Torrey Pines emerged from a season-long, four-team battle to claim the No. 1 position in the final The San Diego Union top 10.  The first four finishers each occupied the top rung during the regular season.

Union-Tribune Week 10 final poll, Monday, Feb 25:

Rank	Team	Record	Points	Last Week
1	Torrey Pines (14)	25-6	140	2
2.	Foothills Christian	23-7	125	1
3	Mission Bay	18-12	109	5
4	St. Augustine	22-7	87	4
5	Cathedral	23-9	80	7
6	Vista	21-9	53	8
7	Poway	22-7	43	6
8	Carlsbad	26-6	37	NR
9	Santa Fe Christian	20-8	35	4
10	Francis Parker	20-10	24	NR

NR–Not ranked.

Others receiving votes: La Jolla Country Day (16-12, 9 points), San Diego (22-8, 8),  Rancho Buena Vista (27-5, 6), San Marcos (17-10, 5), Sweetwater (24-7, 2).

Voters: John Maffei, The San Diego Union-Tribune; Terry Monahan, Freelance; Steve Brand, San Diego Sports Association;  Carlton Hoggard (CIF San Diego Section), Adam Paul,  Ramon Scott, EastCountySports.com; John Kentera, Braden Suprenant, 97.3 FM, The Fan; Rick Smith, partletonsports.com; Bodie DeSilva, sandiegopreps.com; Steve Dolan, Mountain Country 107.9 FM; Christian Pedersen, S.D. Preps Insider; Aaron Burgin, Fulltime Hoops; Brad Enright, L.A. Court Report.

Hoover trailed Morse, 70-50, with two minutes and 40 seconds remaining in their Eastern League game at Hoover on Tuesday afternoon, Feb. 2, 1971.

Hoover won, 71-70.

Let’s try that again.

Hoover won, 71-70.

The Cardinals scored the game’s last 21 points in arguably the most jaw-dropping finish in the history of area high school hoops.

“I’m glad I’m not Red Auerbach,” Morse coach Tom Williams remarked two days later, acknowledging the Boston Celtics coach Red Auerbach, who would light a cigar on the bench when his team was assured a victory.

“They got into foul trouble and we went into a 1-2-2 press,” said Hoover coach Hal Mitrovich.  “I don’t think they broke center court more than two or three times in the last three minutes.”

Mitrovich thought for a moment.  “If they had thrown in one more basket, they would have won.”

“I’ve got to admit I felt pretty confident,” said Williams, the winner of 443 games in a career in which he coached start-up programs at Morse and Serra.

Williams thought there was 3:40 remaining when the game took its dramatic change (Hoover officials confirmed the correct time as 2:40).

“They got every break in the book,” said Williams.  “We had four starters foul out; they got 19 free throws in the fourth quarter, and then there was the last eight seconds.”

Bill Center of The San Diego Union, who was not at the game, picked up the story with Williams.

“Morse had a one-point lead and a man (the coach would not identify) at the free-throw line, shooting one and one.  But he missed the first shot and, to make matters worse, stepped over the foul line—a violation,” wrote Center.

Hoover was awarded the ball out of bounds on  side court.

“If he had missed without stepping over the line, Hoover would have had to rebound the ball, get it downcourt, and shoot,” Williams said.  “But they got the ball out; they set up, and the time actually was double what they would have had.”

Hoover center Walt Russell dribbled across midcourt, glanced up at the clock, and then let fly with a 15-foot attempt that drained the net with two seconds left. Russell scored 13 of Hoover’s 27 fourth-quarter points and 25 for the game.

“What can you say?” said Williams.  “We shoot 50 per cent from the floor and play a good game.” Morse, ahead, 56-44, at the end of three, lost its two highest scorers, Stan Rosendahl and Keith Walker to fouls, plus Mike Bento and Bill Corsello.

“We told our kids it was a once-in-a-million game,” said Williams.  “If we stop and worry about this game we’re dead.”

Morse finished at 7-5 and in a tie for third with Patrick Henry in the Eastern League and was 17-11 overall. Hoover was fifth at 5-7 and 10-16 overall.

HELIX STREAK ENDS

Kearny’s Jesse Martinez stole a pass and scored a basket with 15 seconds left and then dropped in a free throw, giving the Komets an opening-game, 63-61 victory.  Helix was deprived of a 50^th consecutive win and faced life without Bill Walton.

