Cal-Hi Sports has spoken.

Oceanside, 12-1, and San Diego Section II champion, is 15th in the newletter’s final 2012 state rankings.  The Pirates are fourth in Southern California D-II, following Gardena Serra, West Hills Chaminade, and Huntington Beach Edison.

Other San Diego Section entries were far down the list.

In D-II Poway (10-3) is 41st overall and ninth in the South; Helix (10-1), is 44th and 10th, and Valhalla (9-4), is 45th and 11th.

Madison (14-1)  was first among the South’s D-III squads, but 46th overall.

But for a 30-20 loss to Temecula Chaparral which took on added importance each week as Chaparral lost its last four games after a 7-0 start, Oceanside would have been matched against Gardena Serra in the Southern California regional playoff.

If you believe the final CalPreps power ratings, coach John Carroll’s Pirates would rank 11th in California, but that hypothesis is flawed because the teams that finished with lower power ratings advanced further than Oceanside in the postseason and lost points when defeated in the regional playoffs, in which Oceanside didn’t participate.

Cal-Hi’s top 15 with CalPrep power ratings:

1–Concord De La Salle, 76.2.
2–Corona Centennial, 69.4.
3–Harbor City Narbonne, 68.3.
4–Vista Murietta, 66.3.
5–Gardena Serra, 66.2.
6–Folsom, 59.0.
7–Granite Bay, 64.5.
8–Long Beach Poly, 67.2.
9–Bellflower St. John Bosco, 67.0.
10–Santa Ana Mater Dei, 65.4.
11–Ventura St. Bonaventure, 60.5.
12–West Hills Chaminade, 57.8.
13–Mission Viejo, 64.1.
14–Huntington Beach Edison, 57.8.
15–Oceanside, 60.6.

Royce Freeman’s touchdowns are as common as July’s 110-degree days in  the Great Imperial Valley.

The 6-foot, 1-inch, 215-pound junior continued to make history this season at Imperial High, whose football lineage dates to 1942 and whose  list of graduates goes all the way back to 1908.

Freeman led the Tigers to a 9-3 record and won the San Diego Section scoring championship for the second consecutive season, with 36 touchdowns and a total of 220 points in 12 games.

Freeman scored 39 touchdowns and had a total of 240 points in a 9-3  campaign in 2011.

His career total of 76 touchdowns and 462 career points ranks Freeman seventh in San Diego Section history.  He passed Helix’ Reggie Bush (450) this season and needs 236 points in 2013 to better the career record of 697 set by Mission Bay’s Dillon Baxter in 2009.

IN COMPANY WITH THOMAS, ARNAIZ

Upon graduation in June, 2014, Royce will join the two other most prominent athletic alumni of Imperial High.

Linebacker Robert Thomas, who played collegiately at UCLA, was a No. 1 selection of the St. Louis Rams and the 31th player in the 2002 NFL draft.

Robert  Thomas played seven seasons for four teams and is the younger brother of Stan Thomas, who attended El Centro Central and played  tackle at Texas before  the Chicago Bears’ drafted him with the 22nd selection in the 1991 draft.

Jim Arnaiz was a four-sport standout (football, basketball,  track–shot put and sprints–and baseball) before attending California Poly-Pomona and embarking on a legendary coaching career.

Arnaiz is one of the most honored coaches in San Diego Section history, having guided Helix to four San Diego Section championships and posting a career record of 212 victories, 77 losses, and 6 ties.

MONSIEUR MADISON

Madison’s Pierre Cormier was runner-up to Freeman in Divisions I to IV with 29 touchdowns and 176 points in 14 games.  Oceanside’s William Gulley was third with 158 points, followed by Eastlake’s Aaron Baltazar, the leading D-1 scorer with 128 points.

USUAL D-5 SCORING

The smaller schools produced their annual complement of blockbuster scorers.  Justin Harrison of Calvin Christian had 192 points, followed by Ben Giese of Tri-City Christian (178), Serge Burmeister, La Jolla Country Day, 168; Willie Wilson, Mountain Empire, 140, and Bulla Graft, The Bishop’s 138.

Lincoln remained first in the second UT-San Diego basketball poll despite losing in the Drew Gooden Showcase in El Cerrito Saturday night.

San Jose Mitty, defending state champion in Division II, defeated the Hornets 71-60 in the event named for Milwaukee Bucks NBA player Gooden, who starred at El Cerrito High, near Oakland.

It was the end of a grueling trip for the Hornets, who rode north Friday in two 15-passenger vans. They returned Sunday afternoon.

Lincoln (5-2) received 10 first-place votes in the poll of 14 sportswriters and sportscasters.  Cathedral Catholic was second with four first-place votes.

