How far has coach Richard Sanchez’s program come at St. Augustine?
The Saints get another shot against a major opponent this week, tradition strong Los Angeles Loyola, ranked 24th in the L.A. Times and winner of its first two games, 34-0, and 45-7.
St. Augustine is 2-0 and second in  the Union-Tribune poll after an impressive, 48-21 victory over Madison, which followed a 41-3 win over Ramona.
Running back Elijah Preston, a 5-foot, 6-inch, 180-pounder, fires a prolific offense that will again test Loyola’s defense.
St. Augustine helped the Cubs celebrate their first home game since 1949 last season when Preston ran for more than 200 yards in a 42-35 loss.  The Saints had the ball in the final four minutes and in decent field position, but 3 consecutive incomplete passes put them out of business.
Always fielding a solid program, the young men at 32nd and Nutmeg streets in North Park have elevated under Sanchez, winning two San Diego Section titles (I in 2014 and II in 2013) and Sanchez has an overall record of 58-18 since succeeding Jerry Ralph in 2009.
Week 3 poll, after two weeks of games:
| # | Team (1st place votes) | Points | W-L | Previous |
| 1. | Â Mission Hills (17) | 233 | 2-0 | 1 |
| 2. | St. Augustine (5) | 220 | 2-0 | 2 |
| 3. | Helix (2) | 194 | 0-1 | 3 |
| 4. | Rancho Bernardo | 109 | 2-0 | 8 |
| 5. | Madison | 92 | 1-1 | 4 |
| 6. | Oceanside | 87 | 1-1 | 5 |
| 7. | Christian | 83 | 2-0 | 7 |
| 8. | Eastlake | 70 | 1-1 | 10 |
| 9. | Cathedral | 68 | 0-2 | 7 |
| 10. | El Camino | 54 | 2-0 | NR |
NR–Not rated.
Others receiving votes (record & points in parenthesis): Torrey Pines (1-1, 34), Bonita Vista (2-0, 25), Hoover (2-0, 13), San Marcos (1-1, 11), Poway (2-0, 9), Lincoln (2-0, 8), La Costa Canyon (1-1, 8), Mater Dei (2-0, 3), The Bishop’s (2-0, 3), Mt. Carmel (2-0, 2), Grossmont (2-0, 2), Mission Bay (2-0, 1), Santana (2-0, 1).
Media and CIF representatives vote each week: John Maffei (U-T San Diego), Steve Brand, Terry Monahan, Don Norcross, Jim Lindgren, Tom Saxe, Rick Hoff (U-T San Diego correspondents), Bill Dickens, Chris Davis (East County Sports.com), Steve (Biff) Dolan, Rick (Red) Hill (Mountain Country 107.9 FM), John (Coach) Kentera, Ted Mendenhall, Bob Petinak (The Mighty 1090), Rick Willis, Brandon Stone (KUSI-TV), Rick Smith (partletonsports.com), Jerry Schniepp, John Labeta (CIF San Diego Section), Bodie DeSilva (sandiegopreps.com), Drew Smith (sdcoastalsports.com), Lisa Lane (San Diego Preps Insider), Raymond Brown (sdfootball.net), Montell Allen (MBASportsrecruiting.com).
A HOME FOR KEARNY
Kearny inaugurated its new football field in a 59-19 loss to Santana. Komets home games have been  at nearby Mesa College, which opened in 1964.
Before coach Birt Slater introduced the team’s traditional  “walk” (a pilgrimage in full gear from school to games at Mesa, a distance of several hundred yards),  home fields were at Hoover, Balboa Stadium, or La Jolla, with an occasional contest on campus, on the old field with the encircling track.
That field now is the baseball diamond, while the new football field occupies the former baseball location.
Alumnus Stephen Grooms estimated that the Komets have probably played no more than 40 or 50 games on campus in the school’s 71-season football history. Â This would include games when the school was located at what became Montgomery Junior High. The present campus opened in 1955.
Kearny drew its biggest crowds for CIF track meets, which were held there in 1961 and ’62.
The track was notorious for blazing sprint times as runners were aided by significant breezes from the Kearny Mesa. Â Birt Slater on more than one occasion remarked that the wind would die down as soon as some planted Eucalyptus trees “got some height and growth.”
NAMES IN THE GAMES
Trailing in the third quarter, 35-7, Cathedral battled back behind quarterback Tate Haynes but came up short, 35-33, to L.A. Times 14th-ranked Westlake Village Oaks Christian. Haines’s father is Mike Haynes, former NFL cornerback now in the pro football Hall of Fame.
One of Oaks Christian’s stars is Mike Pittman, whose father by the same name and uncle Wayne were standouts at Mira Mesa. The senior  Mike Pittman  was an 11-season NFL running back out of Fresno State.
David Justice, Jr., whose father hit 307 home runs in his major league baseball career, is St. Augustine’s punter, holder on extra points, and partcipates on other special teams.  The sophomore eventually figures to  be the Saints’ quarterback.
QUICK KICKS
Saints-Madison  drew about 5,000 persons to Mesa College…St. Augustine partisans weekly fill the East bleachers at Mesa…this includes several hundred, milling, socializing students on the rear concourse…that area is known as the “Petting Zoo”…Richard Sanchez was 6-14 as head coach at San diego High in 1998 and ’99…he coached in Northern California for several years…Mission Hills is the only San Diego team in Cal-Hi Sports‘ state top 20…the Grizzlies are 16th….
