The school named for Mabel E. O’Farrell was created in 1957 and opened in 1959 as a junior high, became a School of Performing Arts decades later, and now operates under the tony brand of “The O’Farrell Charter School.”
The Falcons got on the favored side of the scoreboard for the first time last week.
After 18 consecutive losses dating to its football debut in 2018, the Falcons defeated Whittier Christian at Whittier College, 24-12.
The same Whittier Christian that dispatched Coach Tim Baxter’s club, 35-7, in 2019. The Falcons did not play in the 2020 season and they have moved on from being an Independent to the Pacific League.
The Falcons have a game this week against, gulp, San Diego High.
WHO WAS SHE?
Mabel E. O’Farrell was said to have been born around 1870 and was an early 20th century member of the San Diego County board of supervisors. According to her wikipedia, Mabel served on a committee charged with creating a detention home for wayward youth.
Not much else is known.
“I’m an O’Farrell fan already,” I wrote in 2018. “One of its alumni was the late Rosie Hamlin, lead singer of Rosie and the Originals, who recorded a ‘sixties favorite, Angel Baby.
Angel Baby was a top 10 hit in January, 1961.
Rosie spent most of her high school years at Sweetwater but also had a cup of coffee at Mission Bay.
STATS
University City rolled on El Centro Southwest, 75-6, last week, tying the Centurions with seven other teams that have scored 75 points. The total ranks 35th among 11-man squads on the all-time Top Team Scoring list, headlined by San Diego’s 130-7 destruction of Army-Navy in 1920.
U.C. broke its own record, made in a 69-13 rout of La Jolla Country Day in 2018.
For a complete list of historic blowouts, see Football / Top Performances / Top Team Scores.
THE RATINGS
John Maffei’s weekly The San Diego Union-Tribune Top 10:
First place votes in parenthesis. Points on scale of 10 points to 1 point.
| RANK | TEAM/RECORD | POINTS | PREVIOUS | ||||
| 1. | Carlsbad | 3-0 (16) | 231 | 1 | |||
| 2. | Cathedral | 2-1 (8) | 220 | 2 | |||
| 3. | Lincoln | 3-0 | 196 | 3 | |||
| 4. | Mater Dei | 3-0 | 154 | 5 | |||
| 5. | Mission Hills | 2-1 | 147 | 3 | |||
| 6. | Helix | 3-0 | 116 | 6 | |||
| 7 | Torrey Pines | 2-1 | 86 | 10 | |||
| 8. | Scripps Ranch | 3-0 | 75 | 9 | |||
| 9. | Poway | 2-1 | 27 | NR | |||
| 10. | Madison | 2-1 | 19 | NR | |||
Others receiving votes
La Jolla (2-1, 8 points), Santa Fe Christian (3-0, 8), El Camino (1-1, 7), Eastlake (2-1, 6), Grossmont (2-1, 5), Granite Hills (2-1, 4), Mt. Carmel (3-0, 3), Rancho Buena Vista (3-0, 3), Oceanside (1-1, 1), University City (3-0, 1).
Voting panel: Twenty-four sportswriters and sportscasters throughout San Diego County.
- John Maffei, San Diego Union-Tribune.
- Steve Brand, Thomas Gutierrez, Rick Hoff, Jim Lindgren, Terry Monahan, Eric Williams, Thomas Gutierrez, freelance contributors.
- John Carroll, Nick Pollino, KUSI Ch. 51.
- John Kentera, Braden Suprenant, 97.3-FM The Fan).
- Adam Paul, ECPreps.com.
- Bodie DeSilva, scorebooklive.com.
- Rick Smith, Partletonsports.com.
- Christian Pedersen, San Diego Sports Association.
- Troy Hirsch, Fox 5 San Diego.
- Raymond Brown, sdfootball.net.
- Joe Heinz, Todd Cassen, Ron Marquez, Mike Dolan, CIF San Diego Section.
- Ramon Scott, Eastcountysports.com.
- Steve (Biff) Dolan, Mountain Country, 107.9-FM.
How others see San Diego’s Top 10:
*The second entry in each rating is from the previous week.
| Team | Record | Cal-Hi Sports | MaxPreps | CalPreps |
| Cathedral | 2-1 | 12-14* | 8/19 | 60.6/44 |
| Carlsbad | 3-0 | 11-12 | 16/12 | 47.9/49 |
| Mission Hills | 2-1 | 29-19 | 27/15 | 40.7/45.2 |
| Lincoln | 3-0 | 15-22 | 14/25 | 48.8/39.6 |
| Mater Dei | 3-0 | Bubble-NR | 71/70 | 26.2/24.6 |
| Helix | 3-0 | 45-NR | 83/82 | 23.6/21.7 |
| Torrey Pines | 2-1 | Bubble-NR | 46/44 | 35.4/32.6 |
| Scripps Ranch | 3-0 | Bubble-NR | 108/192 | 18.6/15.0 |
| Poway | 2-1 | NR-NR | 85/NR | 22.9/NR |
| Madison | 2-1 | Bubble-NR | 98/NR | 20.0/NR |
MaxPreps.com and CalPreps.com computer ratings are usually the same and based on strength of schedule and other factors.
Cal-HiSports.com ratings are created by publisher Mark Tennis, who coordinates with several state-wide sources.
Hi Rick
In the 70’s I coached O’Farrell junior high in Basketball in the County League that I ran plus coaching O’Farrell on that team one of my players was Anthony Johnson who I believe is the Principal at O’Farrell or he was a few years back he also coached Lincoln H.S. Baseball plus played for San Diego St If Anthony is still at O’Farrell tell him Hi & write me back. Thank You
John Gillilan
John: You should contact O’Farrell and inquire about Anthony Johnson.