Life wasn’t that bad.

Despite finishing third in the Grossmont League to Monte Vista and Grossmont, the teams that would play for the San Diego section championship, Helix posted a 21-9 record and Mike Honz led the County with 614 points, and his 20.6 average was second highest in the County.

Helix shocked Monte Vista, 74-49, in the league opener and was 2-2 against Monte Vista and Grossmont, the teams that were accorded first and second place in a telephonic vote among principals at the end of the regular season. All three had 11-3 league records.

The Highlanders’ bid for a fourth San Diego Section championship was derailed by five-time Western League champ Madison, 80-76, in the first round of the playoffs after earlier, 77-62 and 87-72 victories over the Warhawks, but the Grossmont League continued to rule with a third champion in the last three seasons and fifth in the section’s 11 seasons.

PLAYOFFS

FIRST ROUND

–Bob Tagye scored 27 points but third seed Chula Vista (25-4) fell to Patrick Henry, the Eastern League’s No. 3 squad, 68-56, in an opening night stunner.

–John Bunting had 21 points and Monte Vista, off to a 41-21 halftime lead, ushered out Bonita Vista (16-11), 70-54.

–Reliable Mike Collier (21) and Ed Aycox (14) pushed Lincoln past Vista (14-12), 60-45.

–Marty Mayer had 17 points and Clairemont eliminated Poway (13-13), 59-49.

–Castle Park dismissed St. Augustine (17-11), 56-51.

–Grossmont’s front line of 6-foot-10, Ralph Drollinger, 6-8 Kevin Enright, and 6-7 Tom Foulds combined for 45 points as the Foothillers raced past Hilltop (19-9), 80-59.

–Madison, a 15-point loser twice to Helix, scored 52 second-half points and held off the Scots. Rockey Lee, a 6-8 sophomore, came off the bench in the first quarter and led the Warhawks with 25 points and nine rebounds.

–Carlsbad topped Kearny (20-8), 60-56.

QUARTERFINALS

–Ten free-throw points in the fourth quarter helped Monte Vista put away Clairemont, 64-57, after the Chiefs had whittled a 13-point Monarchs halftime lead to three.  Bob Papciak led with 21 points and was 11×13 from the free throw line.  Clairemont, 5-20 in 1969-70, finished with an 18-9 record.

–Madison broke from a 30-30 score at halftime to run off from Castle Park (24-6), 76-57.

–Patrick Henry 60, Carlsbad (22-3), 44.  “Every time we shot they had a hand up and I don’t know how many times they got a hand on the ball,” said Lancers coach Dimitri Poradowski. “When we weren’t scoring our defense was fine,” noted Patriots coach Fritz Ziegenfuss.

–Grossmont scored five points in the final 55 points and sneaked past second-seeded Lincoln (24-6), 49-48.

SEMIFINALS

Attendance at the San Diego International Sports Arena was 5,295 for the two games.

–Top seeded Monte Vista got all it could handle from fourth seeded Madison (20-9), which had beaten favored Helix and Castle Park.  The Monarchs trailed, 37-24, seventeen seconds into the third quarter but rallied to defeat the Warhawks, 62-60.

–Grossmont defeated Patrick Henry (21-9), 78-59, as 6-10 ½ Ralph Drollinger scored 24 points and pulled down 17 rebounds.  Drollinger’s 6-8 teammate Kevin Enright had 24 points and 12 rebounds.

CHAMPIONSHIP

Attendance was 6,451 for the Saturday doubleheader for the title and third place.

Monte Vista (29-2) made it three victories in four tries against its Grossmont League rival, 49-44, pulling away from the Foothillers with a strong third quarter that gave the Monarchs a 43-34 advantage heading into the final eight minutes.

Monarchs coach Pete Colonelli, a standout guard at Lincoln in the late ‘fifties, answered those who thought his virtual ironman team of five starters (Allen Bunting, Gary Earle, Bob Pepciak, Jack Cross, and Carl Stucky), would tire from the pace of 4 games in the one-week postseason.

“I think we were in just a little better shape than anyone else,” Colonelli told Bill Center, “and I think the second team can be thanked for that. The second ream gave the starters all they wanted in practice.

