2026 Football Week 4: Eagles Soar Amid Southern Hospitality
It was a curious trip for Santa Fe Christian. The Eagles flew to New Orleans for an almost-midseason, Week 4 intersectional, a type of game usually reserved for San Diego Section opponents in the Pacific or Hawaii time zones.
The Eagles dominated Isidore Newman School, 41-7, but it wasn’t the trip or the victory that was memorable so much as Newman, which opened as a school intended for Jewish orphans in 1903, is the alma mater of three famous NFL players, Hall of Famer Peyton Manning and his brother Eli, and New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham, Jr., not to mention the brothers’ older sibling, Cooper Manning, father of Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning.
And not to forget father and grandfather Archie Manning, who was a 14-season NFL quarterback for two teams. Or offensive lineman Michael Oher, a future NFL No. 1 draft choice of the Baltimore Ravens and the essential character in “The Blind Side”, also featuring Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw.
Santa Fe, a private school which opened in 1977 at the former San Diego Military Academy site in Solana Beach, likes its football.
The formerly named Navigators were mostly successful in the eighties and nineties, but the program took off when Brian Sipe, retired San Diego State and Cleveland Browns quarterback, was appointed head coach in 2001. Sipe’s teams were 73-21-2 and won four San Diego Section Division IV championships through the 2008 season. Nick Rusetta’s clubs were 38-14 from 2009-’12 , and Jon Wallace is 107-44 since 2013.
The Eagles (4-0) can take a step toward the Pacific League title (they won the last two Coastal loop championships) this week when they entertain 3-1 Army-Navy, over which they hold an all-time won-loss advantage of 19-5.
TOP 10
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 and Cal-Hi Sports‘ are state rankings. **Cal-Hi Sports will not publish ratings this week; last week’s are listed. HS-ratings.com and MaxPreps follow computer model.
| RANK | TEAM | POINTS | PREVIOUS | MAX PREPS | HS-RATINGS.COM | CAL-HI SPORTS |
| 1. | Carlsbad (4-0) *26 | 321 | 2 | 20/16 | 44.6 points | 16 (24)** |
| 2. | Cathedral (1-2) *6 | 275 | 3 | 36/38 | 42.5 | 19 (20) |
| 3. | Granite Hills (3-1), *7 | 239 | 5 | 47/32 | 34.1 | 20 (15) |
| 4. | Mission Hills (3-1) | 238 | 1 | 22/12 | 37.9 | On Bubble |
| 5. | La Costa Canyon (2-2) | 173 | 4 | 45/34 | 23.8 | 47 (41) |
| 6. | Santa Fe Christian (4-0) | 146 | 7 | 52/107 | 33.9 | On Bubble |
| 7. | Rancho Bernardo (3-1) | 108 | 6 | 106/78 | 19.5 | NR |
| 8. | San Marcos (2-1) | 104 | 8 | 41/47 | 18.1 | NR |
| 9. | Point Loma (4-0) | 74 | NR | 48 | 20.5 | 46 (37) |
| 10. | Torrey Pines (3-1) | 32 | NR | 84 | 15.8 | 44 (48) |
Others receiving votes: Lincoln (1-3), 31 points; Eastlake (4-0), 5; Helix (3-1), 5; Christian (3-0, 1; Grossmont (3-1), 1; Imperial (3-1), 1; Oceanside (1-3, 1; Patrick Henry (4-0), 1; Valhalla (3-0), 1.
Voting panel: Sportswriters, sportscasters, administrators from the San Diego Section:
John Maffei (The San Diego Union-Tribune).
Donald Ray Norcross, Kevin Farmer, Rick Hoff, Steve Brand (The San Diego Union-Tribune independent correspondents).
Joe Heinz, Todd Cassen, Ron Marquez, Cristina Byrne (San Diego Section bosses).
Brandon Stone, Allison Edmonds, John Carroll, Chase Isidoro (KUSI-TV, Chl. 51).
Rick Smith (partletonsports.com).
Braden Suprenant, Frank Markese (97.3 FM The Fan).
Mike Dolan (Coaching Legends).
Tom Helmantoler (Southern Conference).
Joe Evangelist, Rex Johnson, Bruce Ward (CIF Advisory Committee).
Raymond Brown (sdfootball.net).
Christian Pedersen (San Diego Sports Association).
Bodie DeSilva, John (Coach) Kentera, Dennis Ackerman, Steve (Biff) Dolan, Eric Williams, Thomas Gutierrez, Tom Ronco, Adam Paul (independent contributors).
Max Preps.