Call it the Battle of Banner Grade, because a chunk of the 32-mile trip from Julian to Borrego Springs on California 78 traverses the circuitous path of the vintage East County road, past the 19th Century gold-mining community of Banner, until the final stretch of the approximately 50-minute drive turns to County Road S2.
Julian Union High opened in 1893, although the Eagles didn’t field a football team until 1967, which coincidentally was the year Borrego Springs opened. The teams have been playing each other for most of the last 51 years, either in eight-man or 11-man football.
Borrego coach Tim White, whose father, Ed White, was one of the great linemen in San Diego Chargers and NFL history, has coached at both places, at Julian from 2007-15 and for the last three seasons at Borrego Springs. White is 8-6 in the 14 games against either Borrego or Julian, but no victory could have been more satisfying than Borrego’s last week.
The Rams stopped the visiting Eagles four times inside their five-yard line in the final minute to preserve a 29-28, Citrus League win. Eight-man, which the teams play now, or 11-man, Borrego’s stand brought some 2018 meaning to the thrill of victory and agony of defeat.
Julian leads the series, 36-12.
OLIVER DOESN’T SWALLOW OLIVE
Several miles West, but still in the East County, Christian coach Matt Oliver could have kicked an extra point for a tie and extended an overtime struggle with Monte Vista, but Oliver, in his 19th season as the chief Patriot, won his 160th career game, by taking a chance.
“Had to go for two…all the way,” Oliver told Jim Lindgren of The San Diego Union-Tribune after the Patriots pulled out a 22-21 victory over Monte Vista in a battle of 3-0 teams. Javier Jimenez swept his right end for the winning, two-point conversion after Owen Easley’s 22-yard touchdown pass to Alex Gonzalez made the score, 21-20.
”I thought they were going to pass,” said Monte Vista coach Ron Hamamoto, denied his 222nd victory.
Hamamoto gave the ball to his big running back Jahmon McClendon, who responded with 235 yards in 48 carries, and one touchdown run of 28 yards. “We’ll see them in the playoffs,” McClendon declared.
SAINTS NO AINTS
St, Augustine, under new coach Joe Kremer, is a surprising 4-0 but should be tested this week by fading but still dangerous Helix, 1-3.
The Saints buried Otay Ranch, 40-0, and featured huge linemen, speed, and the sharp quarterbacking of Angelo Peraza. The combination was too much for the Mustangs, who were minus 12 yards total offense.
Cathedral trailed Helix before a fourth-quarter field goal and touchdown pulled out a 30-21 win. The Dons’ Shawn Poma and the Highlanders’ Eleyon Noa finished in a dead heat matchup of two of the San Diego Section’s premier running backs. Poma gained 205 yards in 23 carries and scored twice. Noa had 221 yards in 25 carries and touchdowns of 14 and 56 yards.
FALCONS STILL FIRST AND 15TH
Torrey Pines’ hold on first place in the weekly Union-Tribune poll still is solid, but four voters joined me and gave La Costa Canyon their first-place nod and others hailed two for Madison. I immodestly add that I’ve had the Mavericks first since their opening-week, 19-7 win over Cathedral.
As things are now, La Costa Canyon and Torrey Pines will scrap for Avocado League marbles on the final regular-season Friday.
Torrey Pines remained at 15th and La Costa Canyon at 16th in the weekly Cal-Hi Sports ratings. Cathedral moved from 20th to 19th, Madison stayed at 26th, with an intersectional against No. 37 Vista Murrieta this week. Eastlake barged into the top 50 at No. 44. Helix, San Marcos, and St. Augustine are on the bubble.
QUICK KICKS
Matt Oliver’s all-time winning percentage of .724 (160-64-3) is third among active coaches…Rick Jackson of Madison is 132-39-1 (.770), and John McFadden of Eastlake is 123-42 (.740)…Ramona’s Damon Baldwin could become the 43rd coach to win 100 games…with a 3-1 record this season, Baldwin is 93-57-1…Cathedral coach Sean Doyle on Shawn Poma: “They were obviously keying on him but he just kept saying, ‘Coach, give me the ball. I’m going to break it,’” according to Don Norcross of the Union-Tribune…the San Diego Section is 33-18 in intersectional games against teams from California, Arizona, and Baja California…biggest win, Cathedral’s 42-21 romp over Gardena Serra…biggest loss, Helix’s 40-3 crash at San Bernardino Cajon…Mountain Empire made the best of a 227-mile jaunt to Barstow’s neighboring little brother Yermo in the high desert, topping Silver Valley, 20-0…Del Norte is 3-1 for the first time since school doors opened in 2009…Bonita Vista, 3 seasons removed from 12-3 and a state Division IV-AA title game, is working on a 16-game losing streak…Chris Thompson, under whom the Barons had their success, is back at Mira Mesa, where he was an assistant for many years…the Marauders are 4-0, same as last season under Gary Blevins, but that team flattened out to 5-6….
Week 4, Union-Tribune poll:
| Rank | Team | 2018 | Points | Previous |
| 1. | Torrey Pines (23) | 4-0 | 292 | 1 |
| 2. | La Costa Canyon (5) | 4-0 | 269 | 2 |
| 3. | Madison (2) | 4-0 | 223 | 3 |
| 4. | Cathedral | 3-1 | 216 | 4 |
| 5. | San Marcos | 3-0 | 161 | 5 |
| 6. | St. Augustine | 4-0 | 141 | 7 |
| 7. | Eastlake | 3-1 | 96 | 8 |
| 8. | Helix | 1-3 | 83 | 6 |
| 9 | Lincoln | 4-0 | 67 | 9 |
| 10. | Mission Hills | 1-3 | 27 | NR |
NR–not ranked.
Others: Ramona (3-1, 15 points), Mira Mesa (4-0, 14), Carlsbad (2-2, 3), University City (3-1, 3), Point Loma (2-2, 3), Rancho Bernardo (2-2, 2), Vista (3-1, 2), Christian (4-0, 2), Otay Ranch (2-2, 1) El Centro Central (4-0, 1), Oceanside (1-2, 1), Granite Hills (3-0, 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.
