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’ 12th 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….
There was a particularly curious (and in my experience, unprecedented) incident in the GHS/Madison game. GHS completed a pass for a first down late in the 4th qtr. The officials threw a flag for ineligible receiver. So, instead of 1st and 10 it was 4th and 25 for GHS. The GHS coaches protested and produced what looked like an Ipad, which they perused with the officials. The officials then reversed the call and gave GHS a 1st down. They explained the call to the Madison head coach, who was visibly displeased (slamming his cap to the ground). GHS then proceeded to score the winning TD. One other interesting play happened when the lights went out. Before the lights failed, there were 4 seconds on the clock. When they went out, an additional 3 seconds appeared, which allowed Madison enough time to run one more play to make the field goal shorter and then call a time out with 3 seconds to play. Perhaps a little home field legerdemain?
Strange. The Union story didn’t mention any of this. I wasn’t at the game.