The season continues for the six San Diego Section division champions.
Pairings for the Southern California regional playoffs with teams with AA classification playing on Friday, Dec .6, while teams with A designation will play on Saturday, Dec.7.
| Division | Team | Record | Opponent | Record |
| I-AA | Helix | 11-1 | Chatsworth Sierra Canyon | 12-1 |
| I-A | Oceanside | 11-3 | Corona del Mar @Newport Harbor | 14-0 |
| III-AA | El Camino | 8-6 | Temecula Valley | 12-2 |
| IV-A | La Jolla | 9-4 | Huntington Beach Marina @Westminster | 12-2 |
| V-AA | Serra | 11-2 | @El Monte | 13-0 |
| VII-AA | Francis Parker | 8-5 | Gardena | 9-4 |
HOW OTHERS IN CALIFORNIA RATE THE MATCHUPS
| TEAMS | CAL PREPS.COM RATING | MAX PREPS | CAL-HI SPORTS |
| I-AA Helix | 61.8 | 10 | 5 |
| Chatsworth Sierra Canyon | 62.1 | 9 | 10 |
| I-A Oceanside | 46.9 | 30 | 39 |
| Corona del Mar | 72.4 | 3 | 9 |
| III-AA El Camino | 38.6 | 70 | NR |
| Temecula Valley | 39.7 | 65 | NR |
| IV-A La Jolla | 25.4 | 169 | NR |
| Huntington Beach Marina | 29.2 | 128 | NR |
| V-AA Serra | 25.6 | 164 | NR |
| El Monte | 27.4 | 147 | NR |
| VII-AA Francis Parker | -0.2 | 459 | NR |
| Gardena | -1.3 | 477 | NR |
ADDITIONAL RATINGS
| TEAMS, RECORD | CAL PREPS.COM | MAX PREPS | CAL-HI SPORTS |
| Helix (11-1) | 61.8 | 10 | 5 |
| Carlsbad (10-2) | 55.5 | 16 | 21 |
| Cathedral (8-3) | 55.2 | 17 | 22 |
| St. Augustine (8-3) | 49.5 | 28 | 25 |
| Oceanside (11-3) | 46.9 | 30 | 39 |
| Lincoln (10-3) | 43.8 | 45 | On Bubble |
| Mission Hills (9-3) | 46.1 | 33 | On Bubble |
Cal Preps.com and Max Preps are services which rely on computer algorithms. Cal-Hi Sports relies on the judgement of publisher Mark Tennis and his correspondents.
HOMER
Talk about rank provincialism. I plead guilty.
I picked a very pedestrian three of the five winners (El Camino, Serra, and Francis Parker) last week in the San Diego Section championships.
I made the most common mistake of amateur prognosticators. I followed my heart.
I was sure No. 1 seed Scripps Ranch would beat No. 3 La Jolla in Division III but the fact my youngest daughter was in the Falcons’ second graduating glass and had married Scripps Ranch’s first quarterback made me dare not think about picking the Vikings.
I was not so sure but selected No. 2 Lincoln anyway to top oncoming No. 9 Oceanside in Division I, mainly because I had graduated from the Hive and got my start in sports writing as a staff member of The Buzz, Lincoln’s school newspaper.
La Jolla reversed an earlier, 17-7 loss to Scripps Ranch and won, 17-10. Oceanside, for the first time since John Carroll retired after the 2014 season, looked like the legendary North County power it once was, driving Lincoln into submission in the second half and winning, 28-10.
OTHER TOP SEEDS GO DOWN
No. 7 seed El Camino, which won a championship in 1976 in its first season, coached by the all-time winningest Herb Meyer, won one of the wildest playoffs in state history, 75-59, over No. 1 The Bishop’s in D-II.
Knights quarterback Tyler Buchner accounted for all but one of The Bishop’s 59 points and rushed for 350 yards and five touchdowns and passed for 286 yards and three touchdowns.
El Camino, which trailed by 25 points at the half, actually would make some second half stops on defense that slowed The Bishop’s.
The difference was defense,” intoned wide receiver Alexander Fetko, with a straight face, to John Maffei of The San Diego Union-Tribune.
El Camino bettered the 71 points by Monte Vista in the 2017 championship but fell short of the playoff record set in 2018, when La Jolla Country Day defeated Santana, 76-55.
SERRA, PARKER COME THROUGH
My two other correct choices were D-IV No. 2 Serra, which shocked No. 1 Santana, 37-7, and No. 4 Francis Parker, rewarded in D-V when the Lancers’ Cito Miller kicked a 27-yard field goal as the clock dipped under 20 seconds in a 24-21 victory over 2 seed Castle Park.