“When fatigue sets in there is a lot of reaching and the tired club will draw the fouls,” said Colonelli.  “We were under 20 the last two nights.”

THIRD PLACE

Madison claimed the consolation prize for the third time in five years, defeating Patrick Henry (21-10), 70-59.

SMALL SCHOOLS

Ramona measured San Diego Military, 63-53, for the Class A championship as 6-foot-6 Dale Eberwein scored 24 points and came away with 17 rebounds at La Jolla.  The Bulldogs, 19-7, also topped the Eagles (16-5), 70-64 for the December Southern Prep League tournament gonfalon.

TOURNAMENTS

KIWANIS

Forty-two teams in three divisions, playing as many as 65 games in four days, represented the 24^th annual event, largest in California.  Junior colleges Grossmont, Southwestern, Palomar, and Mesa were hosts for games the first three days, with finals  at San Diego State’s Peterson Gym.

Diane Ridgway, widow of the Mount Miguel coach, Dick Ridgway, who passed suddenly before the season, was the honored guest at the tournament tipoff luncheon at U.S. U.S. Grant Hotel.

–San Diego, 2-6 and a decided underdog to 5-2 Helix, upset the second-seeded Highlanders in the quarterfinals, 61-57.

–Carlos Mina, a 6-foot, 8-inch forward destined to play for Jerry Tarkanian at Long Beach State, set a tournament record with 50 points as El Centro Central won the Classified Division, 80-79 over Bonita Vista.

–Monte Vista won its 11th in a row, topping Grossmont, 56-47, for the Unlimited Division crown.

–Two free throws by Bob Peterson with 1:20 remaining gave Castle Park a three point lead and Trojans held on to win the Limited Division over Chula Vista, 67-66.

POST-CHRISTMAS

Thirty-six teams competed in the University, Chino, Covina, Newport, El Centro, and Bonita Vista events, all sponsored by various Kiwanis, Optimist, and Elks clubs.

UNIVERSITY

Sixteen teams in the sixth annual Uni carnival played all games in the University of San Diego gym, some starting as early as 8:30 a.m. and finishing around 9:30 p.m.

–St. Augustine defeated Kearny, 53-42, for the championship.

–John Slater, son of Kearny football coach Birt Slater, scored nine of Mount Miguel’s 14 points in overtime and had a game high of 34 in the Matadors’ 73-66 win over Hoover.

–Castle Park outscored El Capitan, 22-8, in the final eight minutes to overcome a 57-49 deficit and win, 71-65, in a game in which 56 personal fouls were called.  Six players fouled out.  El Capitan missed 18 of 45 free throws and Castle Park missed 16 of 41.

COVINA

Despite entering with a 6-4 record, Helix played strongly in the prestigious event.

–Dan Coleman’s last-second layin gave the Scots a 78-77 win over Gardena Serra.  Coleman and Mike Honz each scored 22 points.

–Poway went to the consolation bracket following a 98-68 loss to Sherman Oaks Notre Dame.

–John Singer’s two free throws with nine seconds left in overtime lifted Helix to a 74-72 win over Lakewood, after Singer missed two free throws with one second remaining in regulation play.  Singer had been fouled while he launched a desperation, half-court shot with the score tied at 70.

–Poway headed home after a second loss, 64-48, to South Pasadena in the consolation round.

–Helix ousted host Covina, 72-61, in the quarterfinals.

–Honz, Coleman, and Dennis Dupree each scored 21 points as Helix hammered Huntington Beach Marina, 85-74, to gain the finals for the second year in a row.

–Mike Honz scored 31 points, but the Scots bowed to West Covina, 72-57.  Honz led all tournament scorers with 96 points and made the all-tournament team with Coleman.

CHINO

—Chula Vista advanced with a 65-49 win over Montclair and 81-60 triumph over Chino before bowing in the semifinals to Upland, 78-69.  The Spartans defeated Clairemont, 79-61 for third place.  Escondido lost to Ontario, 87-59, and Pomona Garey, 91-54.

NEWPORT BEACH

–Monte Vista was 2-0 in tournaments after beating Victorville Victor Valley, 64-63; three-time Nevada champion Las Vegas Clark, 61-55, and Camarillo, 46-44 on Gary Earle’s basket with 15 seconds left.

