The suddenly topsy turvy UT-San Diego football poll saw another change at the top this week after last week’s No. 1, San Pasqual, took a surprising haymaker from Rancho Buena Vista and fell , 38-36.

Mission Hills, upset two weeks ago by San Pasqual, quickly filled the void.  The Grizzlies smashed Fallbrook, 61-21.

Meanwhile, Oceanside is lurking.  The Pirates had 11 first place votes to Mission Hills’ 12 but added a more impressive victory to their resume, rudely ushering  Ramona out of the undefeated ranks, 42-0.

While Oceanside lurks, Eastlake lies in the weeds.

Coach John Mc Fadden’s Titans of east Chula Vista won their seventh straight game and scored eight-first place votes after a workmanlike, 27-0 win over Bonita Vista.

What does it all prove?

There are no great teams in the San Diego Section this season, just some very good ones.

                      Team                              W-L               Pts.      Last Week

*Points awarded on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.                                                               Others receiving votes with points in parenthesis: Torrey Pines, 21; Grossmont, 17; La Costa Canyon, 12; Rancho Buena Vista, 10; Imperial, 4; El Capitan, 3.

Thirty-one sportswriters, sportscasters and administrators vote each week, including:  John Maffei, Craig Malveaux, Dennis Lin, Don Norcross, Lisa Lane, and Andrew Burer, U-T-San Diego; Steve Brand, Terry Monahan, Bill Dickens, Tom Saxe, Rick Hoff, U-T-San Diego correspondents; Nick Pellegrino, East County Sports.com; Steve (Biff) Dolan, Rick (Red) Hill (107.9 FM The Mountain); Jeff Kurtz, playonsports.com; Ernie Martinez, XTRA Sports 1360; John Kentera, Jack Cronin, Ted Mendenhall, Bob Petinak, Jordan Carruth, Bobby Wooldridge, Mark Chiebowski (The Mighty 1090;  Rick Willis, Brandon tone, Jake Fadden, KUSI-TV; Craig Elsten, 619sports.net; Rick Smith, Partletonsports.com; Jerry Schniepp, John Labeta, CIF San Diego Section, and Bruce Ward, San Diego Unified School District.

Crawford rose to 8-0 and played a home game under lights.

Imperial’s Royce Freeman set a San Diego Section career rushing record as the Tigers went to 8-0.

San Pasqual and Ramona dropped from the ranks of the undefeated.

NEW CORRAL

Crawford coach Mike Wright convinced his administration and the ruling City Conference that the Colts were more suited to an overall less demanding level of competition, thus a move from the Division IV Central League to the D-V  Manzanita.

The first night game at home was facilitated through rented lights and Crawford responded with a 35-0 victory over Calexico Vincent Memorial.

Among those in attendance was Bill Rainey, who led the Colts to an 8-0-2 record and the San Diego Section championship in 1961. Rainey was CIF player of the year. He also was the first champion in the Section track finals the previous spring with a winning time of 1:58 in the 880-yard run.

NEW CORRAL, CONT.

Crawford’s football field and track and field facilities will be moved across Trojan Avenue to the site of the original baseball field, which will move to the existing football and track location.

Crawford will play a road schedule in football in 2014, while construction is completed.

EYE OF THE TIGER

Imperial’s Royce Freeman played the first half in a 49-14 rout of Calexico and rushed for 135 yards in 11 carries, giving Freeman a 37-game, four-season career total of 6,778.

Freeman moved past Rickey Seale, the son of ex-Charger and Oakland Raider Sammy Seale.  Rickey rushed for 6,778 yards at Escondido from 2006-09.

THE LONGEST RIDE

Oceanside’s could have missed its kickoff with Ramona because of a traffic accident on State  78.

The usual 48-minute ride for the 39-mile trek became a two-hour marathon.

It’s all good.  Oceanside won, 42-0.

Sweetwater rushed (a  record?) 66 times for 405 yards, averaging 6.1 yards a thrust, and defeated Marian Catholic 41-14.

The Red Devils are running the ancient double wing favored by head coach Brian Hay and they’re getting used to the first-year coach’s offensive philosophy. They’ve won three in a row.

QUICK KICKS

Rancho Buena Vista’s 38-36 win over San Pasqual improved the Longhorns’  record to 6-2, their best since a 6-1-1 start in 2003… the West Hills Wolfpack dropped its 16^th in a row to Helix, 44-7…score was 44-0 at halftime…St. Augustine surprised Cathedral, 19-7 but the Dons still lead the series, 32-20…backup quarterback James Harwell of San Marcos passed for four touchdowns and ran for another in a 47-27 win over Del Norte…starter Will Freed has been out with a broken jaw….

San Pasqual this week became the third North County team to occupy the number one position in the weekly UT-San Diego football poll.

