After five defeats in the Southern California regionals, including a couple jaw-droppers, Del Norte, 30-28 to Lake Balboa Birmingham, and St. Augustine, 21-20 to Ventura St. Bonaventure, the San Diego Section is down to one team.

Would you believe 8-6 Sweetwater?

The same Red Devils, 0-4 at the start of the season and 8-43 from 2015-20, who won their fifth game in a row, the last four in the charged atmosphere of the playoffs, including the regional, 47-27, versus visiting Santa Monica St. Monica (11-4).

The Red Devils of coach Ervin Hernandez, will play 13-0 Colusa of the Northern Section Saturday at 11 a.m. at El Camino College in Torrance for the state VI-A title.

Sweetwater, despite some lean years after the millennium, has a long and honored history, notably the wildly successful 1960’s-‘80’s eras of coaches Dave Lay, Gene Alim, and Al Jacobus.

The latest success represented the Red Devils’ first in an intersectional game in the postseason since a Cinderella run in the 1958 Southern Section playoffs, in which they reached the semifinal round before losing, 34-20, to Santa Monica after tying Anaheim, 7-7, and beating Santa Maria, 27-7.

Dave Lay was 76-27 (.739) from 1967-77, not counting a Dreaded Administrative Glitch which cost his 1968 team eight forfeit losses and a no-contest.  Gene Alim was 74-9 (.892) from 1981-87, and Al Jacobus 23-7 (.767) from 1978-80. The trio overall was 173-39 (.816), not counting forfeits. Alim also coached again at Sweetwater from 1991-94.

WHA’ HAPPENED?

Del Norte (11-3) and St. Augustine (10-5) are asking that question.

Visiting Birmingham, from the Los Angeles City Section, trailed in the III-AA contest, 28-24, and appeared dead in the water until quarterback Kingston Tisdale launched a Hail Mary pass from his 48-yard line on the game’s final play.

Peyton Jackson, Tisdale’s intended receiver, did not make the catch at the 12-yard line but deflected the ball.  Teammate Devyn Jackson was in position at the 17-yard line, made the reception and ran untouched for the winning score.

“I just can’t believe we’re going to go out on a play like that,” Nighthawks wide receiver Ty Olsen, who had put his team ahead on a 75-yard kickoff return with 9:52 remaining, told Don Norcross of The San Diego Union.

Said Nighthawks quarterback Jack Schneider: “I don’t know what to believe.  Disbelief.”

LAST SECOND AGAIN

St. Augustine led visiting St. Bonaventure of the Southern Section, 20-14, until a halfback, four-yard touchdown pass on the game’s final play in the D-I contest.

Not as dramatic as Del Norte’s loss, but equally stunning.  St. Augustine had given up the ball on its 30-yard line with eight seconds to play.

A pass completion put the ball on the Saints’ four-yard line with four seconds to play, followed by a quarterback ball spike that left two seconds on the clock.

Two too many.

NOT AS CLOSE

Granite Hills led the I-AA playoff at Mission Viejo, 14-0, and then was buried under a 49-0 Diablos onslaught to finish the 12-1 season with a 49-21 loss.

Mount Miguel was ushered out in DIII-A, 52-21, by Lakewood Mayfair at Bellflower High and La Jolla Country Day was ousted, 41-21, in DV-A at Wilmington Banning.

TRUE GRID

Sweetwater will be making it 70^th playoff appearance, dating to a 13-6 playoff loss to San Diego High in 1922…the Red Devils were 2-6-1 in Southern Section postseason games, are 33-28-1 in the postseason since joining the nascent San Diego Section in 1960, and 35-34-1 overall…the Colusa Red Hawks are 13-0, having won the Northern California regional, 42-6 over South San Francisco after Northern Section wins of 14-7 over East Nicolaus and 42-13 over Winters…Colusa High opened in 1916, about 65 miles North of Sacramento…until 2010 the school mascot was the Colus plant, a flowering grass endemic to the area…the Red Hawks have a 10.4 Cal-Preps.com rating to Sweetwater’s -4.4…Colusa is ranked 256th in California and Sweetwater 448th by Max Preps … the computer is calling a 38-22 victory for the Red Hawks….

