2026 Football Week 10: Chula Vista Wins 80th Game Between Old Antagonists
Chula Vista and Sweetwater met last week, the 21-14 Spartans victory continuing the longest, uninterrupted rivalry in San Diego.
The South Bay schools have played each other every season since 1947, when Chula Vista High opened to a couple hundred students in at the Brown Field Airport. The Spartans moved to a permanent campus on the city’s west side in 1949. Sweetwater has been playing football since 1920 but actually began as National City School in 1908.
The series stands at 42 victories for Chula Vista and 35 for Sweetwater, with three ties.
Neither of the teams have done well recently (Chula Vista is 3-6, Sweetwater 1-8) but they’re predecessors created some of the most successful periods in County history.
Basketball coach Chet DeVore reluctantly accepted football responsibilities at principal Joe Rindone’s request in 1951 and posted a 44-7-1 record through 1955. George Ohnessorgen was 103-33-7 as coach from 1982-93. Gene Alim led Sweetwater to a 74-9-1 record from 1981-87. Al Jacobus was 23-7 from 1978-80, and Dave Lay was 68-29 a few years before, although hit with some forfeits.
UNDEFEATED
Santa Fe Christian (9-0), Francis Parker (7-0), and Patrick Henry (9-0) are the remaining teams with spotless records heading into final regular-season games.
Parker meets St. Joseph in an eight-man finale. Some sites list Santa Fe as 10-0 but a forfeit by La Jolla Country Day was not accepted by coach Jon Goodwin’s team, according to veteran prep scribe John Maffei, so the Eagles will reach the CIF limit of 10 regular-season games this week against The Bishop’s.
I missed by picking Madison over Henry last week, finishing with a 2-1 record. I’ll stick with the Patriots against Mira Mesa and go with Santa Fe Christian and Francis Parker in other selections.
John Maffei’s The San Diego Union Week 10 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’ are state rankings. HS-ratings.com and MaxPreps follow computer model. Cal-Hi Sports’ rankings are the opinion of creator Mark Tennis.
| RANK | TEAM | POINTS | PREVIOUS | MAX PREPS | HS-RATINGS.COM | CAL-HI SPORTS |
| 1. | Cathedral (6-3) *25 | 319 | 2 | 31/37 | 46.3/44.9 | 19/22 |
| 2. | Carlsbad (8-1) *1 | 276 | 1 | 23/11 | 48.4/51.8 | 34/13 |
| 3. | Granite Hills (7-2) | 274 | 3 | 62/58 | 36.9/32.6 | 33/33 |
| 4. | Mission Hills (7-2) | 249 | 4 | 28/27 | 44/42.3 | 35/35 |
| 5. | La Costa Canyon (6-3) | 201 | 6 | 50/64 | 36.8/31.5 | 39/On Bubble |
| 6. | Santa Fe Christian (9-0) *1 | 170 | 5 | 40/41 | 40.6/41.1 | 40/41 |
| 7. | Helix (7-2) | 112 | 8 | 61/60 | 32.9/31.6 | On Bubble/NR |
| 8. | Rancho Bernardo (7-2) | 101 | 7 | 77/82 | 33/28.3 | On Bubble/Bubble |
| 9. | San Marcos (5-4) | 67 | 9 | 73/62 | 22.7/23.7 | On Bubble/Bubble |
| 10. | Patrick Henry (9-0) Oceanside (4-4) | 23 | NR | 259/NR | 30.5/26.9 | NR/NR |
Others receiving votes: Lincoln (4-5), 17; Oceanside (5-4), 16; Holtville (7-2), 3; Torrey Pines (5-4), 2; Imperial (7-2), 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).
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.