Sixth and final in a series on San Diego Section state playoff matchups.

VI-A

After coach Rob Gilster departed to fledgling Valley Center following a 9-3 season in 1997, Orange Glen went into free fall.  They were 51-155 from 1998 until this season when fifth-season coach Jason Patterson, 1-9 in ‘17 and 15-28 overall, turned to another Patterson.

Cael Patterson, the coach’s son, a 180-pound junior not reluctant to take the ball, averaged 200 yards a game rushing, with 2,196 yards in 329 carries in 11 games, and scored 26 touchdowns to go with a 6.7-yard rushing average.

Patterson also caught 14 and scored two touchdowns although the pass is a passing thought to the Patriots, who have attempted 55 in their 8-4 season.

Cal Preps.com predicts a 28-21 Orange Glen victory over Los Angeles Locke tonight at  6 in the Southern California Class 6-A playoffs at the Patriots’ East Escondido facility.

Locke played in the Los Angeles City Section’s Coliseum League for many years, but, after a 1-9 season in 2016, the Saints moved to the Metro, winning a league championship with a 10-3 overall record.

The school in the legendary South Central L.A. community of Watts went back to the Coliseum this year, finishing third to Dorsey and Crenshaw, but defeated Roosevelt, 22-21, for the D-II section title and is 10-4.

Locke has an edge in prominent alumni.

Named after Alain Leroy Locke, the first African-American Rhodes Scholar in 1907, the Saints boast baseball Hall of Famers Eddie Murray and Ozzie Smith among their graduates, along with Valery Briscoe Hooks, a five-time Olympic medalist in track and field.

Orange Glen cites two NFL players, quarterback Sean Salisbury and defensive back Lenny McGill. By the time he graduates in 2020, Patterson figures to increase Orange Glen’s list of prominent football alums.

Fifth in a series this week on San Diego Section playoff matchups.

V-A

San Diego coach Charles James, while returning the city’s oldest and perhaps most beloved high school to prominence, recognized tradition and greatness.

After multi-generation tough sledding, which began with a gradual shift in demographics and school boundaries after Duane Maley retired following a championship in 1959, the Cavers are thriving again.

San Diego won 176 games and lost 347 from 1960-2014.  They were 2-8 and 1-9 in James’ first two seasons, 2015-16, but have enjoyed back to back 12-1 and 10-2 campaigns.

The Cavers topped Kearny, 42-14, last week for their first outright San Diego Section title (they shared a championship after a 21-21 tie with Escondido in 1969) and James paid tribute to those who came before him in an interview following the game with television channel KUSI 51.

James, born several years after Maley’s departure, wanted the viewing audience to know that he was up on his Cavers history and how James valued the school’s tradition.

That tradition includes national championship recognition in 1955 and the years 1944-60, when San Diego made the playoffs 14 times, plus Southern Section championship appearances in 1916, ’25, ’33, ’47, and ‘59.

His message also has filtered down to James’ players, music to the ears of the vast number of alumni who still support the former “Old Grey Castle.”

San Diego takes its next step against Temecula Linfield Saturday night  in the Southern California Division V-A playoffs.

The Cavers like to run the ball.  Raiden Hunter has rushed for 1,063 yards and 18 touchdowns.  Mo Jackson has gained 986 yards in 86 attempts plus 17 touchdowns and an 11.5-yard rushing average.  Jayden Wickware is at 7.3 yards a carry and has gained 631 yards in 87 carries. Quinn O’Connor, who transferred when Horizon Christian closed, has been an effective quarterback with 49 completions in 95 attempts and 16 touchdown passes.

FAMILIAR FACE

Linfield Christian, which opened in 1936 as Culter Academy in Los Angeles and bounced around until settling in Temecula in 1972, has a long history with San Diego teams, mostly among the smallest schools, many in eight-man competition.

The Lions hold a 30-22-2 record against San Diego Section clubs since 1981.  Local teams, however, were 6-1-1 from 2010 through the 2012 season. There have been no games since.

Linfield, with reported support from ex-Lincoln star and Pro Football Hall of Famer Terrell Davis, upgraded to 13-1 against stronger competition this season, losing only to San Bernardino Aquinas, 30-20, and averaging 57 points.

The Lions won games in which they scored 85, 78, 70, 69, and 63 points.  Their offensive coordinator is former Lincoln standout and NFL No. 1 draft choice Akili Smith.

Kaleb Maresh has thrown for 32 touchdowns, is averaging 8.8 yards carrying the ball, and has scored 13 touchdowns.  Kenric Jamieson is the workhorse with 2,011 yards rushing and 30 touchdowns.

Max Preps ranks the Cavers 137^th in California and Linfield 165^th.  Cal Preps.com assigned San Diego a 29.2 rating and Linfield 27.6.  The computer predicted a 35-34 Linfield victory.