Two of baseball’s all-time greatest players were playing with hundreds of so-called mortals.

Hoover’s Ted Williams and Pasadena Muir Tech’s Jackie Robinson trod on the diamonds and little Escondido High knocked down some  giants and went all the way to the Southern California finals.

3/31/36

A total of 31 teams and up to 600 players were signed to play in the fourth annual Pomona 20-30 Rotary Club tournament, including Escondido, San Diego and St. Augustine, and Hoover, which was on a waiting list.

4/1/36

San Diego divided its squad, with coach Mike Morrow taking the first team to Escondido, where it defeated the Cougars, 4-3.

The second team stayed home and dropped a 13-2 decision to the U.S. Dobbin.

4/7/36

Hoover, late to apply for a berth in the Pomona Tournament and finding the field filled, was allowed in when St. Augustine withdrew.

—A five-run third inning propelled San Diego to a 13-4, Coast League victory in Balboa Stadium against Santa Ana.

Bill Skelley allowed the visitors five hits and hit a home run for the Hilltoppers.

Johnny Le Grand had four hits in five times at bat and San Diego moved into a tie with Santa Ana and Long Beach Poly for the Coast League lead, each 2-1.

4/9/36

POMONA 20-30 ROTARY CLUB TOURNAMENT

Hoover coach Wofford (Wos) Caldwell went with a couple reserve pitchers, saving ace Ted Williams for a later game, but the Calexico Bulldogs erupted for 15 hits and won the opener, 11-0, behind Andrade, who limited the Cardinals to three hits and struck a home run.

—San Diego blanked Chino, 12-0, behind Vidal Ortiz’ three-hit pitching.

—Karl Hoffmann hurled a three-hit, 7-1 victory for Escondido over Azusa Citrus.

4/10/36

San Diego won a second-round game, 7-1 over Norwalk Excelsior in the morning and then scratched out a quarterfinals victory against Lawndale Leuzinger, 3-1, in the afternoon quarterfinals.

The Hilltoppers, trailing, 1-0, scored three runs in the top of the seventh on successive hits by Bill Skelley, Chito Rivas, Roy Ortiz, and James Curtis.

—Escondido also gained the semifinal found with wins of 5-3 over Compton and 4-1 over Pasadena Muir Tech, the latter in which Aden Galindo hit a two-run homer.

—Hoover, exiled to the Consolation bracket after its opening loss, bounced back with Ted Williams, in a 21^st century version of an “opener”, starting both games of 18-1 and 8-2 triumphs over Monrovia and Anaheim, respectively.

Del Ballinger relieved Williams in the first game and Gordon Bennett stepped up in the nightcap.

4/11/36

San Diego (2-1 over Whittier) and Escondido (4-3 over Long Beach Poly) won morning semifinal games, setting up an afternoon championship encounter, and Hoover gained the Consolation finals.

San Diego won its third Pomona 20-30 Club tournament title since the event debuted in 1933, 13-3 over Escondido.

The Hilltoppers’ victory, aided by seven Cougars errors and behind the five-hit pitching of Bill Skelley, was accompanied by Ted Williams’ pitching in Hoover’s 7-0 win over Pasadena for the consolation championship.

Williams also was on the mound when Hoover won its consolation semifinal, 13-1, against South Pasadena.

Williams allowed three runs on nine hits in four tournament games, struck out 21 batters in 19 innings and hit four home runs, two in the same inning against Monrovia.

As a team, Hoover hit .331 and Joe Villarino led with eight hits in 11 at-bats.

4/16/36

Bill Skelley pitched an 11-inning, 8-7, Coast League victory at Alhambra and doubled home Johnny Le Grand with the winning run.

—Ted Williams apparently was purposely walked three times and made an infield out in his other time at bat but gave up only a third inning triple before slamming the door on Bay League rival Compton, 7-1.

4/20/30

Ed Vitalich’s home run was the big blow in St. Augustine’s 6-2 victory at Sweetwater.  Catching for the Saints was Solly Hemus, future major league infielder and manager.

