Corporate shakeups have nothing on the expected San Diego Section football poll next week.
Numbers 1, 3, and 7 were beaten and Cathedral rocked Southern Section rankings when it handled visiting No. 4 Vista Murrieta, 35-28.
Mission Hills, which sat second in the UT-San Diego poll behind Oceanside since Week 1, hammered the Pirates 30-6 before more than 5,000 roaring spectators at the San Marcos school.
I have voted the Grizzlies No. 1 since the start of the season, but with less confidence each week as Oceanside began to roll and overcome a haunting loss to Gardena Serra.
Mission Hills coach Chris Hauser, despite a rather manic sideline persona, coaches a tough defense that reflects his energy.
The Grizzlies intercepted four passes and recovered two fumbles.
Maybe most impressive was the Mission Hills kicker, Esteben Senteno. He offered an NFL-like performance with field goals of 50, 47, and 27 yards, and bombed a 62-yard punt.
DONS AVENGE
I often see a Cathedral assistant coach in the Starbucks near my home in Scripps Ranch. This week the coach and I visited about the Dons’ upcoming game against Vista Murrieta.
The coach wanted me to believe the Dons were in a very good position to reverse a closer-than-the-score-indicated, 21-10 loss to the Broncos on the road in 2012.
Considering that Vista Murietta had won its first three games by scores of 66-28, 52-13, and 69-21 and was fourth in the L.A. Times’ poll of Southern Section and L.A. City teams, I thought Cathedral was a longshot.
“After last year the returning players were confident we could play with them,” said Dons coach Sean Doyle.
“Rankings are rankings,” Doyle told writer Steve Brand. “Are they better than Oceanside or Mission Hills? Who knows, but we knew they were good coming in.”
But for a loss to Helix a week before, the Dons would have been undefeated.
Cathedral contributed to the loss by coming away without a score after virtually renting a suite inside Helix’ 10-yard line in the fourth quarter.
BULLDOGS BARKING
Ramona, which has hung around the bottom rung of the Top 10, lay in the weeds and trapped No. 3 Helix, 10-6 on a cool evening in the mountains.
The Bulldogs of veteran coach Damon Baldwin are off to a 5-0 start.
Ramona fell off to 8-5 last season although it reached the III finals before losing to Lincoln 42-14.
WISH I HAD COME UP WITH THIS STAT
Jim Lindgren of UT-San Diego noted that there are only two in the San Diego Section who have won a championship as a quarterback and as a coach: The Bishop’s Joel Allen and Mission Hills’ Chris Hauser.
The 28-year-old Allen quarterbacked Christian to a championship in 2002 and led The Bishop’s to a title in 2010. Hauser doubled at Vista as a player in 1982 and as coach in 2001.
Lindgren also noted that Bulla Graft, a second baseman on Chula Vista Park View’s 2009 Little League World Series champion, is a star running back at The Bishop’s. Graft scored 23 touchdowns as a sophomore last season and rushed for 127 yards versus Christian.
QUICK KICKS
The Classical Academy Caimans of Escondido improved their record to 3-1 with a 28-21 victory over Newport Beach Sage Hill…all of the game’s 49 points were scored in the fourth quarter!…Christian fired the first shot in the Division III run-up to the playoffs by defeating The Bishop’s 56-28…l…it wasn’t an upset but Eastlake, No. 5, threatened the Top 10 rating of St. Augustine, No. 7, with a 23-0 victory….