Fourth in a series this week on San Diego Section teams’ playoff matchups

IV-AA

Morse, staggered by a late-season, 47-6 loss to St. Augustine, recharged to win its last four games and claim the Tigers’ first San Diego Section championship in 24 years. The Skyline Drive squad was rewarded with the longest trip of the Southern California playoffs, 320 miles to Visalia and a 7:30 Friday evening kickoff against the 11-2 Central Valley Christian Cavaliers, winners of the Central Section’s Division IV.

Morse coach Tracy McNair has compiled a 60-55-1 record and stabilized the program since becoming head coach in 2009. The Tigers were 21-78 under three coaches from 1997-2008, a period in which the school underwent demographic change and football dramatically declined.

Morse had appeared in eight championship games and won five titles from 1979-96 under the legendary John Shacklett, one of the winningest coaches in County history with an all-time record of 229-156-8 (.659).

Morse’s 9-4 record represents the most victories in one season since the 12 in 1996, Shacklett’s last championship season.

The Tigers have done it with a running attack revolving around Shamar Martin, who has averaged 11.2 yards and gained 1,617 yards and scored 14 touchdowns.  Isiah Thompson has gained 1,569 yards with an 8.8-yard average and 13 touchdowns.

Eric Dragt, a 6-foot, 5-inch quarterback, has thrown for 1,638 yards and 23 Cavaliers touchdowns.  Running back Jaalen Rening has gained 1,216 yards and scored 28 touchdowns

Central Valley is ranked 108^th in the state and Morse 112th by Max Preps.  The computer-based Cal Preps.com assigned a 32.9 rating to the Cavaliers, 33.4 to Morse, and predicts a 31-24 Central Valley win.

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Central Valley met two San Diego Section teams in 1986, defeating Army-Navy, 21-0, and losing to Santa Fe Christian, 24-3…the school began in 1979 as an elementary unit and became a kindergarten-to-grade-12 school in 1982…Morse is named after the man credited with inventing the single wire telegraph system known as the Morse code…the school name is officially Samuel F. B. Morse…his middle names were Finley and Breese…Morse died in 1872 but a granddaughter, Leila Morse, was an honored guest at a ceremony dedicating the school in 1962…

Third in a series this week on San Diego Section teams’ Southern California playoff matchups.

III-AA

Lincoln rallied down the stretch with five consecutive victories and now is 10-4 after it appeared to be sliding into the abyss.

Coach David Dunn explained that injuries and other problems left him without enough players to take on Cathedral in the midseason, necessitating a forfeit by the Hornets, who also forfeited their opening game to Bloomington.

The Hornets changed gears the following week in a 24-14 win over Madison.

Lincoln began relying more on running back Carlito Nothaft, who was called on 77 times in the first nine games but carried the ball 90 times in the last five.  Nothaft has 1,201 yards and 15 touchdowns.  Raymond Spriggs (1,866 yards, 18 touchdowns) and Chris Davila (783 yards, 11 TD’s) both saw action at quarterback.

Cal Preps.com is predicting a 40-27 win for 12-2 Culver City, which will host the Hornets in a 7:30 kickoff Friday night. The computer entity is more impressed with the Centaurs’ statistics.

Greek mythology described a Centaur as a beast with the head, arms, and chest of a man but the legs of a horse.  This specimen relies on its arms, those of sophomore quarterback Zevi Eckhaus, who has passed for 3,122 yards and 46 touchdowns, and junior Nick Lucero, who has passed for 13 touchdowns and took over when Eckhaus missed two games. Wide receiver Kevin McGuire has caught 62 passes for a 17.1-yard average and 18 touchdowns, and five players have at least 29 catches.

Culver City averaged 44 points and scored 612 in its first 14 games.  Lincoln has a more modest 34.8 average and 417 points (not including the two forfeits).

Lincoln competes in the arguably stronger San Diego Western League with Cathedral, St. Augustine, Madison and Point Loma.  The Centaurs are aligned in the Southern Section’s Ocean loop, which includes league champion Lawndale, Hawthorne, Beverly Hills, El Segundo, and once powerful Santa Monica.

Lawndale won the teams’ head-to-head meeting, 37-36, and Palos Verdes Estates edged Culver City, 34-27.

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Cal Preps.com assigned Culver City a 47.4 rating…the Centaurs are ranked 32^nd in the state by Max Preps and they are not in Cal-Hi Sports’ top 50…Lincoln also is outside the top 50 and is given a 41.5 rating by Cal Preps.com and is slotted at 68^th by Max Preps…Culver City played St. Augustine here in 1952, a year after the Centaurs opened their doors, and the Saints, 2-5-1 that season, took a 14-6 decision…Culver did not  renew acquaintances here until Point Loma signed a home-and-home agreement that ran for four seasons, 2004-07…coach Mike Hastings’ Pointers were 38-12 during this period but could get only a 2-2 split with the Centaurs, who won the last two games, 40-13 and 54-35… the Dunn-coached Hornets are making their first Southern California playoff appearance and last won a San Diego Section title in 2012….