4/22/36

Chet Kehn and Al Olsen combined to give up one hit and pitched San Diego’s junior varsity to a 13-2 win over the host Sweetwater varsity.

—The Muhleisen Company team edged San Diego, 9-8, as both teams combined for 30 hits in a warmup for the Hilltoppers before their game with Long Beach Poly.

4/25/36

Ted Williams struck out 19 batters, breaking a 1924 Bay League record, as Hoover won on the road at Redondo Beach Redondo, 5-2.

—Long Beach Poly clinched the Coast League championship with a six-run ninth inning that stunned coach Mike Morrow’s San Diego Hilltoppers, 8-5.

The Jackrabbits collected four hits and two bases on balls, and capitalized on an error. Bill Skelley, who went the distance on the mound for the Hilltoppers, had two doubles and a single.

4/28/36

Lefty Al Olsen gave up five hits and pitched the San Diego JV to a 5-0 win over the host La Jolla varsity.

5/1/36

San Diego clinched second place in the Coast to Long Beach Poly with a 14-11 win at Santa Ana as Vidal Ortiz hit two home runs. Bill Skelley and Jack Zimmerman also homered.

5/2/36

Ted Williams and Gordon Bennett combined to pitch Hoover to a 17-0 win over Inglewood.

Hoover collectively was almost knocking the cover off the ball, according to statistics most likely provided by the Cardinals to The San Diego Union.

Through 21 games, Hoover batsmen had 215 hits in 614 at-bats for a .351 average with 172 runs scored, an average of eight a game.

Outfielder-pitcher Ted Williams had 28 hits in 61 plate appearances for a .460 average with 19 runs scored.

Catcher Roy Engle, later the Cardinals’ head football coach, was batting .381 and outfielder Del Ballinger, who played many years in the minor leagues, including six with the San Diego Padres of the Pacific Coast League, was batting .319.

5/4/36

Del Ballinger pitched and Roy Engle caught and Coach Wos Caldwell, prepping for a big Bay League contest against Long Beach Wilson, sent his varsity against his reserves and the first team won, 4-3.

5/6/36

Ted Williams homered and Hank Ondler had three hits as Hoover’s first team defeated the visiting Marine Corps Recruit Depot Devildogs, 6-2.

Meanwhile, the Cardinals’ second team invaded the foothills and topped Grossmont, 7-2.

5/8/36

Sweetwater’s Tom Coffman pitched well enough, allowing six hits, but the Red Devils committed 10 errors and Karl Hoffmann pitched an 8-1, Metropolitan League victory for Escondido (3-0), setting up a championship game with Oceanside, also 3-0.

5/12/36

Gordon Bennett homered, tripled, and doubled in four times at bat and cuffed visiting Beverly Hills on two hits, 9-1, as Hoover claimed the Bay League championship.

—Escondido’s Karl Hoffmann outdueled Ortega and the Cougars clinched the Metropolitan League championship with a 1-0 victory over Oceanside.

Willie Reyes singled in the eighth inning and eventually scored on errors by Pirates centerfielder Bobby Betoncini and shortstop Goodin, whose throw to the plate almost caught Reyes.

5/14/36

Hoover was going to play Calexico in a CIF Southern Section first-round playoff until the Civilian Conservation Corps, a product of President Franklin Roosevelt’s “New Deal”, got involved.

Early in the evening CIF commissioner Seth Van Patten informed Hoover coach Wos Caldwell that the Cardinals would meet coach Ed Covington’s Imperial Valley champion Bulldogs at a site to be determined.

Later in the evening Covington placed a long-distance call to Caldwell  and said that three of Covington’s players were entering a CCC camp and that Calexico would have to disband for the remainder of the season, leaving Hoover without an opponent.

Boss man Van Patten was to go into clarification mode.

5/15/36

SOUTHERN SECTION PLAYOFFS

No news for the Cardinals today, but Metropolitan champion Escondido eliminated Mountain Empire of the Southern League, 16-1.

5/16/36

Hoover, given a first-round bye, was assigned a second-round playoff at Escondido and prepared for a game with a team called the San Diego All-Stars at Golden Hill playground.

