MAFFEI MADNESS
John Maffei’s The San Diego Union-Tribune final 2025 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. | Cathedral (10-2) 30* | 300 (2) | 10 | 63.0 | 13 (14) |
| 2. | Carlsbad (10-2) | 259 (5) | 16 | 54.1 | 15 (13) |
| 3. | Granite Hills (10-3) | 226 (6) | 15 | 54.3 | 20 (26) |
| 4. | Mission Hills (9-2) | 201 (1) | 14 | 55.7 | 18 (20) |
| 5. | La Costa Canyon (9-2) | 187 (3) | 17 | 51.6 | 19 (21) |
| 6. | Lincoln (10-3) | 158 (4) | 22 | 49.1 | 23 (16) |
| 7. | San Marcos (7-5) | 102 (8) | 28 | 41.3 | On Bubble |
| 8. | Santa Fe Christian (13-0) | 64 (NR) | 84 | 25.1 | On Bubble |
| 9. | Point Loma (11-1) | 63 (7) | 33 | 36.6 | On Bubble |
| 10. | Mount Miguel (8-4) | 61 (10) | 35 | 37.4 | On Bubble |
OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES
Christian (7-7, 9 points), Oceanside (7-4, 8), Valley Center (7-6, 5), Steele Canyon (9-4, 3) Holtville (9-2), Mission Bay (11-1), Morse (9-4), Rancho Bernardo (8-3, 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).
The final 2025 Top 10 poll (above) followed a 12th San Diego Section championship for Cathedral and coach Sean Doyle and, according to our records, gleaned from years perusing The San Diego Union–Tribune, put Doyle at 248 victories, tying the Dons’ mentor with Oceanside’s John Carroll for the second highest total of career wins behind Oceanside and El Camino’s Herb Meyer, who had 339.
The keeper of CIF records noted in a conversation with me that Doyle was believed to have 250 victories (the number posted on the scoreboard at Southwestern College following Cathedral’s 20-16, Open Division championship over Carlsbad last week). A player ineligibility in 2012 had resulted in the Dons forfeiting eight games in a season in which their won loss record originally was 8-2.
Eight forfeits and two losses compute to 0-10 and an all-time 248 victories for Doyle, according to our Coach 100 table. Our records are not official; the CIF records are.
Max Preps and Cal Preps in their respective postings were not in complete agreement. Cal Preps noted only six forfeits and a 2-8 record. Max Preps had eight forfeits and a 2-8 record.
What I wrote, excerpted from a Union-Tribune story on my blog in November, 2012, after the reported forfeits:
“Cathedral’s honored program took a body blow this week when the Dons were forced to forfeit eight victories in an 8-2 season and were knocked out the postseason.
The Dons self-reported an ineligible player, who appeared in all 10 Cathedral games. San Diego Section rules state that a team with three forfeits cannot participate in the playoffs.
The violation seems minor, at worst.
According to sources, the player attended Cathedral as a freshman, transferred to another school for his sophomore year, and came back to Cathedral this year.
Routine paper work that would have allowed the player to be on the Cathedral squad this season apparently was not completed, misplaced, or overlooked.
Cathedral’s staggering loss was good news to Serra, which lost to the Dons, 55-7, in the final regular-season game and was to play Cathedral in the quarterfinals this week, the Dons having received a first-round bye.
Serra now will play at Ramona, which eliminated West Hills 41-21.
Cathedral was the San Diego Section’s preeminent Division III team. The Dons topped No. 2-ranked Helix 16-9 and battled state-ranked No. 1 Vista Murrieta before surrendering a fourth-quarter touchdown and losing 21-10.
IT’S HAPPENED MANY TIMES
Cathedral’s misfortune is not new in any sport on the high school landscape.
Most recently Madison was forced to forfeit the D-IV title in 2010 because of a residential transfer beef. The Warhawks, with help from the City Schools, litigated and had the judgment overturned.
Chula Vista forfeited 4 victories and went from 9-0 to 5-4 in 1976 and was out of the playoffs.
The 1958-59 San Diego High basketball team, 16-2 and poised for a deep run in the Southern California playoffs, forfeited all 16 victories. Starting forward Otha Phillips was beyond the age limit to be athletically eligible.
The Cavers, behind the great Arthur (Hambone) Williams finished the season 24-2 competitively but 8-18 legislatively.”
For now we’ll stick with 248 wins (Cal-Hi Preps lists Doyle with 249), but hopefully more information will surface. That number also could change, perhaps this week, when Cathedral plays Los Alamitos in a regional state playoff at Long Beach Veterans’ Stadium on the Long Beach City College campus.
The article in The San Diego Union-Tribune on Nov. 14, 2012, announcing the forfeits:
