2023 Week 4: Carlsbad Chips Away at Hornets’ Lead; Helix Rising

Carlsbad cut into Lincoln’s first place lead in the Union-Tribune poll for a second straight week and had 13 No. 1 votes to the Hornets’ 17.

Lincoln had 19 first-place votes two weeks ago but lost ground again despite a 54-19 win over declining state Division II-AA champion Mater Dei, while Carlsbad crowned Queen Creek Castille, the number 8 team in Arizona from the traditionally tough Phoenix-Mesa area, 49-9.

Helix, rapidly ascending, stayed fourth in the San Diego voting but has climbed to 19 in the human eyes of non-computer Cal-Hi Sports.

Lincoln gets another Southern Section test at home  week against usually tough San Bernardino Cajon (3-0).  Carlsbad is a big favorite over Ramona

Helix seeks its fifth win in a row at Cathedral, 1-3 and coming off a 35-28 loss to San Francisco St. Ignatius in the Bay Area.  A better idea could result in how far Helix has come and how far Cathedral has fallen.

John Maffei’s Week 5 Union-Tribune Poll:

Points awarded on  10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. *First-place votes.
NR–Not ranked. Last entries in columns are previous rankings.
Max Preps‘ and Cal-Hi  Sports‘ are state rankings.

RANK	TEAM/RECORD	POINTS	MAX PREPS.COM	CALPREPS.COM	CAL-HI SPORTS
1.	Lincoln (4-0)	*17/287/1	12/11	52.5/55.1	8/9
2.	Carlsbad (4-0)	*13/282/2	8/12	57.9/53.4	9/10
3.	Granite Hills (3-0)	224/3	32/26	34.4/38.1	27/27
4.	Helix (4-0)	220/4	17/22	44.4/31.9	19/24
5.	Mission Hills (3-1)	143/7	52/57	26.5/26.2	On Bubble/On Bubble
6.	Cathedral (1-3)	121/6	86/63	18.5/25.5	On Bubble/On Bubble
7.	Madison (2-2)	120/5	73/70	20.9/24.3	39/26
8.	La Costa Canyon (3-1)	115/9	80/74	19.1/17.9	NR/NR
9	El Camino (3-1)	54/10	98/88	17.6/20.2	On Bubble/NR
10.	St. Augustine (2-2)	46/8	93/84	17.1/22	NR/NR

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES
Mount Miguel (4-0, 16 points), San Marcos (3-1, 7), El Capitan (3-1, 5), Del Norte (3-1, 3), Mission Bay (4-0, 2), Oceanside (2-2, 2), Poway (3-1, 2), Ramona (2-1, 1).

VOTING PANEL

29 sportswriters, sportscasters, administrators from San Diego County, plus Max Preps.com.

• John Maffei (San Diego Union-Tribune).
• Don Norcross, Steve Brand, Rick Hoff, Eric Williams, Thomas Gutierrez , Freelance contributors.
• Brandon Stone, Allison Edmonds, John Carroll (KUSI, Channel 51).
• Rick Smith (partletonsports.com).
• Adam Paul (EastCountySports.com).
• Bodie DeSilva (ScorebookLive.com). 
• John Kentera, Braden Suprenant (97.3-FM The Fan).
• Steve (Biff) Dolan (Mountain Country 107.9-FM). 
• Christian Pedersen (San Diego Sports Association).
• Troy Hirsch, Nic Pollino (Fox 5 San Diego). 
• Joe Heinz, Todd Cassen, Ron Marquez (CIF San Diego Section).
• Mike Dolan, Rex Johnson, Bruce Ward (CIF Advisory Committee).
• Joe Evangelist (San Diego Coaching Legends Committee).
• Will Torrez (Valley Sports Network).
• Tom Ronco  (Imperial Valley Press).
• Raymond Brown  (SDfootball.net).
• Tom Helmantoler (Southern Conference Advisor).
• Max Preps.