5/21/36

Metropolitan loop coaches met at the downtown YMCA to discuss whether to play baseball in 1937.  Coronado, Point Loma, and Army Navy did not field teams this season and some coaches favored going to a softball schedule.

5/22/36

QUARTERFINALS

HOOVER 3, @ESCONDIDO 8

Escondido eliminated Hoover in what The San Diego Union described as “a startling upset.”

Escondido lefthander Karl Hoffmann walked seven but allowed only five hits.  Hoover’s Ted Williams was reached for nine hits.

The Cougars’ Aden Galindo collected three hits in three at bats and Willie Reyes doubled and singled in three tries.

—An interclass baseball game at Coronado High ended in “turmoil.”   A team of seniors defeated juniors, 13-12.

The underclassmen shouted that the seniors used a fifth-year player.

5/23/36

USC assistant football coach Hobbs Adams and San Diego State head coach Leo Calland were principal speakers at San Diego High’s year-end sports banquet.

Approximately 250 athletes from varsity and junior varsity football, basketball, baseball, and track squads, plus letter winners in minor sports were saluted in the school cafeteria.

5/29/36

SEMIFINALS

PASADENA MUIR TECH 4, @ESCONDIDO 5.

Pitcher Karl Hoffmann tripled to centerfield leading off the ninth inning.  Willie Reyes walked, and Aden Galindo singled to centerfield, scoring Hofmann with the winning run.

The Escondido victory was the Cougars’ second over the Mustangs, following a 4-1win in the Pomona 20-30 Rotary Club tournament.

Muir’s lineup included future Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson, who broke the major league color line with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947.

6/3/36

An obscure but historic item appeared in The San Diego Union, headlined “Padres Seek Ted Williams”.

The short story said H.W. (Bill) Lane, owner of the new Pacific Coast League team in San Diego, had offered Williams a contract for the remainder of the season.

Williams would hit .271 with 2 home runs in limited action for the Padres in a precursor to a career as one of baseball all-time great hitters.

6/5/36

FINALS

ESCONDIDO 4, @LONG BEACH POLY 14

The Cougars couldn’t repeat their 4-3 win over the Jackrabbits in the Pomona tournament after taking a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning.

Escondido represented the Metropolitan League, one of the Southern Section’s circuits for small schools, while Poly was from the Coast League, arguably the strongest in Southern California.

Poly, which advanced after victories of 8-2 over Paso Robles and 11-1 over Montebello, jumped on Cougars starter Karl Hoffmann for three runs in the first inning, three more in the third, four in the seventh, and finally drove Hofmann from the mound in a three-run eighth.

Chuck Stevens had three hits, including one of the Jackrabbits’ five home runs.  Willie Reyes had two hits for the Cougars and Bob Iliff added a home run.

 

 

San Diego Section teams in bold.  Columns 4, 5, and 6 are prep outlets’ ratings of opponents.

DIVISION	TEAM	OPPONENT	CAL-PREPS.COM	MAX PREPS	CAL-HI SPORTS
I-AA	Granite Hills (12-0)	@Mission Viejo (11-3)	65.9/69.7	7/5	6/12
I-A	St. Augustine (10-4)	Ventura St. Bonaventure (11-3)	46.4/51.4	39/31	43/29
III-AA	Del Norte (11-1)	Lake Balboa Birmingham (11-2)	32.2/33.0	99/94	On Bubble/Not ranked
III-A	Mount Miguel (12-1)	@Lakewood Mayfair (11-3)	21.8/27.1	161/131	NR/NR
V-A	La Jolla Country Day (11-3)	@Wilmington Banning (8-6)	15.8/7.8	213/286	NR/NR
VI-A	Sweetwater (7-6)	Santa Monica St. Monica (11-3)	-5.4/-8.9	471/507	NR/NR

This is the curious time of the season.

The San Diego Section rounds of championship games, concluding with Division I, II  III, and IV last week, now centers on the Southern California Regional playoffs.

And many of us are curious about these strangers suddenly looming on the postseason schedule.

How good are San Diego Section teams, which will play representatives from the Los Angeles City and Southern Sections?