SAN DIEGO TEAMS IN LONG BEACH

After a 76-62 victory at Pasadena, Cathedral gears up for the Long Beach Jordan-hosted, 14-team Public-vs-Private Showcase Saturday at Long Beach City College. Three other San Diego teams will participate.

The Dons take on the tough Etiwanda Eagles at 6:30 p.m. Other games:  Army-Navy- Corona Santiago, 12:30; La Jolla Country Day-Santa Monica, 2; Jordan-L.A. Price, 3:30; Montebello Cantwell-Rancho Cucamonga, 5: Riverside J.W. North-St. Augustine, 8.

OREGON TRAIL NO FUN

Two traditionally solid San Diego-area teams were schooled by Portland-area powerhouse and nationally respected Lake Oswego.  Helix fell 68-27 at a tournament in Chico and El Camino sustained its only loss in 10 games, losing 60-36 in a non-tournament contest at the Oregon  school.

Lake Oswego is the alma mater of  Minnesota Timberwolves star Kevin Love, son of former NBA player Stan Love, who is the brother of “Beach Boys” founder Mike Love.

STILL GOING

The 66th annual San Diego Kiwanis tournament, once a premier Southern California event, opened this week.  Eight boys teams and 20 girls teams will be competing.

1–Lincoln (10); 5-2; 131; 1.
2–Cathedral Catholic (4); 8-1; 127; 2.
3–Hoover, 5-1; 93; 3.
4–Army-Navy, 6-0; 88; 5.
5–St. Augustine, 4-1; 82; 7.
6–El Camino, 9-1; 60; 8.
6–Mission Hills, 4-1; 60; 6.
8–LaCosta Canyon, 7-3; 50; 4.
9–San Ysidro, 5-1; 42; 8.
10–Torrey Pines, 2-3; 10; T10.
Place–Team (First-place votes); Team record; Points; Last Week

Others receiving votes:
San Marcos (9), Eastlake (6), Mount Miguel (5), Morse (4), Helix (1), Santa Fe Christian (11), Valley Center (1).

Down 21-0, Madison battled back to defeat Kentfield Marin Catholic 38-35 in a dramatic State III Championship game at the Stub Hub in Carson.

A 50-yard touchdown pass play, which began with the center snap going over the quarterback’s head and ended with Kareem Coles’ pass to Lee Walker, ignited a 31-point Warhawks run.

After Marin’s  heralded quarterback, Jared Goff, had led his team back to a 35-31 lead, Madison’s Pierre Cormier put the cap on a brilliant career with a 79-yard run  that separated the Warhawks from the Wildcats of the North Coast Section.

The victory was not secured, however,  until Austen Scarville intercepted a Goff pass as Marin threatened on its final possession.

IV ROUT

Modesto Central Catholic thumped Santa Fe Christian 66-7 in a Division IV mismatch, posing the  question:  Why were these teams playing?

There was a paucity of qualified teams from the South, because the Southern Section, whose divisions are based partly on geography, places strong lower level squads in higher divisions in the playoffs.

D-V Santa Fe Christian and Arcadia Rio Hondo  were the only teams in consideration from the South.

Central Catholic would have been a good test for Madison or Marin Catholic.

The Sac-Joaquin champion stormed through regular-season against Division IV opponents and was so far ahead in its last two playoffs contests that the games ended with running clocks.

One of Catholic’s victims was Escalon, 52-10 in  the section final.  Escalon beat Madison 30-14 for the D-III crown in 2010.

Madison and Santa Fe Christian are about to break the oldest record, often tied, in  San Diego County.

The Warhawks (13-1) and Eagles (11-3)  will play their 15th games of the 2012 season when the Southern champions tee up in State Bowl Championship games against Kentfield Marin Catholic and Modesto Central Catholic,  respectively, this week at Cal State Dominguez Hills in Carson.

San Diego High was the first area squad to play 14 games.  The Hilltoppers, as they were  better known,  were 10-4 in 1922, the season ending in a 17-6, state playoffs loss to Bakersfield.

Sixteen other area prep squads have completed 26 seasons of 14 games,  including coach Herb Meyer’s powerful El Camino Wildcats, who went the long way five years in a row, 1989-93.

Madison has a State Bowl III Championship date with Kentfield Marin Catholic at 4 p.m. next Saturday  at Cal State Dominguez Hills in Carson.

The Warhawks (13-1) advanced after a pulsating, 21-17, come-from-behind victory at Monrovia (12-3), which managed to shackle Madison’s big-play weapons,  outgained the visitors 448 yards to 119, and led until a 91-yard kickoff return by Lee Walker with 5:30  remaining.

Madison held on until Mason Garner finally put away the Wildcats with an interception in the game’s final seconds.

Marin Catholic (14-1) defeated Sutter 23-7 for the North regional title.  If CalPreps power ratings mean anything, the San Francisco North Bay team will rate a slight favorite with a 46.8 rating to Madison’s 43.5.