–Oceanside lost to Newport Harbor, 72-62, and La Jolla to Camarillo, 73-63, pushing the two San Diego teams into a consolation bracket game which Oceanside won, 80-71, despite 33 points by La Jolla’s Gary Kloppenburg.  Costa Mesa topped the Pirates, 72-51, for the conso’ title.

EL CENTRO

Six County schools were among the 14 entered in the fourth annual event.

–Patrick Henry, coming on in its third season, ran past Morse, 56-51, for the championship.

Carlos Mina’s 27 points escorted El Centro Central past Madison, 66-64, for third place.  Future National Basketball Association standout Lionel Hollins scored 24 to lead Las Vegas Rancho to a 78-50 win over Coronado for fifth place.

BARON-OPTIMIST

Bonita Vista was host for the inaugural event.

–San Diego blew a 14-point lead but outscored Mar Vista, 11-2, in overtime for an 81-72 victory.

–Crawford made 30×35 free throws to top Bonita Vista, 76-72, but the Colts lost to El Cajon Valley, 53-43, in the  championship game.

SCORING DOWN?

Production was off only at the top, as four players, compared to 20 in 1969-70, averaged at least 20 points a game.

There were 29 individuals who scored 400 or more points, one more than the previous season.

Hilltop junior Steve Copp had the highest single-game total, 45, in a 95-51 win over Montgomery. El Capitan’s Don Sutton scored 43 in an 83-61 triumph over Granite Hills.

Helix led the way with 100-point games, winning their 35th in a row at home, 105-60 over El Capitan.  The Scots, whose 75.6 game average was the second highest in section history among major schools to Helix’ 83.2 in 1969-70, also topped Santana, 106-52.

Christian passed the century mark when it beat San Miguel School, 101-82.

Leaders:

NAME	TEAM	GAMES	POINTS	AVERAGE
Mike Honz	Helix	30	614	20.5 (3)
Bob Tagye	Chula Vista	29	585	20.2 (4)
Steve Copp	Hilltop	27	571	21.5 (1)
Gary Earle	Monte Vista	31	563	18.2
Mike Collier	Lincoln	29	552	19.0 (8)
John Service	Patrick Henry	31	533	17.2
Kevin Enright	Grossmont	30	523	17.4
Dale Eberwein	Ramona	26	496	19.1 (7)
James  Ross	Kearny	29	491	16.9
Ron Wrigley	St. Augustine	28	493	17.6
Dennis Core	Santana	27	487	18.0
Phil Efseaff	San Marcos	25	483	19.4 (6)
Emlow Henry	Hoover	26	481	18.5 (9)
Louie Yap	Sweetwater	26	479	18.4 (10)
Gary Kloppenburg	La Jolla	24	469	19.5 (5)
Dave Bartholomew	Kearny	29	469	16.2
Allen Bunting	Monte Vista	31	468	15.1
Dan Coleman	Helix	29	461	15.9
Steve Vickery	El Capitan	24	459	17.1
Roger Davis	Lincoln	30	450	15.0
Ralph Drollinger	Grossmont	30	448	14.9
Tom Lines	Bonita Vista	27	446	16.5
Vern Rye	San Dieguito	21	435	20.7 (2)
Bill Howard	Mar Vista	25	432	17.3
John Slater	Mount Miguel	24	427	17.8
Stan Rosendahl	Morse	28	424	15.1
Rich Hastings	Madison	26	423	16.3
Marty Mayer	Clairemont	27	420	15.6
Braestrom	Vista	26	413	15.9

SIGN OF THE TIMES

Bill Walton returned to San Diego as a freshman basketball standout at UCLA and scored 29 points as the Brubabes toyed with a Mesa College team, 132-95.

“We expect Walton to start for the varsity next year,” declared frosh coach Gary Cunningham. “We’re a balanced ball club and he’s an excellent team player, which is why he’s averaging only 19 points a game.”

