First in a series this week on San Diego Section Southern California playoff matchups.

DIVISION 1-AA

Two of the state’s most successful coaches will square off at Cathedral Friday night at 7:30 in this repeat of a Southern California playoff in 2016, when Cathedral defeated the Narbonne Gauchos, 35-28, en route to a 15-0 season and the Dons’ second state championship.

Harbor City Narbonne coach Manuel Douglas is 110-32 (.775) since taking over the Gauchos’ program in 2009 and has two state titles, 28-14 over Concord Clayton Valley in 2015 and 28-21 over Pittsburgh in 2017.

Douglas was 8-6 and 6-6 in his first two seasons, but his teams have won at least 10 games every season since 2011 and three times have won 14.  Narbonne is located in one of the most fertile football areas of Southern California, approximately 7 miles west of Long Beach Poly and about 3.3 miles southwest of Carson High, which for many years ruled the L.A. City Section.

Cathedral’s Sean Doyle, who played for the Dons when they were known as University of San Diego High and has coached them since 1996, posting a 193-92 (.677) record, parlayed the 2016 win over Narbonne into a state championship, 38-35 over Stockton St. Mary’s.  The Dons also won a title in 2009, when they measured St. Mary’s, 37-34.

Narbonne is named after Nathaniel Narbonne, who came South from the Sacramento gold rush in 1852 and eventually owned more than 3,500 acres of land as a cattle rancher in the area around Lomita and Harbor City.  Narbonne passed in 1881 and the school opened in 1925.

Cathedral opened in 1957, a year after the nascent University of San Diego played its first football game.

The Dons are led by Shawn Poma, who played a significant role in Cathedral’s 2016 championship, was injured for much of last season as the Dons fell to 5-7, and returned to rush for 1,413 yards, a 10.2-yard average, and has scored 17 touchdowns this season.

Junior quarterback D.J. Ralph, son of Jerry, the longtime San Diego-area head coach, has passed for 1,194 yards and 15 touchdowns.

Narbonne’s sophomore quarterback Jake Garcia has completed 76 per cent of his passes for 1,802 yards and 13 touchdowns. Sophomore Marceece Yetts is averaging 5.9 yards for 114 carries and scored 6 touchdowns.

TRUE GRID

Cathedral (11-1) is ranked 11^th in the state by Cal-Hi Sports and 16^th by Max Preps…the Dons’ Cal-Preps.com rating is up to 65.7…the three rating systems have the Gauchos at 13^th, 25^th, and 54.2, respectively…this will mark Narbonne’s third appearance here…the Gauchos defeated host Mount Miguel, 25-7, in 1971…movie director Quentin Tarentino attended Narbonne, as did Bo Derek, who was an international sensation in the movie Ten…Paul Pettit, major league baseball’s first 100,000 bonus baby, also attended Narbonne…Cathedral lists golfer Phil Mickelson and Los Angeles Lakers head coach Luke Walton among its graduates…Cathedral came from a 14-0 deficit to overcome Torrey Pines for the San Diego Section Open Division championship, 28-17 in Week 14…Narbonne defeated Los Angeles Garfield, 55-7 for the L.A. City Open title….

To all our friends and visitors, we are taking the week off for Thanksgiving and will resume on Sunday, Nov. 25.

Here’s to a San Diego State victory over Iowa State today.

Rick Smith & Henrik Jonson.

Cathedral and Torrey Pines, 1.8 miles apart on San Diego’s Del Mar Heights Road, meet in  the region’s biggest game Saturday night at Southwestern College in Bonita, more than 30 miles away.

Southwestern’s Jaguar Stadium is a terrific venue which probably could squeeze 10,000 persons into its concrete stands and is the only edifice capable of handling a so-called game of the year and Open Division championship in the San Diego Section.

This isn’t Texas, where 20,000-seat high school stadiums are not uncommon.  But Southwestern’s is the best in this area of more than 3 million persons. Long gone are San Diego State’s Aztec Bowl and Balboa Stadium on the San Diego High campus, which were larger and hosted similar contests over the years.