Four city schools made the final Union-Tribune Top 10, an outstanding achievement for an area, once the most powerful in the County but lately looking up.

No. 1 Cathedral, 3 St. Augustine, 8 Lincoln, and 9 Morse all are in the Southern California playoffs this week, and San Diego, which accumulated a healthy amount of voting points, also is in the quest for laurels outside the San Diego Section.

Week 15 final poll:

Rank             Team                        Record                Points           Previous

Others: Mission Hills (5-7, 23 points), Mira Mesa (10-1, 21)), San Diego (10-2, 21), Steele Canyon (9-3, 21), La Costa Canyon (6-4, 6), El Centro Central (12-1, 5). Chridtian (10-2, 1).

Voting panel: 30 sportswriters, sportscasters, and officials from throughout the County.

• • John Maffei, The San Diego Union                                                                  Jim Lindgren, Rick Hoff, Terry Monahan, Don Norcross, Tom Saxe, Union-Tribune correspondents
  • Paul Rudy, Brandon Stone, KUSI Chl. 51
  • Adam Paul, ECpreps.com
  • Ramon Scott, EastCountySports.com
  • Bodie DeSilva, sandiegopreps.com
  • Ted Mendenhall, Tyler Quellman, The Mighty 1090
  • Steve Brand, San Diego Hall of Champions
  • Troy Hirsch, Fox 5, San Diego
  • Rick Smith, PartletonSports.com
  • Jerry Schniepp, John Labeta, Ron Marquez, Carlton Hoggard, CIF San Diego Section
  • Joe Heinz, Coordinator, Athletics, Sweetwater School District
  • Raymond Brown, sdfootball.net
  • Montell Allen, MBA Sports/San Diego Friday Night Lights Magazine
  • Bob Petinak, Fox 1360 Radio
  • John Kentera, Brandon Suprenant, 97.3 FM The Fan
  • Steve (Biff) Dolan, Mountain Country 107.9 FM
  • Jim Arnaiz, Mike Dolan, John Carroll, San Diego Section Tournament Directors.

Second in a series this week on San Diego Section playoff matchups:

A month ago St. Augustine was an unlikely candidate for a Southern California playoff spot.

The Saints were coming off a shocking, 27-24 loss to Madison in a game that had been postponed because of lightning bolts three days before, at a point in the late third quarter when St. Augustine led, 24-7.

The defeat, after losses to Helix, 34-14, and Cathedral, 35-14, left first-year coach Joe Kremer’s squad reeling with three losses in four weeks.

The Saints righted themselves and enter this step of the state eliminations in Division II-AA on a five-game winning streak, highlighted by a 21-20 win over Helix in the Week 14 San Diego Section D-I final.

The Saints escaped by the thinnest margin, a fumbled snap by Helix in overtime on a two-point conversion attempt.  The Highlanders had kicked a point to tie the game, 21-21, but Helix coach Robbie Owens, presented with an opportunity when St. Augustine was penalized on the PAT, decided to opt for a two-point option and victory.

The Helix error sent the Scots packing and the Saints on a 168-mile jaunt to Cal Lutheran University, where they will meet Simi Valley Grace Brethren Friday night at 7:30.

The Grace Brethren Lancers have an advantage of Cal Lutheran’s being barely 12 miles and a 20-minute drive from their campus.

Such a travel edge usually can be overcome, but the Lancers (12-2), predicted to win, 24-21, by Cal-Preps.com, and with a rating of 59.1 to 51.7,  are ranked 16^th in the state by  Max Preps, compared to St. Augustine’s 32nd, and 24^th, compared to St. Augustine’s 47th, by Cal-Hi Sports.

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The Lancers are 0-1 against San Diego teams, having lost to host The Bishop’s, 21-20, in 2005…Grace Brethren defeated Paramount, 41-12, in the Southern Section playoffs…Paramount scored a 26-18 victory over San Diego Section Mission Hills in the season opener…Brethren is a member of the Camino League, which includes Santa Barbara Bishop Diego, Moorpark, Camarillo, and Thousand Oaks…the Lancers like to give the ball to 5-foot-8, 225-pound running back Lontrell Diggs, who averages 167.9 yards a game and has scored 32 touchdowns, tied for 17^th as the most in the state…quarterback Mikey Zele has passed for 1,567 yards and 9 touchdowns…St. Augustine is led offensively by three underclassmen, sophomore quarterback Angelo Peraza (2,396 yards, 25 touchdown passes), junior wideout Samuel Scaife III (48 catches, 14 touchdowns), and sophomore running back Byron Cardwell (1,081 yards and 5.1-yard average, and 13 touchdowns.