JUMP SHOTS

Grossmont opened a new gymnasium on campus and took a while to get settled, trailing Bonita Vista, 39-30, at halftime before pulling out to a  73-65 victory…Lincoln’s 6-foot-9 Roger Davis scored 23 points and set a school record with 37 rebounds in a 71-57 win at Vista…Davis’ 522 career rebounds broke the record of 516, set by Bruce Anderson in 1967…Tom Snow, 98-59 in six seasons, stepped down and Nate Wallace became head coach at Castle Park…Crawford led Granite Hills only 40-34,  but won, 68-38, with a 28-4 last quarter…Ralph Drollinger had 36 points and 24 rebounds in Grossmont’s 81-64 win over Mount Miguel…Kearny’s James Ross was identified as Ross James in one newspaper account…Uni coach Hector Macis was not a happy camper…a 77-54, home-game loss to Madison included 30 fouls to the visitors’ nine, and five Uni players fouled out…not to be outdone, 7 San Miguel players departed as the Knights committed 46 fouls against Christian, which sank 41×67 free throw attempts and defeated the former National City school, 101-82…San Miguel merged with The Bishop’s in 1971…eight players were in double scoring figures in Helix’ 106-52 win over Santana…Castle Park ended a 32-game home winning streak for Chula Vista, 62-59…Tony Baron’s looper with 15 seconds remaining lifted San Miguel to a 74-72, three-overtime victory over La Jolla Country Day…Grossmont outlasted a stall by Granite Hills, 28-12, after Lincoln was successful in a similar game with Crawford, 37-25…San Diego’s 8-19 record was the Cavemen’s poorest since a 2-10 finish in 1925-26 and their first losing season since a 6-8 campaign in 1934-35…the Cavers had one measure of success…they took a 1-8 record into a game with 7-1 rival Lincoln and came out ahead, 70-67….

Despite defeat, Cathedral got respect and cred in Cal-Hi Sports’  final rating of the state’s top 2018 teams.

Coach Sean Doyle’s team could not take down mighty Folsom, losing, 21-14, in overtime to the Sacramento-area power that had punished San Diego clubs in the past, but Cathedral’s stout performance in the Division 1-AA final at Cerritos College in Norwalk elevated the Dons from eighth to seventh behind, in order,  blue bloods Santa Ana Mater Dei, Bellflower St. John Bosco, Concord De LaSalle, Corona Centennial, and Folsom.

Westlake Village Oaks Christian nosed out the Dons for sixth.

Doyle’s clubs hit a bump in the road every once in a while but they travel with the elite and schedule the big boys.

Cathedral figures to make another run in 2019, returning several battle-tested players, starting with quarterback D.J. Ralph.  They’ll have to replace running back Shawn Poma, the San Diego Section player of the year who hit with howitzer force and was the heartbeat of the Dons’ offense.

Torrey Pines was 14^th in Cal-Hi Sports’ final,  St. Augustine 48^th, and Helix 52^nd.  Carlsbad, Eastlake, and Lincoln each was given honorable mention.

Cathedral ranked ninth in the state and 35^th in the country, according to Max Preps.  Torrey Pines was 23rd in California, St. Augustine 35^th, and Helix 45^th.

Cal Preps.com gave Cathedral a 64.7 grade, Torrey Pines 53.8, St. Augustine 49.0, and Helix 44.7.

CAVERS PREVAIL

San Diego was the only champion of the four San Diego Section finalists.  The Cavers, after traveling 563 miles, overcame an early, 10-0 deficit to defeat favored Colfax, 21-10, in D5-AA.

The victory revived memories of the Hilltoppers’ illustrious past.

While the Cavers had not done much in football the last 50 or so years, they still had their followers.

A Go-Fund-Me page with a goal of  $14,000 to help defray the Cavers’ expenses for the trip was met so quickly that many graduates couldn’t respond. Many in the school’s vast number of alumni had stepped up in support of the Park Boulevard mainstay.

Lincoln dropped a 21-7 decision to Menlo-Atherton in D3-AA and Orange Glen was defeated in D6-A by San Francisco Lincoln, 24-13.

VALLEY CENTER RUNNER TOPS

Mateo Sinohui of Valley Center led the section with 31 touchdowns and 18 two-point conversions for 222 points, according to the unofficial statistics annually provided by Max Preps.

Rancho Buena Vista’s Dorian Richardson had 34 touchdowns and 204 points and Orange Glen’s Cael Patterson, who returns in ’19, had 200, followed by Torrey Pines Mac Bingham with 158.

Go to the Football menu, search Top Performances, and then scroll to Annual Individual Performers for a list of the top 15.