Locals are 6-2 in regional 1-AA games since the present format was implemented:

YEAR	TEAM	OPPONENT	CIF SECTION	SCORE
2014	Oceanside	Fresno Edison	Central	37-20
2015	Helix	Mission Viejo	Southern	28-32
2016	Cathedral	Harbor City Narbonne	L.A. City	35-28
2017	Helix	Westlake Village Oaks Christian	Southern	28-13
2018	Cathedral	Harbor City Narbonne	L.A. City	24-21
2019	Helix	Chatsworth Sierra Canyon	Southern	20-38
2021	Cathedral	Orange Lutheran	Southern	71-62
2022	Lincoln	Chatsworth Sierra Canyon	Southern	37-14

The successes of San Diego’s top teams against those Southern Section squads is tempered.

The huge Section’s Open Division champion (Santa Ana Mater Dei, 35-7 winner this season over Bellflower St. John Bosco) always enjoys the  status and plays the Northern California champion each year and will meet San Mateo Serra Dec. 8.

San Diego Section Open Division champions always are slotted in I-AA in the Regional playoff.

DIVISION I-AA

Granite Hills (12-0), @Mission Viejo (11-3)  Friday, Dec. 1, 7 p.m.

South Coast League-dominant Mission Viejo has had its way with San Diego Section teams, posting a 19-4 record since 1974.

San Diego’s infrequent victories are spread out.

Morse prevailed, 3-0, in Balboa Stadium in 1986.  Rancho Buena Vista was a 45-24 winner at home in 1990.  Vista won at home, 26-14, in 2007.

Oceanside, with John Carroll in his last year as coach and headed for a 14-1 season in 2014, scored a 24-7 win over the visiting Diablos, who finished 12-2.

An 11-2 Helix team, on the road in the 2015 Regional, had the Diablos in its grasp, leading, 28-25, with two minutes remaining and in possession of the ball but fumbled; Mission Viejo recovered and pulled out a 32-28 victory en route to a state-record, 16-0 season.

Mission Viejo took field in I-AA playoff title game against Anaheim Servite last week.

COACHES

Chad Johnson, no relation to the legendary Bob Johnson, whom Chad replaced at Mission Viejo in 2018, is 51-15. That includes four consecutive forfeits at the start of his first season.

Kellan Cobbs, a 2005 Granite Hills graduate, played on the 1-9 team in 2004 and took a 1-9 punch in the nose in his first season as coach in 2012.

Cobbs, who also wrestled and played Lacrosse in high school, rallied the program to a 7-6 finish in 2013, is 93-47 overall, and riding a 21-game winning streak.

The Eagles won the state DII-A title in a 13-2 campaign in 2022 and their last loss was in Week 6 of that season, 15-12, to Madison.

TO GET THERE

Mission Viejo (69.8 Cal-Preps.com rating) outscored three Southern Section playoff opponents, 109-51.

The Diablos defeated 59.6 Westlake Village Oaks Christian, 39-14; Murietta Valley (58.9), 31-21, and Anaheim Servite (62.1), 34-15.

Mission Viejo won its 2023 opening game, 38-13, at the San Diego Section’s El Camino.

Granite Hills (65.9) defeated Carlsbad (56.9), 46-45, in overtime and Lincoln (64.0), 27-26.

EAGLES TO WATCH

Zach Benitez, a Max Preps-listed 6-feet, 2-inch, 200-pound freshman quarterback, has passed for 2,135 yards and 22 touchdowns and has a 66 per cent completion average.

Max Turner has rushed for 1,095 yards and 16 touchdowns, with two more receiving, and has a 91.3 game rushing average.

Pablo Jackson has scored 11 touchdowns and placekicker Robert Petrich made 11 field goals.  Petrich has a career 71 per cent average (25×35) with a long of 47 yards and has converted 125×132 PAT, 94.6 per cent.

DANGEROUS DIABLOS

Quarterbacks Luke Fahey and Draiden Trudeau have combined to throw for 38 touchdown passes. Three rushers averaging 6.0 yards a carry, led by Hinesward Lilomaiava’s 75.4-yard average, have combined for 2,312 yards and 27 touchdowns.

