League championships can be forgotten amid the giant second season of playoffs.
if a team has a pulse, no matter how few W’s and how many L’s, it’s most likely a postseason participant.
But don’t pass that along to the San Diego Section’s regular-season winners. Players identify these achievements on their letter jackets, coaches enhance their resumes, and student bodies and communities take pride.
Take a bow, champions.
| LEAGUE | TEAM | RECORD | OVERALL | COACH |
| Avocado | Carlsbad | 6-0 | 10-0 | Thadd MacNeal |
| Central | Mission Bay | 4-0 | 8-2 | Greg Tate |
| Citrus | Victory Christian | 5-0 | 7-1* | Earl Benson |
| City | Patrick Henry | 4-0 | 7-2 | J.T. O’Sullivan |
| Coastal | Santa Fe Christian | 5-0 | 9-0 | Jon Wallace |
| Desert | Blythe Palo Verde Valley | 4-0 | 8-2 | Dominique Hill |
| Eastern | Mira Mesa | 3-0 | 6-3 | Chris Thompson-Aurelo Morales |
| Grossmont Hills | Helix | 3-0 | 6-3 | Robbie Owens |
| Grossmont Valley | West Hills | 6-0 | 10-0 | Casey Ash |
| Imperial Valley | Brawley | 4-0 | 8-2 | Jon Self |
| Metro Mesa | Mater Dei | 4-0 | 8-0 | John Joyner |
| Metro South Bay | Sweetwater | 4-0 | 5-3 | Ervin Hernandez |
| Ocean | San Diego Jewish | 5-0 | 7-0* | Justin McKenzie |
| Pacific | Escondido Charter | 4-0 | 8-1 | Greg Brose |
| Palomar | Mt. Carmel | 4-1 | 9-1 | Drew Westling |
| Valley | Ramona | 5-0 | 7-3 | Damon Baldwin |
| Western | Cathedral | 3-0 | 7-2 | Sean Doyle |
*Playing for San Diego Section 8-man championship.
RATINGS GAME
| RANK | TEAM | RECORD | POINTS | PREVIOUS | |||
| 1. | Carlsbad | 10-0 (16) | 232 | 1 | |||
| 2. | Cathedral | 8-2 (9) | 224 | 2 | |||
| 3. | Mission Hills | 8-2 | 180 | 4 | |||
| 4. | Mater Dei | 9-0 | 172 | 3 | |||
| 5. | Torrey Pines | 6-3 | 140 | 6 | |||
| 6. | Madison | 8-2 | 115 | 7 | |||
| 7. | Helix | 6-3 | 88 | 6 | |||
| 8. | Lincoln | 6-3 | 80 | 5 | |||
| 9. | Santa Fe Christian | 9-0 | 39 | 9 | |||
| 10. | Scripps Ranch | 8-1 | 23 | 10 | |||
OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES
Mt. Carmel (9-1, 21 points), West Hills (10-0, 7), El Camino (4-6, 3) Mira Mesa (6-2, Eastlake (7-3, 2), Poway (7-3, 2), Patrick Henry (7-2, 1).
VOTING PANEL
Twenty-four sportswriters and sportscasters throughout San Diego County.
- John Maffei, San Diego Union-Tribune.
- Steve Brand, Thomas Gutierrez, Rick Hoff, Jim Lindgren, Terry Monahan, Eric Williams, Thomas Gutierrez, freelance contributors.
- John Carroll, Nick Pollino, KUSI Ch. 51.
- John Kentera, Braden Suprenant, 97.3-FM The Fan).
- Adam Paul, ECPreps.com.
- Bodie DeSilva, scorebooklive.com.
- Rick Smith, Partletonsports.com.
- Christian Pedersen, San Diego Sports Association.
- Troy Hirsch, Fox 5 San Diego.
- Raymond Brown, sdfootball.net.
- Joe Heinz, Todd Cassen, Ron Marquez, Mike Dolan, CIF San Diego Section.
- Ramon Scott, Eastcountysports.com.
- Steve (Biff) Dolan, Mountain Country, 107.9-FM.
How others see San Diego’s Top 10:
*The second entry in each rating is from the previous week.
| Team | Record | Cal-Hi Sports | MaxPreps | CalPreps |
| 2. Cathedral | 7-2 | 17/16* | 14/15 | 59.2/58.3 |
| 1. Carlsbad | 9-0 | 14/14 | 18/18 | 55.4/55.2 |
| 4. Mission Hills | 7-2 | 19/21 | 29/28 | 50.6/49.9 |
| 5. Lincoln | 6-3 | 31/31 | 36/37 | 48.3/46.8 |
| 3. Mater Dei | 8-0 | 27/30 | 37/39 | 47.8/46.3 |
| 8. Helix | 5-3 | Bubble/NR | 68/65 | 39.4/39.2 |
| 6. Torrey Pines | 5-3 | 37/37 | 46/47 | 45.1/43.6 |
| 10. Scripps Ranch | 7-1 | NR/NR | 79/78 | 36.5/35.7 |
| 7. Madison | 7-2 | Bubble/Bubble | 61/76 | 40.5/36.4 |
| 9. Santa Fe Christian | 9-0 | NR-NR | 158/153 | 25.1/4/6 |
Interesting that my alma mater, La Jolla, last in the tough Western League, with a 3-7 record is ranked number four in Division II and has a bye in round one of the D-II playoffs. I think La Jolla is the only D-II team in the Western League, which is full of top-ranked D-I squads. This may be why they were seeded high in the post-season tournament. Three of the D-II teams La Jolla beat in preseason competition made the playoffs. La Jolla’s outstanding QB, Stratton, must have been injured early in the season, because others have been taking his place, after he won player of the game in early outings.
Does anyone know his status and how the CIF decides playoff rankings when a team like La Jolla with a losing record and no wins in their league is seeded so high? There must be some algorithm that determines this based on comparative scores and level of competition.
The CIF San Diego Section went back to a point system it used before. These are the so-called power ratings. Who you played and who your opponent played, who you beat, who you lost to and who your opponents beat and who they lost to. Points are distributed based on those factors. How you were in the ratings the previous year determines what division you are in this year. Confusing? Yes! The Southern Section uses the computer ratings provided by Cal-Preps.com. I don’t know Stratton’s status. WE’ll see ewhat we get the game summaries in the Sunday paper.