San Diego Section squads are 10-16 since in state championship games were reintroduced in 2006:

YEAR	DIVISION	TEAM	OPPONENT	SCORE
2007	II	Oceanside	Novato*	28-14*
2008	III	Cathedral	Stockton St. Mary’s**	37-34
2009	V	Francis Parker	Modesto Christian**	40-44
2010	IV	Madison	Escalon**	14-30
2011	II	Helix	Loomis Del Oro**	35-24
2012	IV	Madison	Marin Catholic*	38-35
	V	Santa Fe Christian	Modesto Central Catholic**	7-66
2014	I	Oceanside	Folsom**	7-68
	III	El Capitan	Moraga Campolindo*	28-35
2015	III-A	Rancho Bernardo	Atherton Sacred Heart##	35-14
	IV-AA	Bonita Vista	Hanford+	21-33
	V-AA	Mater Dei	Reedley Immanuel+	55-21
	VI-AA	Coronado	East Nicolaus++	6-16
2016	I-AA	Cathedral	Stockton St. Mary’s**	38-31
	II-AA	Madison	San Jose Village Christian##	21-17
	III	The Bishop’s	Oakdale**	0-47
	V-A	La Jolla Country Day	Oakland McClymonds+++	17-20
	VI-A	Horizon	Strathmore+	22-62
2017	I-AA	Helix	Folsom**	42-49
	III-A	Steele Canyon	Half Moon Bay##	44-42
	IV-AA	El Central Southwest	Milpitas##	41-45
	VI-A	Calexico Vincent Memorial	S.F. Galileo***	20-38
2018	I-AA	Cathedral	Folsom**	14-21>
	III-AA	Lincoln	Menlo-Atherton##	7-21
	V-AA	San Diego	Colfax**	21-10
	VI-A	Orange Glen	S.F. Lincoln ***	13-24

CIF sections:

+–Central. ++–Northern.  +++–Oakland.  *–North Coast.  **Sac-Joaquin. ***–San Francisco. ##Central Coast. >Overtime.

Seasons of 9-2 and 8-4, respectively, continued to elevate Ron Hamamoto and Valley Center’s Rob Gilster in the upper strata of all-time, San Diego Section football coaches. Cathedral’s Sean Doyle is on the cusp of 200 victories.

Hamamoto, who completed his 32^nd season at Cathedral (nee University), Rancho Bernardo, Lincoln, and Monte Vista since 1985, completed the year with 227 victories.  The graduate of Long Beach Poly still is fifth in number of wins but is stalking Morse’s John Shacklett, who won 229 in 32 seasons at Morse.

Gilster, an all-section lineman in the 1980s at Escondido, has won 224 games since 1989 at Orange Glen and Valley Center and moved past Gil Warren into sixth place.

Despite a wrenching, 21-14 overtime loss to Folsom in the state Division I-AA championship, Doyle’s 12-2 season vaulted him from 13^th to a tie for 10^th with Vista’s Dick Haines, each with 194 wins.

Damon Baldwin has compiled a record of 98-61-1 since becoming Ramona’s head coach in 2005 and could become the 42^nd with 100 victories next year, with Olympian’s Paul Van Nosdtrand (97) and Grossmont’s Tom Karlo (95) in pursuit,

The eight active members of the Century Club:  Hamamoto, Gilster, Doyle, Matt Oliver (166), Chris Hauser (159), Mike Hastings (145), Rick Jackson (131), and John McFadden (130).

CARROLL LEADS

John Carroll, 248-75-6 in 26 seasons at Oceanside, still has the highest winning percentage, .763, followed Birt Slater (.753), Rick Jackson (.751), John McFadden (.747), and George Ohnessorgen (.745).

All of Jack Mashin’s 125 victories came when Grossmont was a member of the Southern Section, from which San Diego schools broke in 1960.  Herb Meyer, Bennie Edens, Chick Embrey, Gene Edwards, and Birt Slater also won games when their schools were in the Southern Section.

Ed Burke (215) won at least 40 more games as head coach at King City in the Central Coast Section.  Dick Haines (194) won an untold number in Dover, Ohio.

Chula Vista’s Chet DeVore and San Diego’s Duane Maley are the County’s all-time leaders in won-loss percentage based on a minimum of 50 games.  DeVore was 44-7-1 (.856) and Maley 97-19-3 (.828).

The all-time winner remains Herb Meyer, who won’t be challenged for many years, if ever.  With 339 victories at Oceanside and El Camino, Meyer is 91 ahead of runner-up John Carroll (248).

