San Clemente has become the Avocado League’s weathervane.
La Costa Canyon, second ranked in this week’s Union-Tribune poll, will be the third Avo team in successive weeks to take on the Tritons, a respected Orange County entry just a few right or left turns and a modest hike up Interstate 5 from Oceanside (23 miles), Torrey Pines (43 miles), and La Costa Canyon (37 miles).
San Clemente defeated visiting Oceanside, 34-19, in Week 1 and was nipped at No. 1 Torrey Pines, 47-45, in a frantic finish in Week 2.
The Falcons and coach Ron Gladnick should not expect a repeat anytime soon.
Trailing, 45-38, Torrey Pines scored a late touchdown but an attempted two-point conversion was thwarted. San Clemente led, 45-44. The Falcons recovered an ensuing onside kickoff with 43 seconds remaining. Ted Merrifield sideswiped a 41-yard field goal with no time remaining for the win.
Now comes La Costa, going to San Clemente this week.
The Mavericks won the teams’ most recent meeting, 16-13, in 2013, but lost the previous three from 2010-’12 by scores of 28-21, 58-7, and 21-10.
San Clemente is 18-12-1 versus San Diego County team since the school opened in 1964. The Tritons are 10-4 since 2005 against Avocado or Palomar League teams.
CAL-HI SPORTS’ TOP 50
La Costa Canyon moved from 30th to 25th in the weekly publication’s rankings. San Clemente, with its loss to Torrey Pines, went from 31st to 32nd. Torrey Pines replaced Madison as the top-ranked San Diego club, ascending from 23rd to 20th. Madison, despite a 62-0 win over Bonita Vista, dropped from 18th to 33rd.
Other Cal-Hi recognized teams are Cathedral, 56-7 winner over El Camino, from 39th to 32, and Helix, 34-7 winner over Arroyo Grande, from 44th to 43rd.
More defining challenges are in store this week for Cathedral and Helix in the annual Honor Bowl games. The Highlanders meet Scottsdale Saguaro in a 4 p.m. game Saturday at Cathedral, while the host Dons take on rugged Gardena Serra in the 7 p.m. nightcap.
The Saguaro Sabercats are the third-ranked team in Arizona but lost to Henderson Liberty, Nevada’s No. 2-ranked squad, 22-12, last week after opening with a 48-3 win over the San Tan Valley Poston Butte Broncos. Serra opened with a 41-22 Honor Bowl victory over San Mateo Serra, the defending state Division II-AA team.
Week 2 poll:
| Rank | Team | 2018 | Points | Previous |
| 1. | Torrey Pines (26) | 2-0 | 296 | 1 |
| 2. | La Costa Canyon (1) | 2-0 | 251 | 2 |
| 3. | Madison (1) | 2-0 | 230 | 3 |
| 4. | Helix (2) | 1-1 | 205 | 4 |
| 5. | San Marcos | 2-0 | 172 | 6 |
| 6. | Cathedral | 1-1 | 146 | 8 |
| 7. | St. Augustine | 2-0 | 72 | NR |
| 8. | Mission Hills | 0-2 | 54 | 5 |
| 9 | Lincoln | 2-0 | 53 | 10 |
| 10. | Eastlake | 1-1 | 47 | NR |
NR–not ranked.
Others: Carlsbad (1-1, 34 points), Ramona (1-1, 21) Rancho Bernardo (1-1, 13), Monte Vista (2-0, 11), Mira Mesa (2-0, 10), Point Loma (1-1, 9), Oceanside (1-1, 7), Granite Hills (2-0, 6), Otay Ranch (11, 6), Grossmont (1-1, 3), Imperial (2-0, 2), El Centro Central (2-0, 1), Morse (2-0, 1).
Voting panel (30 sportswriters, sportscasters, various County football honchos):
- John Maffei, San Diego Union-Tribune
- 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.
QUICK KICKS
San Clemente can claim two NFL quarterbacks among its alumni…Bill Kenney, who was there when the school opened, was a Kansas City Chiefs signal caller from 1970-78…rookie Sam Darnold apparerntly is ready to lead the New York Jets…Mac Bingham did the grinding work in Torrey Pines’ victory, rushing 31 times for 273 yards, and four touchdowns…Rancho Buena Vista determined it wanted to give the ball to Dorian Robinson, who liked the handle…Robinson rushed 39 times for 493 yards in a 55-35 win over Irvine…Robinson set the section record with 493 yards in one game in 2017…Lincoln and San Diego renewed their rivalry for the first time since 2008 and the Cavers, 2-26 against Lincoln from 1961-’92 and 1-3 since the teams stopped playing regularly in 1993, showed how the program has improved under fourth-year coach Charles James…Lincoln pulled out a 20-13 victory in overtime after trailing, 13-0….