SO CLOSE

Cathedral and Torrey Pines, the Open Division finalists,  are closer on the field than their geographic cheek to cheek.

Torrey is 11-0, Cathedral 10-1.

Torrey Pines is ranked 11^th in California by Cal-Hi Sports.  Cathedral is 12^th.

Cathedral is 11th in the state and 51^st nationally as calculated by Max Preps.  Torrey Pines is 14^th and 71^st, respectively.

Calpreps.com gives Cathedral a 63.3 ratings.  Torrey is assigned 60.5.

Cathedral dropped its opening game, 19-7 to La Costa Canyon.  Torrey Pines scored a late-season, 38-0 victory over the Mavericks.

DONS DRAMA

School honchos suspended coach Sean Doyle for last week’s 35-0 playoff win over Carlsbad after reported hazing among players.  Doyle was said to have been unaware and not involved but being the captain of the ship, Doyle took the hit.

The distraction notwithstanding, we’ll take Cathedral over the Falcons, 42-28.

QUICK KICKS

Higher playoff seeds will be the home teams for the semifinals in Divisions 1 through V…possible most significant matchups:  Eastlake (2) and Helix (3)  in D-I…Mission Hills, lowest seed at 9, versus 4 St. Augustine in the other D-I semifinal…Mira Mesa, a 7 seed, visits Valley Center (3) in D-II…Santa Fe Christian, a 6 seed, travels to No. 1 El Centro Central in D-III…No. 6 Serra visits No. 1 San Diego in D-IV…Orange Glen, at 7-4 enjoying its first winning season since 1997 and hoping to forget a 21-year record of 51-153-1, is the No. 1 seed in D-V and takes on visiting No. 4 Holtville…Orange Glen’s last winning season was the 9-3 of coach Rob Gilster’s 1996 squad…Gilster then went over the hill and north of Lake Wohlford to start the Valley Center program in 1997….

The Santana Sultans, not usually compared to the St. Louis Rams’ “Greatest Show on Earth” of a generation ago, or today’s L.A. Rams, almost short-circuited the scoreboard.

Coach Tim Estes’ squad defeated La Jolla Country Day, 76-55, in an opening-round game in the Division IV playoffs.

This was not eight-man football.

The score represented the highest total by two teams in almost 100 years.

San Diego High and Army-Navy Academy combined for 137 points in 1920.  San Diego was on the front end with 130. The Hilltoppers’ achievement was made easier by a rule of the day that required the defensive team to kick off following a score.

Such was not the case for the Sultans, who still accumulated almost 55 points more than their 2018 average.  The losing Torreys had given up 383 points in their first 10 games, an average of 38 points, which Santana doubled.

Santana outscored ‘Day, 28-27, in the fourth quarter of the three-and-one-half-hour game.

“That was a fun and crazy game,” Estes understated to writer John Maffei.  “We’re at 62 points and I’m still worried they might come back.”

The San Diego Section record for combined points was 119, by Rancho Bernardo and West Hills in a 71-48 ‘Bernardo victory in the 1999 playoffs and by Monte Vista and San Diego in a 71-48 Monarchs win in the 2017 postseason.

WHO GOOFED?

Perhaps a mischievous geek.

I had to squint my eyes and look twice when I fired up the computer Saturday morning and went to Cal Preps.com.

Morse was reported to have beaten Hilltop by a score of 85-2.

The Tigers were a definite favorite, seeded fifth to the Lancers’ 12^th in D-III, but this result would have been the highest for a playoff since San Diego defeated Orange, 84-6, in the 1916 Southern Section postseason.

A quick check on The San Diego Union website showed the right score.  Morse actually won by the more conventional 42-14.  Cal Preps.com soon corrected its error.

FAVORITES COME THROUGH

Higher seeded teams won 25 of the 30 first-round games.  Three eight seeds topped nine seeds in essential pick-‘em contests.  Two No. 11 seeds provided the surprises.