Search the “Football” menu and scroll down to “Coach 100 Win Club” for a complete list.

It’s been 96 years, but who’s counting when you’re having fun?

San Diego High coach Charles James has reason to be enjoying the moment.  The once tradition-rich Cavers (12-2) have become relevant after a slump that spanned generations.

How far the Hilltoppers have come back will continue to be measured when James’ club travels about 560 miles to the former gold country northeast of Sacramento and takes on the Colfax Falcons of the Sac-Joaquin Section in the state Division 6-AA championship game Saturday evening.

The Cavers will be making their first appearance in a state playoff since they dropped a 17-6 decision to Bakersfield in City Stadium (renamed Balboa in 1939) in 1922.   State championship contests were discontinued after the 1926 season and reinstated in 2006.

James, who was 7-5 and 4-7 at University City in 2013-14, assumed leadership of the San Diego program in 2015 and took his lumps, 2-8 and 1-9 in his first two seasons before his team hit stride and climbed to 12-1 in 2017.

–San Diego is one of four San Diego Section teams to have reached the final.  All four are considered underdogs by the ratings groups.

Colfax, with a 13-0 record, is ranked 80^th in the state by Max Preps.  San Diego is ranked 124^th.  Cal Preps.com assigns Colfax a 36.8 rating and San Diego 30.1.

–Orange Glen, which won its first league championship since 1995 and first section title since 1967, takes a 10-4 record to City College of San Francisco, where the Patriots will play San Francisco Lincoln, 12-0, and a 52-18 winner over Galileo, which beat Calexico Vincent Memorial, 38-20, for the 2017 state championship in D-6A.

S.F. Lincoln has a 12.5 Cal-Preps.com rating and Orange Glen 5.2.  Max Preps rated Lincoln 289^th in the state and Orange Glen 376th.

–San Diego Lincoln (11-4) will meet Central Coast Section big shot Menlo-Atherton (12-2) at Redwood City Sequoia High. The Bears have a 43.5 Cal Preps.com rating to Lincoln’s 42.7 and rate 49^th by Max Preps to Lincoln’s 51^st.  Menlo-Atherton is 41^st in Cal-Hi Sports’ top 50, while Lincoln is on the bubble.

–Cathedral, eighth this week in Cal-Hi Sports, will be the third consecutive San Diego Section squad trying to slow down Folsom, Cal-Hi Sports’ No. 5 team.  The Falcons received a 78.1 compliment from Cal-Preps.com, while Cathedral came in at 65.0.  Max Preps rates Folsom fourth and Cathedral ninth.

BULLDOGS TAKE NO PRISONERS

Folsom wore out Fresno Central in the Northern California final, 84-46, despite giving up 763 yards.  The Bulldogs lost their season opener, 14-0, to Concord De La Salle and then ran the table with 13 straight wins, six times passing 60 points and knocking out rival Loomis Del Oro, 40-0.

“We played them in 2014,” Folsom coach Kris Richardson said of Cathedral to Cal-Hi-Sports’ Mark Tennis.  After Folsom’s 55-10 victory, Cathedral coach Sean Doyle declared the suburban Sacramento team near the prison by the same name was the best he had ever seen.  “We’re pretty good this year, too,” Richardson noted to Mark Tennis.

Folsom also roughed up 14-0 Oceanside, 68-7, in 2014, after which  ailing Pirates’ coach John Carroll retired.

Folsom defeated Helix, 49-42, in the 2017 D-1AA championship. It was the only occasion that the Folsom coach was not able to pour it on.

Cathedral has been here before, defeating Stockton St. Mary’s, 37-34, in 2008, and again in 2016, 38-35.

QUICK KICKS

San Diego teams are 5-9 in state championships since the six-division model was adopted in 2014…they were 0-2 in ’14, 2-2 in ’15, 2-2 in ’16, and 1-3 in ’17…San Francisco Lincoln has one of the most diverse groups of notable alumni, including golf champions Johnny Miller and Ken Venturi, Super Bowl champion coach Mike Holmgren, and Alzono Powell, recently the San Diego Padres’ assistant hitting coach….

Get your kicks on Route 101 or I-5.

And be sure to pack for cool…well, maybe cold weather.

That’s the forecast for 3 of the San Diego Section teams still competing in the state football playoffs.

