Unprecedented.
That’s the way pairings shook out for San Diego Section teams today when CIF state commissioner Roger Blake announced that three area squads will host games in the first round of the state playoffs.
Officially titled the 2014 CIF Regional Championship Bowl games, the schedule calls for two games here Friday night, Dec. 12, and one on Saturday, Dec. 13.
The Southern Section’s San Juan Capistrano St. Margaret (14-0) will be at Granite Hills High for a Division IV game to take on Christian (13-0) Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Oceanside (13-0) will play host to Fresno Edison (12-1) of the Central Section in a D-I contest at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.
El Capitan (13-0) is home on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. against Paso Robles (13-1) of the Southern Section.
San Diego teams have never numbered three in the state playoff series. The area was represented by two teams each in 2009, 2010, and 2012.
Games were played at the Home Depot/Stub Hub Center in Carson.
| School | Opponent | Year | Division | Score |
| Oceanside | Novato | 2007 | II | 28-14 |
| Cathedral | Stockton St. Mary’s | 2008 | II | 37-34 |
| Francis Parker | Modesto Christian | 2009 | IV | 40-44 |
| Oceanside | San Jose Bellarmine | 2009 | I | 24-19 |
| Madison | Escalon | 2010 | III | 14-30 |
| The Bishop’s | Stockton Brookside | 2010 | IV | 40-14 |
| Helix | Loomis Del Oro | 2011 | II | 35-24 |
| Madison | @Monrovia | 2012 | South III | 21-17 |
| Madison | Kentfield Marin Catholic | 2012 | III | 37-34 |
| Santa Fe Christian | Arcadia Rio Hondo @Del Norte | 2012 | South IV | 30-28 |
| Santa Fe Christian | Modesto Central Catholic | 2012 | IV | 7-66 |
| Mission Hills | Bakersfield | 2013 | South I | 28-35 |
D-I
Edison, second oldest school in Fresno, having opened in 1906, has sent a number of players to the NFL, but never has visited this area.
(Fresno High pulled out of a scheduled game with San Diego in 1946 and Fresno Sunnyside defeated Torrey Pines, 22-21, in 2009).
The Edison Tigers won the County Metro League championship this season, with only a 15-14 loss to Sanger.
Edison defeated Bakersfield Liberty, 21-14, to get here and also holds a 15-14 win over Bakersfield, last year’s state D-I champion.
Oceanside won state championships in 2007 and in 2009 before advent of the Southern California regional bracket.
D-III
El Capitan had not been to a San Diego Section championship game in 51 years, much less win and host a state playoff.
The Paso Robles Bearcats, who’ve been around since 1901, will make a 331-mile journey South and hope for some clear skies.
The far North Southern Section team advanced by defeating Newbury Park, 13-10, on a muddy field at the Paso’s Flamson Middle School park, the gridiron of which is natural grass.
Cathedral topped 11-3 Newbury Park, 42-28, on the road in Week 5.
The Bearcats’ only loss was on the road in Week 10, 28-18, to 10-3 Atascadero.
D-IV
St. Margaret, which opened in 1979, has faced many small school teams in the San Diego Section, but this is its first meeting with Christian.
The Tartans will face a Patriots team that has won 20 games in a row and still smarting, somewhat, from the administrative politics which prevented them from competing in the state event in 2013.
Coach Matt Oliver’s team was an enrollment fit for Division IV but was considered only for a D-III bid which it did not receive.
