.

“POWER PERCEIVED IS POWER INDEED”

That was a line uttered by Ernie Hudson, the crooked principal at Florida’s Miami Columbus High,  to Tom Berenger in “The Substitute”, a 1990’s movie starring Berenger as a faux substitute teacher who cracks a drug ring.

Power indeed was the story in the first round.

Seeded favorites had a combined 34-6 record, with a few mild upsets (3) two not-really upsets, and one sort-of shocker.

The latter was manufactured by San Ysidro, a 12 seed in Division V, squeezing past No. 5 Escondido Charter, 16-13.

TENS ROLL SEVEN

Three 10’s dispatched 7 seeds.

Granite Hills eliminated Oceanside, 31-14, in D-I. El Cajon Valley topped No. 10 Army-Navy, 21-14 in D-IV, and El  Centro Central ushered out Otay Ranch, 33-28 in D-II.

A couple No. 9’s edged No. 8’s.

D-I Grossmont edged Steele Canyon, 17-14, and D-II Christian beat San Diego and retiring coach Charles James, 31-28.

There were blowouts of 49-7 (Brawley over Westview) 50-18 (Rancho Buena Vista over Mar Vista) and one why-did-they-bother-with-this (Sweetwater 73-6 over Valhalla).

League championships can be forgotten amid the giant second season of playoffs.

if a team has a pulse, no matter how few W’s and how many L’s, it’s most likely a postseason participant.

But don’t pass that along to the San Diego Section’s regular-season winners. Players identify these achievements on their letter jackets, coaches enhance their resumes, and student bodies and communities take pride.

Take a bow, champions.

*Playing for San Diego Section 8-man championship.
RATINGS GAME

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES 

Mt. Carmel (9-1, 21 points), West Hills (10-0, 7), El Camino (4-6, 3) Mira Mesa (6-2, Eastlake (7-3, 2),  Poway (7-3, 2), Patrick Henry (7-2, 1).

VOTING PANEL
Twenty-four sportswriters and sportscasters throughout San Diego County.

• John Maffei, San Diego Union-Tribune.
• Steve Brand, Thomas Gutierrez, Rick Hoff, Jim Lindgren, Terry Monahan, Eric Williams, Thomas Gutierrez, freelance contributors.
• John Carroll, Nick Pollino, KUSI Ch. 51.
• John Kentera, Braden Suprenant, 97.3-FM The Fan).
• Adam Paul, ECPreps.com.
• Bodie DeSilva, scorebooklive.com.
• Rick Smith, Partletonsports.com.
• Christian Pedersen, San Diego Sports Association.
• Troy Hirsch, Fox 5 San Diego.
• Raymond Brown, sdfootball.net.
• Joe Heinz, Todd Cassen, Ron Marquez, Mike Dolan, CIF San Diego Section.
• Ramon Scott, Eastcountysports.com.
• Steve (Biff) Dolan, Mountain Country, 107.9-FM.

How others see San Diego’s Top 10:
*The second entry in each rating is from the previous week.