Lincoln knows that it will play next week in Division III-AA but not where after winning the Southern California regional last week, coming from a nine-point deficit in the third quarter to win on the road, 54-42, at Culver City.

The Hornets will take on the winner of the Northern regional, matching Menlo-Atherton of the Central Coast Section and Eureka of the North Coast.

Should Eureka win, Lincoln may find use for a Rand-McNally road atlas.

A Lincoln-Eureka game would arguably represent the longest, in-state trip in the history of the state CIF.

The distance is 772.3 miles from the Hornets’ campus at 49^th Street and Imperial Avenue in South San Diego to the Eureka High campus at 19^th and J. streets, roughly 270 miles North of San Francisco and about 100 miles south of the Oregon border.

The trip could be longer, if this week’s site is an indication.  The Eureka Loggers-Menlo Atherton Bears contest will be played at McKinleyville High, 19 miles north of Eureka.

Should Menlo-Atherton win, the Hornets are looking at an approximate 490-mile trip.

San Diego High and Orange Glen also will make the rubber hit the road.

The Cavers will meet Colfax in the D5-A championship and they are preparing for a 563-mile venture to a community that its chamber of commerce advertises as “above the fog and below the snow”, northeast of Sacramento.  Colfax’ 2,425-foot elevation is probably a couple hundred feet  higher than Ramona’s in San Diego County.

The odometer will finally rest at 502 miles when Orange Glen visits San Francisco Lincoln in the San Francisco Washington stadium, which is located in  an area known as the “Avenues”, several miles west of downtown.

Cathedral also doesn’t know which team it will play, Folsom or Fresno Central, but the Division I-AA state championship game will be at Cerritos College in Norwalk, less than 2 hours from the Dons’ Del Mar digs.

LAST WEEK

CATHEDRAL 24, NARBONNE 21

Cathedral won another tough battle with visiting Harbor City Narbonne, the L.A. City champion, 24-21, when Jalen Dye, son of former major league baseballer Jermaine Dye intercepted a pass on the Dons’ one-yard line with 14 seconds remaining after the Gauchos had fought back from a 21-7 deficit.

Cathedral’s Dean Janikowski broke a 21-21 tie with a 40-yard field goal with 1:42 remaining.  Narbonne’s Jake Garcia passed for 334 yards, but Cathedral’s Shawn Poma rushed for 246 yards and touchdown runs of 33 and 80 yards.

Poma ran for 175 yards and four touchdowns in the Dons’ 35-28, DI-AA playoff win over Narbonne in 2016.

SIMI VALLEY GRACE BRETHREN 28, ST. AUGUSTINE 14

The Saints trailed, 21-14, with 2:01 remaining in the DII-AA contest at Cal Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks when they were stopped on fourth down at the Lancers’ 49-yard line.  Brethren’s Josh Henderson clinched the victory with a 37-yard touchdown run with 1:11 left.  The Saints ended coach Joe Kremer’s first season at 10-5.

LINCOLN 54, CULVER CITY 42

The Hornets’ Don Chapman scored 20 points in the fourth quarter, on a 40-yard interception return, 84-yard kickoff return, one-yard touchdown run, and two-yard point after run to seal the DIII-AA victory after Lincoln trailed, 35-26, in the second half.

VISALIA CENTRAL VALLEY CHRISTIAN 30, MORSE 14

The Central Section champion overcame an early, 8-0 Morse lead and dominated the IV-AA game.  Shamar Martin, apparently headed to UCLA, led the Tigers with 111 yards in 21 carries and a touchdown.

SAN DIEGO 42, TEMECULA LINFIELD CHRISTIAN 31

The Cavers trailed the DV-A favorite and state’s highest scoring team, 21-0, 24-7, and 31-21.  Jayden Wickware’s 94-yard kickoff return got the Cavers close, and then Mo Jackson put the them in front, 35-31, with a 57-yard scoring hike.

ORANGE GLEN 22, L.A. LOCKE 14

Carlos Galvan sacked Saints quarterback Mikel Beime, who fumbled and the Patriots’ Damien Gainey recovered and ran 10 yards to Locke’s nine-yard line.  On the next play Cael Patterson scored and then, after a couple penalties on the visitors, punched in a two-point conversion to clinch the DVI-A battle with 2:05 remaining.