2025 Football Week 4: About Undefeateds, Coach 100, and Hornets’ Slip
Nine teams are 4-0 as the regular season moves to the halfway mark for most squads this week.
Seven, including Mission Bay, Mission Hills, La Costa Canyon, Carlsbad, Santa Fe Christian, Imperial, and El Centro Central, have been 4-0 before in this decade.
Steele Canyon hasn’t been 4-0 since 2019 and Olympian needs a reintroduction, having not been this successful since 2012, when the legendary Gil Warren was coach.
The Eagles are under first-year boss Lew Barnes, who starred at Lincoln, became an all-America pass receiver at Oregon, and played three seasons and 31 games as a receiver-kick returner in the NFL after being selected in the fifth round of the 1986 NFL draft by the Chicago Bears.
Other undefeated teams at 3-0 are Cathedral, Point Loma (not since 2009), Mira Mesa, San Diego, Rancho Bernardo, and The Bishop’s.
COACH 100 CLUB
A tardy Hat’s Off to Sean Sovacool, whose La Costa Canyon Mavericks are 14-1 since the beginning of the 2024 season and presented the coach with a 100th career victory in Week 1. Sovacool and the Mavericks haven’t stopped and the coach now has a total of 103 career triumphs.
Santa Fe Christian’s Jon Wallace counts 94 career victories after the Eagles’ 4-0 start and has a shot at the Century club in 2025.
HIVE STUNG
Lincoln sustained a painful loss to Mission Viejo, 34-24, but did not suffer in Cal-Hi Sports‘ authoritative ratings, settling at eighth, while the visiting Diablos from Orange County now are second following their 17-point fourth quarter which erased a 24-17 Hornets lead.
MAFFEI MADNESS
John Maffei’s The San Diego Union Week 4 poll:
Points awarded on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. *First-place votes. Previous rankings in (italics).
NR–Not ranked. MaxPreps, Cal Preps, and Cal-Hi Sports are state rankings.
| RANK | TEAM/RECORD | POINTS | MAX PREPS | CAL PREPS | CAL-HI SPORTS |
| 1. | Lincoln (3-1) 25* | 294 (1) | 8 (9) | 57.7 (54.5) | 8 (8) |
| 2. | Cathedral (3-0) 5* | 274 (2) | 13 (13) | 54.4 (51.4) | 10 (10) |
| 3. | Mission Hills (4-0) | 233 (3) | 23 (48) | 49.9 (42.4) | 16 (19) |
| 4. | La Costa Canyon (4-0) | 203 (5) | 14 (20) | 52.8 (47.5) | 14 (14) |
| 5. | Carlsbad (4-0) | 168 (6) | 22 (27) | 40.3 (35.6) | 43 (45) |
| 6. | Granite Hills (3-1) | 165 (4) | 38 (30) | 37.3 (37.5) | 28 (20) |
| 7. | San Marcos (3-1) | 111 (7) | 65 (80) | 31.1 (27.6) | NR (NR) |
| 8. | Mount Miguel (3-1) | 99 (8) | 101 (128) | 34.2 (33.4) | On Bubble (On Bubble) |
| 9. | Rancho Bernardo (3-0) | 58 (9) | 123 (118) | 19.3 (20.1) | NR (NR) |
| 10. | Poway (2-2) | 22 (10) | 108 (119) | 18.6 (15.8) | NR-NR |
OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES
Santa Fe Christian (4-0, 8 points), The Bishop’s (3-0, 6), Imperial (4-0, 4), El Camino (1-2, 2), El Centro Central (4-0), Oceanside (1-3), Olympian (4-0), Point Loma (3-0), Torrey Pines (2-2), 1 point each.
VOTING PANEL
Twenty-nine sportswriters, sportscasters, and administrators from the San Diego Section, plus Max Preps:
- John Maffei (The San Diego Union-Tribune)
- Donald Ray Norcross, Kevin Farmer, Rick Hoff, Steve Brand (Union-Tribune correspondents)
- Joe Heinz, Todd Cassen, Ron Marquez (San Diego Section)
- Brandon Stone, Allison Edwards, John Carroll, Chase Izidoro (KUSI-TV)
- Rick Smith (partletonsports.com)
- Braden Suprenant (93.7 FM “The Fan”)
- Mike Dolan (Coaching Legends)
- Tom Helmantoler (Southern Conference)
- Joe Evangelist, Rex Johnson, Bruce Ward (CIF Advisory Committee)
- Raymond Brown (sdsports.net)
- Christian Pedersen (San Diego Sports Association)
- Bodie DeSilva, John Kentera, Dennis Ackerman, Steve (Biff) Dolan, Eric Williams, Thomas Gutierrez, Tom Ronco, Adam Paul (freelance contributors).
OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES
Santa Fe Christian (4-0, 8 points), The Bishop’s (3-0, 6), Imperial (4-0, 4), El Camino (1-2, 2), El Centro Central (4-0), Oceanside (1-3), Olympian (4-0), Point Loma (3-0), Torrey Pines (2-2), 1 point each.
VOTING PANEL
Twenty-nine sportswriters, sportscasters, and administrators from the San Diego Section, plus Max Preps:
- John Maffei (The San Diego Union-Tribune)
- Donald Ray Norcross, Kevin Farmer, Rick Hoff, Steve Brand (Union-Tribune correspondents)
- Joe Heinz, Todd Cassen, Ron Marquez (San Diego Section)
- Brandon Stone, Allison Edwards, John Carroll, Chase Izidoro (KUSI-TV)
- Rick Smith (partletonsports.com)
- Braden Suprenant (3 FM “The Fan”)
- Mike Dolan (Coaching Legends)
- Tom Helmantoler (Southern Conference)
- Joe Evangelist, Rex Johnson, Bruce Ward (CIF Advisory Committee)
- Raymond Brown (sdsports.net)
- Christian Pedersen (San Diego Sports Association)
- Bodie DeSilva, John Kentera, Dennis Ackerman, Steve (Biff) Dolan, Eric Williams, Thomas Gutierrez, Tom Ronco, Adam Paul (freelance contributors).