The Eagles surprised Mission Hills, 13-10, in overtime, knocking out the Grizzlies, who had climbed to No. 1 in Week 7 after kayoing Oceanside, which had resided in first since the preseason poll.

I voted for the Cathedral, as did two others.  Eastlake also received some support, meaning three teams received first-place votes for the first time this year.

San Pasqual takes on  Rancho Buena Vista this week. The Longhorns are 5-2 but so far haven’t impressed the voting panel, earning only two points among the “others” this week.

Hoover, 5-1, before a 13-9 loss to Serra, might have had a shot at a low Top 10 position but the Cardinals lost a touchdown because of  an “inadvertant whistle”.

                          Team                         W-L              Pts.             Last                                                                                                                                                       Week                                 

*Points awarded on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.                                                               Others receiving votes with points in parenthesis: Grossmont, 14; La Costa Canyon, 9; Torrey Pines, 8;  El Capitan, 6; Torrey Pines, 4, Imperial, 3; Carlsbad, Rancho Buena Vista, 2 each.

Thirty-one sportswriters, sportscasters and administrators vote each week, including:  John Maffei, Craig Malveaux, Dennis Lin, Don Norcross, Lisa Lane, and Andrew Burer, U-T-San Diego; Steve Brand, Terry Monahan, Bill Dickens, Tom Saxe, Rick Hoff, U-T-San Diego correspondents; Nick Pellegrino, East County Sports.com; Steve (Biff) Dolan, Rick (Red) Hill (107.9 FM The Mountain); Jeff Kurtz, playonsports.com; Ernie Martinez, XTRA Sports 1360; John Kentera, Jack Cronin, Ted Mendenhall, Bob Petinak, Jordan Carruth, Bobby Wooldridge, Mark Chiebowski (The Mighty 1090;  Rick Willis, Brandon tone, Jake Fadden, KUSI-TV; Craig Elsten, 619sports.net; Rick Smith, Partletonsports.com; Jerry Schniepp, John Labeta, CIF San Diego Section, and Bruce Ward, San Diego Unified School District.

Terry Monahan’s story in today’s UT-San Diego about the history of San Pasqual’s football jersey No. 86 jogged my memory.

Eighty-six has been worn  by Eagles linebackers almost every year since 1977, but since 1983 in honor of a former player who passed away.

Barry McKeever, the son of a USC all-America, wore No. 86 in 1982 and ’83 for San Pasqual and when he  played collegiately at Stanford.

But before there was 86 there was….

First, let me say that I followed the exploits of Barry father, Mike McKeever, and uncle Marlin in high school, me a student at Lincoln in San Diego and the McKeever twins all-stars in football and track and field at Mt. Carmel in Los Angeles.

They were all-Southern Section football picks, top college recruits, and among the best shot putters in the country.

Enrolling at USC the twins were part of a Trojans’ renaissance that saw USC bounce back from a 1-9 record in 1957 to 4-5-1 in ’58, and 8-2 in ’59.

Originally Mike McKeever was issued jersey No. 64 and Marlin was given No. 85.

Sometime later the USC publicist had an idea.  He put one of the twins in No. 86 and stationed him in front of a mirror.

The reflection from the mirror was No. 68.

Who is whom?  And which is which?

Nos. 68 (Mike) and No. 86 (Marlin) were the numbers the youngsters carried forward in their all-America and NFL careers (Barry told Monahan that he wanted to wear his father’s 68 but that number had been taken by Barry’s brother Mac, so Barry was given 86).

Mike’s NFL time was cut short by a tragic automobile accident.  Marlin went on to play 14 seasons.

Mount Miguel crashed the Top 10 with a 42-21 victory over previous No. 1o El Capitan, but UT-San Diego‘s weekly rankings otherwise remained the same in the lead-up to Week 8.

Except.

Cathedral, which I ranked second, stayed fifth and, contrary to some other winners, did not receive more  points after a 42-3 blowout of 4-1 Scripps Ranch.

I don’t get it.  The Dons have played a tougher schedule than all of the teams above them other than Oceanside, but they’re not getting any respect, in my opinion.

Justifiably perceived North County bias in  media power outlets doesn’t appear to be in play.

Cathedral is considered “North County” (although its Del Mar address  is within San Diego’s city limits, as is Torrey Pines’, and Cathedral is part of the city’s Eastern League).

San Pasqual, 6-0 and second in the poll, obviously is outstanding.

But the Eagles haven’t had a Vista Murietta, Arizona’s Chandler Hamilton, or Gardena Serra on their schedule, as have Cathedral, Eastlake, and Oceanside. San Pasqual has had a full plate of essentially rank-and-file North County neighbors.

