Notes about this week’s San Diego Section finalists. Webmaster and researcher Henrik Jonson contributed much of the information:
Division V
1 Crawford (11-1) vs. 3 Classical (8-3), Saturday, 2 p.m., Escondido High.
Crawford moved on after a 26-7 victory in the semifinals versus No. 5 Mar Vista.
Classical retired 2 Escondido Charter, 28-14.
Crawford’s Matt Marquez is in his fourth season as head coach, 23-18 overall, with records of 5-7, 3-2, 4-8, and 11-1.
–Classical’s Josiah Cruz is in his second season, 9-12 overall, with records of 1-9 and 8-3.
Central League champion Crawford opened in 1957 and is playing in sixth championship game. Other appearances were in 1961, ’85, 2013, 15, and ’17, with 1-4 record.
The Colts defeated Kearny, 13-0, in 1961; lost to Lincoln, 28-0, in ’85, 42-6 to Holtville in 2013; 21-7 to Coronado in ’15, and 45-3 to Calexico, in ’17.
Crawford was 8-0-2 in 1961 and 12-1 in 2013. They were 7-2 in 1972, 8-2-1 in ’83, 8-2 in ’84, 11-1 in 2003, and 9-2 in ’04.
Crawford has an all-time record of 290 wins, 358 losses, and 12 ties for a .448 won-loss percentage.
The Colts have had 27 winning seasons of 65.
–Pacific League No. 3 team Classical opened in 2010 and is playing in first championship game.
–Classical’s all-time record is 64-60 for a .532 percentage.
–The Caimans have had 6 winning seasons of 13.
The teams have met twice, with Crawford winning, 32-19, in 2013 and 15-13 in 2015.
Crawford has a -2.3 power rating as assigned by Calpreps.com. Classical’s is -4.1. Max Preps ranks Crawford 41st and Classical 43rd in the San Diego Section.
The pick: Crawford.
D-IV
1 Fallbrook (9-3) vs. 7 Blythe Palo Verde Valley (12-1), Friday, 7 p.m., Escondido High.
Fallbrook advanced with a 21-3 win over 5 Mission Bay.
Blythe Palo Verde Valley defeated 3 Coronado, 35-15, in the semifinals.
Ross Johnson’s is in his first year as head coach at Fallbrook, which has a 9-3 record.
–Wally Grant is 32-11-1 in four years with the Yellowjackets, with records of 6-6, 3-1, 11-3, and 12-1.
Fallbrook opened in 1893 but did not field a football team until 1936. The Warriors also did not play football in the World War II years of 1942 and ’43.
Valley League champion Fallbrook is playing in its fourth championship game. Other appearances were 1986, 2000, and ’03, with a 2-1 record.
The Warriors defeated Vista, 28-14 in 1986 and Carlsbad, 50-12 in 2000. The Warriors lost to Torrey Pines 7-3, in ’03.
Fallbrook was 8-2 in 1947, 10-1 in ’83, 11-2-1 in ’86, 11-2 in 2000, and 10-4 in ’01.
Fallbrook has an all-time record of 316 wins, 472 losses and 21 ties, for a .404 won-loss percentage.
The Warriors have had 24 winning seasons of 84.
–Desert League champion Blythe Palo Verde is playing in its third championship game since joining the San Diego Section in 2000 with a 1-1 record.
–The Yellowjackets lost to Santa Fe Christian, 20-12 in 2004 and defeated Mission Bay, 41-19, in ’21. They lost to Quartz Hill of the Southern Section, 26-21, in a Southern California D-VI playoff.
–Palo Verde Valley was 10-2 in 2004, 8-4, in ’06, and 11-3 in ’21.
Fallbrook has a 14.2 Calpreps.com strength rating. Palo Verde Valley’s rating is 7.2.
Max Preps ranks Fallbrook 21st and Palo Verde Valley 25th in the San Diego Section.
The Pick: Palo Verde Valley.
D-III
1 University City (10-2) vs. 2 Point Loma (10-2, Friday, 2 p.m., Southwestern College.
University City eliminated 4 The Bishop’s, 24-20, in the semifinals.
Point Loma was a 49-14 victor over 3 Del Norte.
Joel Allen is in his third season as head coach of the City League runner-up team, with a record of 14-9. Allen was 100-35-7 as head coach at The Bishop’s from 2009-19.
Allen’s career won-loss percentage is eighth best among coaches with at least 100 victories.
Allen coached The Bishop’s to a state D-V championship in 2014, defeating Stockton Brookside, 40-14. The Knights were defeated, 47-0, by Oakdale in the state D-V title game in 2016 and his teams were 3-3 in San Diego Section championship games.
The Pointers’ first season was 1926. They have an all-time record of 532 victories, 368 losses, and 37 ties, for a .588 won-loss percentage.
The Pointers have had 63 winning seasons of 97.
Point Loma is playing in its 10th section championship game, including 1949, when the Pointers defeated Bonita, 27-14, for the Southern Section small schools title.
The Pointers are 4-4-1 in championship games. They tied El Camino, 6-6, in in 1982 in a California Tiebreaker overtime.
The Pointers were 6-0-1 in 1936, 8-0 in ’37, 8-1 in ’38, 7-0 in ’39, 7-0-1 in ’46, 9-1-1 in ’49, 7-1 in ’62, 11-0-1 in ’82, 13-0 in ’87, 13-1 in ’91, and 12-1 in 2005.
–Paul Lawrence is in his third season as coach of University City, with a record of 19-10.
–The Centurions are making their first appearance in a section championship game.
–U. City’s first season was 1983. It has an all-time winning record of 171 wins, 243 losses, and 6 ties for a won-loss percentage of .414.
–The Centurions have had 13 winning seasons of 41.
–U. City was 7-3 in 1986, 7-3 in ’88, 9-2 in ’92, 9-3 in 2015, and 10-2 in ’17.
Calpreps.com gives Point Loma a 29.3 strength rating and University City 25.1.
Point Loma ranks 10th and University City 13th in the San Diego Section, according to Max Preps.
The Pick: Point Loma.
NEXT: Divisions I and II.
