Classical (6-1) remains on top, and next meets Bonita Vista (4-1), which stubbed its toe on unranked Grossmont. Mira Mesa (6-1), with only a one-score loss to Our Lady of Peace (3-0 and 12-3 last year), plus undefeated La Costa Canyon, Poway, and San Marcos are on the rise.

Complete schedules and results are here.

Top 10 San Diego section teams per the Max Preps ranking system*, as of Sept. 5:

* The entirely computer generated and proprietary MaxPreps.com ranking algorithm, based solely on wins and losses, plus the strength of schedule of opponents, is described here.

Henrik Jonson, Web Master

Long Beach Poly, since losing, 11-0, to San Diego High in 1910, has pretty much had its way with teams from San Diego.

Lincoln’s 42-14 victory last week at Long Beach Veterans’ Memorial Stadium, was infrequent.  Poly leads the series, 40-15-1.

This once was a premier rivalry in Southern California, with the Jackrabbits and San Diego usually battling for Coast League supremacy.

As the cities and population grew, new leagues were created, making the schools less dependent on travel. Poly and San Diego didn’t see much of each other.

Mira Mesa’s 13-6 loss here in 2006 was the last season Long Beach faced off with an opponent from this area and only the fifth time since 1960.

Poly holds a 24-11-1 lead over San Diego and hasn’t met the Cavers since a 26-18 victory 64 years ago.

MAFFEI FEELS IT

John Maffei’s The San Diego Union Week 2 poll:

Points awarded on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. *First-place votes. Previous ranking in (italics).
Bold indicates latest ranking. NR–Not ranked. Max Preps‘ and Cal-Hi Sports‘ are state rankings.

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES
Rancho Bernardo (2-0), 5 points.  Helix (0-2, 5), Mt. Carmel (2-0, 4). University City (2-0, 2),  El Centro Central (1-0, 1), Scripps Ramch (2-0), 1.

VOTING PANEL

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

• John Maffei (San Diego Union-Tribune).
• Don Norcross, Steve Brand, Rick Hoff, Kevin Farmer, Union-Tribune Freelance contributors.
• Joe Heinz, Todd Cassen, Ron Marquez (CIF San Diego Section.
• Brandon Stone, Allison Edmonds, John Carroll, Chase Izidoro  (KUSI, Channel 51).
• Rick Smith (partletonsports.com).
• Bodie DeSilva (ScorebookLive.com).
• Braden Suprenant (97.3-FM The Fan).
• Christian Pedersen (San Diego Sports Association).
• Tom Helmantoler, (Southern Conference advisor).
• Rex Johnson, Bruce Ward (CIF Advisory Committee).
• Mike Dolan, Joe Evangelist (San Diego Coaching Legends Committee.
• Raymond Brown  (SDfootball.net).
• John Kentera, Steve (Biff) Dolan, Dennis Ackerman, Eric Williams, Thomas Gutierrez, Tom Ronco, Adam Paul (Freelance contributors).

Defending San Diego Section champions are off to a strong start, each with a majority of their All-CIF starters returning.

Division I Bonita Vista (3-0), coming off a 19-1 season, is outscoring its opponents 533 to 137. This early season includes a win over Brawley (6-2), itself a five-game winner in a one-day tournament!

D-II Classical  (6-1), rated No. 4 in the state by Max Preps, overpowered Mission Viejo, Number 13 Newport Harbor, and 26 Long Beach Poly, losing only to #2  San Juan Capistrano JSerra.  Last season the Caimans were 17-2 and led the section in scoring at 30 points a game, outscoring opponents 573 to 86.

A local “Clash of the Titans” is Sept. 7, when Classical hosts Bonita Vista. Schedules and results are here.

D-I newcomer Poway (4-0, #36)  dominated its 4 opponents with a 114-20 scoring  total, as only Santana (4-1-1) put up a fight, 20-12. The lady Titans will meet Bonita Vista on Sept. 21.

In town notables are Mira Mesa (4-1), Mission Bay (4-2), plus Kearny (3-0), with all shutout wins and outscoring opponents 75-0.

Brawley (6-2), Imperial (4-1), and Calexico Vincent Memorial (3-0) are off to a good starts in the desert.

San Diego section teams with a Max Preps top 100 state ranking through Aug. 29:

Henrik Jonson, Web Master

Patrick Henry opened the season with a 77-48 victory over Grossmont and broke the school record, set in a 69-14 win over Coronado in 2021.

The outburst also more or less squared the record of a  previous Patriots encounter.  They were on the opposite end of a 77-point explosion by The Bishop’s seven years ago (see table).

Henry’s result marked the eighth time a San Diego County team had scored 77 points, tied for 21^st highest all time.

There have been 109 games in which the winning team scored at least 70 in 11-man football.  San Diego High set the all-time high in a 130-7 win in 1920 over Army-Navy.

We’ll go out on a limb and suggest that the Hilltoppers’ record, now 104 years old, is not in danger.

