El Capitan coach Ron Burner and Mount Miguel’s Troy Starr can become the 45th and 46th coaches in San Diego County history to win at least 100 games when the Vaqueros take on neighborhood rival Santana and the Matadors meet Monte Vista this week.
Burner, who became the Vaqueros’ coach in 2005, is 99-94 as a head coach. Starr is 99-42-1 in two Grossmont Conference stints, 2008-’16 at Helix and from 2018 at the Lemon Grove school, which is closer to Morse (3.5 miles) a city school in another league, than it is to Grossmont Valley rival Monte Vista, 4.3 miles away.
El Capitan in Lakeside, 4 1/2 miles from Santana in Santee, can claim big brother status, having opened in 1959 to Santana’s 1965. Same for Mount Miguel, whose doors first swung wide in 1957 compared to Monte Vista’s in 1961.
El Capitan is 30-17-2 all-time against the Sultans and Burner is 9-2. Mount Miguel is 33-27 against Monte Vista in a series that was continuous from 1961 until the pandemic canceled the 2020 game. Starr is 3-2 versus the Monarchs at Helix and Mount Miguel.
Getting to the milestone has not been easy. Mount Miguel (2-4) will try to end a four-game losing streak and El Capitan (3-2) ended a two-game slog last week.
WESTERN BIG ONE
Meanwhile, Lincoln, No. 3 in The San Diego Union-Tribune poll, will play No. 4Â Cathedral in a Western League opener at Mira Mesa as the regular season turns into the second half. The decision of neutral site for Hornets-Dons was made by the CIF’s City Conference and also will be in effect in 2023, according to John Maffei of The San Diego Union-Tribune.
| RANK | TEAM/RECORD | POINTS | MAX PREPS.COM | CAL-PREPS.COM | CAL-HI SPORTS |
| 1 | Madison (5-0) | 16*/273/1 | 37/25 | 40.5/38.1 | 26/30 |
| 2 | Carlsbad (4-1) | 5*/246/3 | 25/27 | 45.1/41.2 | 21/21 |
| 3 | Lincoln (5-1) | 2*/241/2 | 38/31 | 43.8/36 | 23/23 |
| 4 | Cathedral (3-3) | 5*/236/4 | 24/18 | 45/41.2 | 19/19 |
| 5 | Helix (5-1) | 2*193/5 | 43/33 | 41.3/34.5 | 28/29 |
| 6 | Poway (5-0) | 177/6 | 45/58 | 36.2/31.7 | On the Bubble |
| 7 | Granite Hills (4-2) | 84/7 | 75/95 | 28/22.3 | NR/NR |
| 8 | Mater Dei (1-4) | 72-9 | 88/93 | 28.7/18.1 | On the bubble |
| 9 | La Costa Canyon (3-2) | 67/8 | 73/85 | 26.1/18.2 | NR/NR |
| 10 | Mira Mesa (4-1) | 61/10 | 83/91 | 28/23.9 | NR/NR |
OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES
Mission Hills (2-3, 13), El Camino (3-2, 7), Mt. Carmel (4-1, 5), Point Loma (5-1, 2).
VOTING PANEL
- John Maffei, San Diego Union-Tribune.
- Steve Brand, Thomas Gutierrez, Rick Hoff, Terry Monahan, Don Norcross, Eric Williams, Freelance contributors.
- Brandon Stone, Allison Edmonds, John Carroll, KUSI-Channel 51 TV.
- Rick Smith, partletonsports.com.
- Ramon Scott, Adam Paul, eastcountysports.com.
- John Kentera, Braden Suprenant (97.3 FM The Fan).
- Bodie DeSilva, scoreboardlive.com.
- Steve (Biff) Dolan, Mountain Country 107.9 FM.
- Christian Pedersen, San Diego Sports Association.
- Troy Hirsch, Nic Pollino (Fox 5 San Diego).
- Todd Cassen, Joe Heinz, Ron Marquez, CIF San Diego Section.
- Mike Dolan, Rex Johnson, CIF Advisory Committee.
- Joe Evangelist, San Diego Coaching Legends.
- Will Torrez, Valley Sports Network.
- Raymond Brown, sdfootball.net.
- Tom Helmantoler, Southern Conference Advisor.
- MaxPreps.com.
TRUE GRID
Who would have thought? Oceanside, long a San Diego Section power in the era of coach John Carroll, is 0-5 for the first time since 1941…Orange Glen is experiencing its first 0-5 since 2002…Eastlake’s 0-6 start is the poorest in school history, dating to 1993… hard times at Grossmont (0-6) are remindful of the Foothillers’ 1-5 start in 1999 that followed an 0-10 in ’98…evolving demographics, school emphasis, and enrollment shortfalls and boundaries often are cited as reasons, not to mention coaching, for the trip from top to bottom. Rick Jackson (159-55-1) in 28 seasons at Madison can move into 16th place among all-time coaches’ victories, ahead of Mike Dolan (159-90-5) in 21 seasons at San Pasqual…five teams, Madison, Poway, Calexico, Victory Christian, and St. Joseph’s, are 5-0…10 teams are 5-1…Point Loma is 5-1 for the first time since 2014, and Calexico is 5-0 for the first time since 2016…The 57 points Hoover scored against Maranatha last week were the most since Jerry Ralph’s 10-3 2014 club scored 63 and 69 in back-to-back games…Carlsbad beat the Central Section’s No. 2-ranked team, visiting Bakersfield Liberty, 27-0, last week….
