The 62nd San Diego Section playoffs, 64 teams strong, opened last week, with favorites prevailing in 16 of 22 first-round games, a 72.7 winning percentage.
Hats off to CIF commissioner Joe Heinz and his staff, and the voting representatives from the City, North, East, Desert, South, Coastal, and eight-man regions who got the seedings and pairings done with minimal complaints and no controversy, according to an observer.
Such sessions don’t usually evoke thoughts of harmony and campfire songs.
The seven envoys, all coaches from their respective areas, were close in their seeding choices, with only two surprises, but no shockers.
No. 10 Morse (6-4) upended 7 El Capitan (8-2) in a contest coached by recent 100-game winners Tracy McNair (Tigers) and Ron Burner (Vaqueros).
No. 11 Chula Vista eliminated 6 Calexico, which, despite the better seed, had to travel 120 miles over the mountains.
The higher seed Spartans had a legislative edge. Chula Vista automatically was home team after winning its league (Metro South Bay). Upsets highlighted.
| DIVISION | SEED/FAVORITE | SEED/UNDERDOG | UPSET SCORE |
| I | @8 Eastlake | 9 St. Augustine | 13-6 |
| III | @7 El Capitan | 10 Morse | 52-28 |
| IV | @8 Hilltop | 9 Francis Parker | 24-21 |
| 6 Calexico | @11 Chula Vista | 35-27 | |
| VI (8) | 4@ San Pasqual Academy | 5 Coastal | 22-14 |
| 6 Foothills Christian | 3 Rock @Francis Parker | 51-8 |
RANDOM MATCHUPSÂ
Open Division: No. 2 Lincoln Hornets (9-1) play host to 3 Madison Warhawks (9-1) for the second week in a row in the feature game of the quarterfinals round. The Hive will try to sting again, having won the Western League with a 24-21 win over the Warhawks in Week 10. The Pick: Lincoln.
D-I: No. 5 El Camino (7-3) has come on, winning 6 of last 7. Helix (7-3) is traditionally dangerous, but this Helix is diminished compared to, say, the 13-2 Highlanders of 2017 and those of more recent vintage. The pick: El Camino.
D-I: No. 7 Torrey Pines (4-7) @2 Cathedral (5-5). Schools are two miles and five minutes apart on Del Mar Heights Road. Two old-line powers not so powerful this season. The pick:Â Cathedral.
D-I: No. 6 La Costa Canyon (7-4) @3 Mater Dei (6-4). North County public school versus South County private. Crusaders have posted six shutouts in a row. They lost to Carlsbad, 36-35. Mavericks lost to Carlsbad, 35-0. The pick: Mater Dei.
D-I: No. 9 St. Augustine (4-6) @1 Mission Hills (7-3). Saints rebuilding under first-year coach Ron Gladnick should be saluted for getting this far. They were 1-9 in ’21 amid coaching crisis. The pick: Mission Hills.
D-II: No. 7 Brawley (8-3) @2 El Centro Central (6-3). Wildcats will try to reverse 20-16 loss to neighbors in Week 10. The two desert stalwarts have been dodging cactus and chaparral since 1921. The pick: Brawley.
D-V: No. 5 Mar Vista (6-5), behind quarterback Aleks Wojcik, who passed for eight touchdowns last week (35 for the season) in the Mariners’ 69-40 win over Hoover, will test defensively potent and No. 4 @Army-Navy (9-1), which has given up 13 points. The pick: Mar Vista.
WEIRDNESS
There have been 37 games decided by 8-0 scores since the first in 1892, according to our webmaster Henrik Jonson.
Not unheard of but Brawley’s 8-0 playoff win over Mt. Carmel still seemed unique. The Wildcats advanced on two field goals and a safety. Since high schools embraced the two-point conversion option in 1969 many if not most of the other twenty-two 8-0 scores were reached by a touchdown and a successful two-point try.
Alas, Helix. With the Highlanders ahead 14-13 late in the 4th qtr, the El Camino QB threw a poor pass under pressure that went straight to a Helix DB who was all by himself for a pick 6 but proceeded to drop the pass. Better luck next year!
Helix seems to have regressed a little the last couple years. Or maybe I shouldn’t compare this decade’s teams to those in the days of Reggie Bush and Alex Smith.