Corona Centennial did not make an appearance at Cathedral last week until less than 3 minutes before kickoff.
The Huskies did not engage in the usual, pregame warmup.
“Gamesmanship,” observed Don Carey, retired, longtime NFL official who now scouts high school officiating crews.
If that was the late-arriving Riverside County powerhouse’s message to the Dons it seemed to work, for awhile.
Huskies wide receiver Gary Bryant took a handoff on a reverse and raced 67 yards to a touchdown on the game’s second play from scrimmage.
Centennial barged up and down the field for 583 total yards (to Cathedral’s 378) but 3-0 Cathedral punched back each time in a marvelous game that was tied on three occasions and had five lead changes before a crowd of about 6,000 at Cathedral’s Manchester Stadium.
Trailing, 42-37, Dons quarterback D.J. Ralph scored from the one-yard line with 46 seconds remaining to pull out a 44-42 victory.
Ralph rushed for three touchdowns and passed for two and running back Zavien Watson (28 carries, 140 yards) kept the Dons coming when the speedy Huskies threatened to create some distance.
FLAGS
Officials worked hard to keep the teams’ emotions in check in a physical and chippy contest.
Centennial coach Matt Logan tried not to complain, but did.
“There were a ton of calls and it’s unfortunate that that was a factor in the game,” Logan told writer Tim Meehan of the Riverside Press-Enterprise. “It’s not an excuse, but it’s a fact. It’s very unfortunate.”
Corona was penalized 16 times for 173 yards. The more disciplined Dons were fined five for 40 yards,
THE DON
Despite the disparity, Cathedral coach Sean Doyle also did not appear ready to enjoy a repast with the zebra-striped police.
Doyle prowled the sideline, exhorting his staff and players, and aggressively worked the officials, particularly referee Brian Bortness, usually after hearing from Doyle’s assistant coaches, who spotted possible infractions from high above the field in the press box.
Doyle engaged in the almost comical repetition of removing his headset to bark a complaint to the game referee or instructions to his quarterback, and then placing the device back on his head.
RATINGS
Cathedral traded places with Centennial in Cal-Hi Sports’ weekly ratings and now is fifth, behind Santa Ana Mater Dei, Bellflower St. John Bosco, Concord De La Salle, and Folsom.
St. Augustine rose from 19th to 17th. Helix is 42nd and Lincoln 44th. A loss to San Clemente dropped Carlsbad to the bubble, on which it sits with Torrey Pines.
Max Preps ranks Cathedral third in California and a somewhat eye-brow-raising ninth in the country. St. Augustine is 17th in the state, Helix 41st, and Lincoln 51st.
Cal Preps.com awards Cathedral a 77.1 computer score, the highest ever for a San Diego team since the service began in 2001. The 15-0 Dons of 2016 scored 72.6. Next highest were Helix, 65.8 and 64.4 in 2017 and 2011, respectively.
HELIX
The Highlanders did not play last week after losing at home to West Herriman, the No. 6 team in Utah, with a loss only to No. 1 Draper, Utah.
Helix will be home to Cathedral this week. The Dons look superior but Helix, a traditional power, at this point is an unknown quantity.
ST. AUGUSTINE
Barring a stunning upset, the Saints and Cathedral will meet in Week 7 at Mesa College, with the Western League championship at stake and offering an early barometer of which team will be the Division I favorite in the playoffs.
A 47-0 Saints win over Eastlake in Week 1 was the most decisive loss in Titans coach John McFadden’s 16 seasons at the South Bay school.
The Saints impressed again last week in a 42-5 victory over Los Angeles Loyola and will be favored this week against Otay Ranch.
TRUE GRID
Two of Catheral coach Sean Doyle’s assistants, offensive line coach Matt White and receivers coach Jerry Ralph, have been head coaches in the San Diego Section and between them own 177 victories…White and Ralph are graduates of University OF sAN dIEGO High, which was the school name before it became Cathedral in 2004…the San Diego Section merry-go-round continued with at least 18 new coaches, same as in 2018…one of the changes was Classical’s Jon Goodman’s moving a few blocks to Escondido Charter…Salton City West Shores still has not announced a coach and has a scheduled opener this week versus Ocean View Christian…the Wildcats’ schedule, however, has been removed from Max Preps‘ listings, meaning perhaps no football this season…the spread offense brought to Patrick Henry by former NFL quarterback J.T. O’Sullivan resulted in 111 points in the first three games, the most in school history, dating to 1969…the Mike Martinez-coached team scored 108 in 2015…O’Sullivan is assisted by Nate Nelson, who was the head coach’s wide receiver battery mate at the University of California at Davis…when a scheduling conflict arose, El Centro Central made a week-of-the-game decision and agreed to play El Paso Del Valle…the Spartans loaded up some buses, hiked 614 miles each way, and came home with a 34-21 victory….win this week and Hilltop will be 4-0 for the first time since 2013…
San Diego Union-Tribune Week 3 poll:
Points on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.
First-place votes in parenthesis. NR–Not ranked.
| RANK | TEAM | RECORD | POINTS | PREVIOUS |
| 1. | Cathedral (29) | 2-0 | 308 | 1 |
| 2. | St. Augustine (2) | 2-0 | 280 | 2 |
| 3. | Helix | 1-1 | 207 | 3 |
| 4. | Carlsbad | 2-0 | 198 | 6 |
| 5. | Lincoln | 2-0 | 178 | 5 |
| 6. | Steele Canyon | 2-0 | 150 | 7 |
| 7. | Torrey Pines | 1-1 | 128 | 4 |
| 8. | Mission Hills | 1-1 | 120 | 8 |
| 9. | Grossmont | 2-0 | 31 | NR |
| 10. | La Costa Canyon | 1-1 | 30 | NR |
Others receiving votes: Granite Hills (2-0, 26 points), Oceanside (1-1, 14), Madison (1-1, 12), San Marcos (1-1, 2), San Diego (2-0, 1), El Camino (1-1, 1), San Pasqual (2-0, 1).
Voting panel of 31 sportswriters, sportscasters, various County football honchos:
- John Maffei, San Diego Union-Tribune
- Jim Lindgren, Rick Hoff, Terry Monahan, Don Norcross, Bob Petinak, Thomas Gutierrez, freelance contributors.
- Paul Rudy, Brandon Stone,Ted Mendenhall, KUSI Chl. 51
- Adam Paul, ECpreps.com
- Ramon Scott, EastCountySports.com
- Bodie DeSilva, sandiegopreps.com
- Taylor Quellman, The Mighty 1090
- Steve Brand, San Diego Hall of Champions
- Troy Hirsch, Kaylyn McMakin, Tabitha Lipkin, Fox 5, San Diego
- Rick Smith, PartletonSports.com
- Jerry Schniepp, John Labeta, Ron Marquez, CIF San Diego Section
- Joe Heinz, Coordinator, Athletics, Sweetwater School District
- Raymond Brown, sdfootball.net
- John Kentera, Brandon Suprenant, 97.3 FM The Fan
- Steve (Biff) Dolan, Mountain Country 107.9 FM
- Mike Dolan, John Carroll, San Diego Section Tournament Directors.
- Christian Pederson, SoCal Prep Insid
- Eric Williams, WBK Sports/San Dego Friday Night Lights Magazine