The first five teams’ strength of schedules (opponents’ won-loss records combined):

I couldn’t elevate Oceanside despite its strength of schedule.  That 30-6 loss to Mission Hills was uncharacteristic but it couldn’t be ignored.

*Points awarded on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.                                                               Others receiving votes with points: St. Augustine, 14; Grossmont, El Capitan, 13 each; Torrey Pines, 4, Imperial, Mission Bay, Hoover, 2 each; Rancho Buena Vista, 1.

Thirty-one sportswriters, sportscasters and administrators vote each week, including:  John Maffei, Craig Malveaux, Dennis Lin, Don Norcross, Lisa Lane, and Andrew Burer, U-T-San Diego; Steve Brand, Terry Monahan, Bill Dickens, Tom Saxe, Rick Hoff, U-T-San Diego correspondents; Nick Pellegrino, East County Sports.com; Steve (Biff) Dolan, Rick (Red) Hill (107.9 FM The Mountain); Jeff Kurtz, playonsports.com; Ernie Martinez, XTRA Sports 1360; John Kentera, Jack Cronin, Ted Mendenhall, Bob Petinak, Jordan Carruth, Bobby Wooldridge, Mark Chiebowski (The Mighty 1090;  Rick Willis, Brandon tone, Jake Fadden, KUSI-TV; Craig Elsten, 619sports.net; Rick Smith, Partletonsports.com; Jerry Schniepp, John Labeta, CIF San Diego Section, and Bruce Ward, San Diego Unified School District.

The Hoover Cardinals could use the helping hand of Motel 6 maven Tom Bodett, voice of the signature “we’ll leave the light on for you.”

Night football is out at Hoover.

More’s the pity.

The Cardinals became involved in a legal action with neighboring residents and a Superior Court judge unhappily issued an injunction, forcing Hoover to play home games in daytime for the remainder of the season, maybe longer.

Hoover defeated Morse, 22-0, in their Homecoming Friday afternoon and will reschedule kickoffs for Lincoln and San Diego.

The victory improved the Cardinals to 5-1 under second-year coach Jerry Ralph, who was 6-5 last season following head coaching stints at Santana, St. Augustine, and Del Norte.

Now known as Bob Breitbard Field, Hoover’s stadium was originally constructed in the early 1930s and was one of the first fields in the area to have  lights. (Balboa Stadium, home to San Diego High, did not have lights until 1939).

JACKIE ROBINSON STARRED

The Cardinals were hosts for a Southern Section playoff against Pasadena Muir Technical and Jackie Robinson under the lights in 1935.

The crowd of more than 4,000 in Hoover’s original bleachers watched as Robinson threw a touchdown pass in Muir’s 27-0 victory.

Those wooden bleachers burned down in the winter of 1948-49. New, steel-framed seating was in place in time for the 1949 season but installation of lighting was delayed.

Hoover played two “home” games at Aztec Bowl but the remaining contests in a remarkable, 8-1 season were on the road at Coast League sites.

One 1949 game actually took place on  campus. A postseason charity contest with Grossmont that started at 10 a.m. was played to help defray medical costs for an injured Foothillers player.

San Diego was growing and the Hoover field became increasingly important in 1951 when it began a decades-long stretch of doubling as a regional venue for many schools.

FIELD TAKES SHARP TURN

Hoover’s stadium now has  an East-West footprint.  The original stadium ran south to north from the boys’ gymnasium and faced Norwood Street, which began when Meade Avenue ended at 44th Street.

It was in the old alignment that Hoover scored perhaps its greatest victory, a 20-12 triumph over San Diego in 1956 before an overflow crowd of 7,000 persons who filled both sides of the stadium and the end zones.

AND THEN THERE WERE SEVEN

One leg of the second half of the regular season has been completed and seven San Diego Section teams have avoided the big haircut.

Four teams fell from the ranks of the undefeated last week, but Crawford, Francis Parker, Imperial, Mission Hills, Ramona, and San Pasqual are standing tall at 6-0.  San Diego Jewish Academy is 3-0.

Four clubs were 6-0 at this point in 2012.

Carlsbad, El Capitan, and Mission Bay fell with a thud, outscored by a combined 112-35 and becoming part of a group of 11 teams that have one loss.

Oceanside handled Carlsbad, 28-7.  Mount Miguel showed impressive force by running away from El Capitan, 42-21, and Madison, class of Division IV, walloped Mission Bay, 42-6.

Hilltop was upset by Sweetwater, 17-9.

LENDING A HELPING HAND

Isn ‘t this the way it used to be?

Members of Hoover’s freshmen football team got into the spirit of community service after the Cardinals’ Homecoming game against Morse Friday.

Wearing their red  game jerseys,  the Frosh “fanned out”, according to varsity coach Jerry Ralph, pitching in to clean up and pick up in the neighborhood around the East San Diego campus.