There have been an estimated nearly 30,000 games played by San Diego County teams since students from San Diego High teed up on Christmas Day, 1891, against  “adults” from the “San Diego Football Club”.

The game, more like rugby, with no score ever reported, took place at what is now Chicano Park, near the on ramp to the San Diego-Coronado Bay Bridge.

The 77’s:

MAFFEI FEELS IT

John Maffei’s first The San Diego Union weekly poll.

Points awarded on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. *First-place votes. NR–Not ranked.
Max Preps‘ and Cal-Hi Sports‘ are state rankings. Bold indicates latest ranking.

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES
Helix (0-1, 15 points), Del Norte (1-0, 9), El Centro Central (1-0, 2), Mt. Carmel (1-0, 2).

VOTING PANEL

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

• John Maffei (San Diego Union-Tribune).
• Don Norcross, Steve Brand, Rick Hoff, Kevin Farmer, Union-Tribune Freelance contributors.
• Joe Heinz, Todd Cassen, Ron Marquez (CIF San Diego Section office.
• Brandon Stone, Allison Edmonds, John Carroll, Chase Izidoro  (KUSI, Channel 51).
• Rick Smith (partletonsports.com).
• Bodie DeSilva (ScorebookLive.com).
• Braden Suprenant (97.3-FM The Fan).
• Christian Pedersen (San Diego Sports Association).
• Tom Helmantoler, (Southern Conference advisor).
• Rex Johnson, Bruce Ward (CIF Advisory Committee).
• Mike Dolan, Joe Evangelist (San Diego Coaching Legends Committee.
• Raymond Brown  (SDfootball.net).
• John Kentera, Steve (Biff) Dolan, Dennis Ackerman, Eric Williams, Thomas Gutierrez, Tom Ronco, Adam Paul (freelance contributors).

Nick Barkett was determined to improve his lot in the Hoover basketball program after serving as the fifth of five guards on the 26-2 team of the 1959-60 Cardinals.

“He lived at Muni Gym all Summer with (John) Bocko,” remembered Cardinals coach Charlie Hampton.

Barkett and Bocko spent many days, and evenings, in the vintage emporium, Bocko preparing for his college career at San Diego City College and Fresno State, and Nick striving to take his game to a higher level and earn a starting role in his senior year at Hoover.

Barkett, who passed away recently at age 81, did not just improve.  He etched his name in the lore of Hoover’s great basketball history.

The skinny, 6-foot guard became a lean, almost 6-foot 2-inch forward and led the 1960-61 Cardinals to a 24-3 record and the first San Diego Section championship. Nick also was the first CIF San Diego Section Section player of the year, scoring 356 points for a 13.2 average.

Barkett was a starter on the 25-5 San Diego City College squad that was runner-up to Fresno City in the 1962-63 state junior college championship game and he started for two seasons at Cal Poly-Pomona.

Forty-six flag teams, many with quickly organized, short schedules, played a total of about 325 games in the inaugural 2023 season. The 2024 season, with 72 teams and a potential full schedule of 20 in the regular season, plus two dozen playoff jousts, the total should surpass 700 games. The  schedule continues to grow.

Most of the 26 new squads are from North County, including all 5 from Poway Unified (Del Norte, Poway, Mt Carmel, Rancho Bernardo, Westview). Other added large schools include Carlsbad, Escondido, La Costa Canyon, Mission Hills, San Marcos, Oceanside, Ramona,  and Vista.

See the Flag Teams page for a complete list of San Diego Section entries.

CIF-RELATED ISSUES

Now 24 versus 20 minutes per half and a 7-second passing clock; if ball is not thrown or touched by another player, the play is dead. As previous, no blocking downfield, only behind the line-of-scrimmage, and really just ‘obstructing’ since no contact is allowed. It’s up to the defender to avoid a stationary ‘blocker’. Similarly, a ‘tackler’ cannot obstruct a runner to grab a flag. The most allowed contact is some hand-fighting for a pass.

Full CIF Rules here, with 2024 changes and clarifications highlighted in red. The rule book is more than 10 pages.

With more games and a possible short officiating crew issue, a solution is multiple games per day, per site with multiple teams. Last weekend a showcase of 5 games with 10 teams, in one long day, demonstrated this ‘tournament’ style plan.

To date, most league affiliations are unpublished  beyond the 3 listed below. Division (I, II, or more) groupings also are unavailable.

Playoffs begin November 11, with the local champions crowned 11/21-23. No mention of further regional playoff participation.

CONFERENCES, AS OF AUG. 22, 2024

Avocado: Carlsbad, El Camino, La Costa Canyon, Mission Hills, San Dieguito, San Marcos
Palomar: Canyon Crest, Del Norte, Mt Carmel, Oceanside, Poway, Rancho Bernardo, Westview
Valley: Escondido, Ramona, Rancho Buena Vista, Sage Creek, San Pasqual, Vista

Henrik Jonson, Web Master