San Diego Southwest traveled almost 140 miles and beat Calexico Vincent Memorial, 34-26, for its first postseason victory since 1989, when Carl Parrick held sway and claimed one of his 189 coaching victories.

Grossmont, saddled with a 3-7 regular-season mark that was its poorest since the 2-8 of 1999, stunned 6 seed Madison, 44-42.

Writer Jim Lindgren noted that seven seconds were left in the game and Madison was on the Foothillers’ 30-yard line.

Then the lights went out at Warhawks Stadium.

A 25-minute delay followed.

Daniel Stokes ran eight yards when play resumed.  The Warhawks still had time to try a reported 38-yard field goal, which was wide to the left.

Just two weeks before a lightning strike forced St. Augustine and Madison to suspend play until the following Monday, when Madison scored three fourth-quarter touchdowns to win, 28-24 as the game ended.

You can’t make this up.

TRUE GRID

A couple more successes and Ramona’s Damon Baldwin will become the 42nd area mentor to win 100 games…Baldwin is 98-60-1 since 2005 and sends the 8 seed Bulldogs against 1 seed Granite Hills in the D-II quarterfinals this week…Monte Vista’s Ron Hamamoto needs two victories to tie John Shacklett at 229 victories, fourth all time…Dreaded Administrative Glitch:  Sweetwater recently was discovered to have forfeited six Metro League victories in 1968…the announcement was not made until two months after the season, although no reason was announced…the forfeits made coach Dave Lay’s all-time record  95-41-2…Mission Hills, a 9 seed, has won first-round games in 13 consecutive seasons and gets No. 1 La Costa Canyon in D-I  after a 20-13 win over Rancho Bernardo…Santana’s record for most points in a game was 70 in a shutout of Grande Prairie of Alberta, Canada, in 2011…domestically the Sultans’ highest was in a 59-19  over Kearny in 2015…John McFadden, coach of the 9-1 Eastlake Titans, is 129-43 (.750) since 2000…McFadden was on hiatus from 2014-17 and Eastlake, under two different coaches, was 24-22…Steele Canyon is on a roll similar to 2017, when the Cougars won a record 6 playoff  games and claimed a state III-A state title…the 5 seed Cougars rushed for 491 yards in a 49-17 win over El Camino in D-1 for their fifth in a row and take on No. 4 St. Augustine this week….

The move away from the ubiquitous and arcane “Power Ratings” to those offered by Max Preps and Cal Preps.com, preferred by the coaches, did not evoke the usual shouts of “We wuz robbed,” but still was painful to Scripps Ranch.

The Falcons, who moved to the City League from the Eastern this season, are the only team with a winning record not in the playoff field of 68 teams of 11-man and 8-man football.

Coach Marlon Gardinera’s squad posted a 6-4 record, its first winning season since 2013, but the two computer services were not impressed.

CalPreps.com churned out a 1.3 rating for Scripps, which put it below playoff teams Rancho Buena Vista (3.6) and El Capitan (4.8).  Max Preps rated the Falcons 486^th in the state, while RBV was 450th and El Capitan 428th.

Hilltop is in the the Division IV playoffs despite a Cal Preps.com rating of minus 2.  But as a league champion (Metro South Bay), the Lancers get the privilege.

Galling perhaps to Scripps Ranch is that RBV (4-6) and El Capitan (3-7) had poorer won-loss records.

Who you played can be just as important as your record—the  timeless “strength of schedule” argument.

Torrey Pines, from the Avocado League, the section’s strongest this year, has a 59.1 Cal Preps rating and Cathedral, from the weaker Western loop, is at 56.1.  Torrey Pines is 13^th in the state, according to Max Preps, and Cathedral 17^th.

FILLER UP

The rubber will hit the road this week.

Some of the longest trips in the San Diego Section await teams.

San Diego Southwest is separated by 125 miles from Calexico Vincent Memorial, a  mostly freeway journey that should be covered in one hour, fifty minutes,

Classical is 139 miles from Calexico, a probable two-hour, four-minute ride for the visiting Bulldogs.

West Hills to Imperial is 108 miles, Calipatria to Blythe 98 miles, and Borrego Springs to Foothills Christian, 77.

From North to South, El Camino is 59 miles from Steele Canyon.

2018 CHAMPIONS

• *Helix was first and Steele Canyon third in Grossmont Hills League.  Granite Hills was first in Grossmont Valley.

^ Tri-City Christian had same, 3-1 record but Maranatha won head-to-head meeting.

LONG WAIT FOR SOME

Most of this season’s 18 league winners are familiar with the elation that is part of the ride.  All but 5 had at least one championship since 2013.

Manzanita League Mountain Empire’s last undisputed title was in 2000, although the Redhawks tied for first with Holtville and Calipatria in 2012.  Poway had not been in the Palomar League throne room since 2012.

Grossmont Valley titlist Monte Vista’s most recent first was as a member of the Grossmont South League in 2004.  It’s been since 2009 for the Imperial Valley League’s El Centro Central.

Avocado winner Torrey Pines hasn’t celebrated since it won the 2010 Palomar League championship.

El Centro Southwest, 14-1 a year ago and undefeated until the state Division 4-A title game, a 45-41 loss to Milpitas, fell to 4-6 and is out.  Julian, winner of the Citrus League in 2017, also is out of the four-team, 8-man playoffs.

HAIL, TORREY PINES

Torrey Pines took the lead with 22 first-place votes in the San Diego Union-Tribune poll for Week 1  and the Falcons maintained and finished the regular-season polling with 24 first-place votes.

There will be a final poll released following the last game.

Week 11 Union-Tribune poll

Rank             Team                        Record                Points           Previous

Others: Poway (8-2, 24 points), Christian (9-1, 19), Madison (6-4, 5), Mira Mesa (7-2, 5), El Centro Central (10-0, 4), Rancho Bernardo (7-3, 3), Lincoln (6-4 with 2 forfeit losses, 2), Mission Hills (3-6, 1), Monte Vista (9-01, 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.

CAL-HI SPORTS
Torrey Pines remained at No. 12 and Cathedral at No. 13 in the newsletter’s weekly top 50 rankings.  Eastlake also stayed in the same place at No. 40 and Carlsbad got into the spirit with its first appearance, at No. 45.

Helix, La Costa Canyon, and San Marcos are on the bubble.

Torrey Pines’ Mac Bingham banged Oceanside for a San Diego Section, record-tying eight touchdowns in a 71-41 win and will lead the Falcons against La Costa Canyon this week, hoping to tie up the Avocado League championship, earn a first-round bye and top seed in the playoffs, and get the Falcons to 9-0 for the first time since 2010.

Only two other runners in the 59-season history of the local CIF, Monte Vista’s Jahmon McClendon and Rancho Buena Vista’s Dorian Robinson, scored eight touchdowns in a game, coincidentally in the 2017 playoffs.

McClendon torched San Diego as Monte Vista claimed the Division IV championship, 71-48, and Robinson landed the knockout punches in a 62-43 win over Santana, and set a section record with 499 yards rushing in a first round, D-III contest.

The trio still came up short of the all-time San Diego County record.

Frank Greene of Coronado scored 11 touchdowns in a 108-0 victory over Sweetwater on Oct. 10, 1929.  Greene also converted 14 points after for a total of 80, still the California high school record.

Greene played one season in the NFL in the ‘thirties, returned to Coronado and eventually was serving as a lieutenant on the police force.  He was shot to death in the line of duty on Oct. 12, 1954 (search “1954: Coronado’s Fallen Officer”).

Week 10 Union-Tribune poll:

Rank             Team                        Record                Points           Previous

Others: Christian (7-0, 18 points), Lincoln (5-2, includes forfeit loss, 15), Poway (6-2, 4), Oceanside (3-4, 2), Mission Hills (2-5, 2), El Centro Central (7-0, 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.