Vance Spafford has caught 74 passes for 20 touchdowns.

Individual statistics for both teams from Max Preps.

This is the year of living dangerously for Granite Hills.

The Eagles beat Lincoln, 27-26, for the San Diego Section Open Division championship Saturday night in Snapdragon Stadium in the third of a series of cliffhangers and barnburners in the last four weeks.

The east El Cajon club, 93-47 under coach Kellan Cobbs since 2013, defending state Division II-A, champion, and now winner of 21 games in a row, edged Helix, 44-43, in double overtime a month ago, and knocked out Carlsbad, 46-45, in overtime in the Open semifinals.

Those were just warmups.

Victory Saturday night at came after the Hornets had leads of 13-0 and 26-13.

Granite Hills (12-0) fought back and nudged ahead with 5:32 left in the fourth quarter on a three-yard pass from freshman quarterback Zach Benitez to Josh Zander.

The successful point after kick by Robert Petrich, grandson of Bob, a 1960s San Diego Chargers linebacker, proved the difference in the final score.

NOT OUT OF WOODS

The Eagles still faced a scary finish.

After a change of possession, Lincoln (11-1) took over on its 40-yard line with 1:30 remaining.

Akili Smith ran 6 yards and completed two passes to C.J. Williams to put the ball on the Eagles’ four-yard line with 58 seconds remaining.

Lincoln had second down on the one-yard line after the teams traded penalties and the Hornets’ Aden Jackson gained six yards to the one. Two thrusts into the middle of Granite’s defense netted nothing and a fourth-down snap from center eluded quarterback Smith.

Ball game.

Cue the celebration.

DIVISION VI

“And we’re going to be better next year,” Foothills Christian coach Joe Mackey exclaimed to Rick Hoff of The San Diego Union-Tribune after the 9-2 Knights had defeated 8-3 St. Joseph, 31-26, for their fourth eight-man championship since 2016.

Mackey, 55-17 since taking over the program in 2016, was referring to several underclassmen, notably running back Kameron Brown, who rushed for 175 yards in 32 carries and scored twice on a 15-yard run and 40-yard pass from quarterback Ben Hernandez, who also returns in 2024.

DV-AA

Holtville knows football. The Vikings (9-3) won their sixth San Diego Section championship since 1984, 27-21, over Army-Navy (8-4).

Sophomore quarterback Armando Cuevas threw two fourth-quarter touchdown passes and Enrique Armas ran for a clinching touchdown with 3:35 remaining.

Holtville defeated Army-Navy, 37-27, for the Class A title in 1990 and had not appeared in the championship since a 42-6 win over Crawford for the D-V title in 2013.

D-V

Sweetwater (7-6) exploded for 25 consecutive points in the second half and defeated 9-4 Calexico Vincent Memorial, 46-37.

The Red Devils, overcoming an 0-4 start, won their first championship since they started 1-4 but went on to top Monte Vista, 7-0, for the D-IV title in 2013.

Sweetwater, in the eras of coaches Dave Lay and Gene Alim, won championships in 1972, ’83, and ’84. Brian Hay coached the 2013 championship run.

Championships in Division I, II, III, IV will be decided this week at Southwestern College.

The San Diego Section winners were not a surprise, just the scores. Matches to decide ultimate bragging rights are expected to be nail biters when teams that average 25-30 points per game collide. You know the old adage about “assume”.

DIVISION I

Bonita Vista shut out erstwhile undefeated Torrey Pines, 19-0. Lady Barons quarterback Malyna Castillo, who passed for more than 3,300 yards in the regular season, tossed a touchdown pass to Quintera Lucia, then added two more. The defense stifled the Lady Falcons, with 2 interceptions by Mahliya Wilson, who also caught a touchdown pass.

MaxPreps national rankings has five California teams in the top 10, and 10 in the top 20; Bonita Vista (19-1) is seventh, and Torrey Pines (16-1) 14th. Each expects to be a contender next season.

DIVISION II

Classical Academy scored early and often, with frosh quarterback Ella Moore passing for five touchdowns to four different receivers, including two to Jiselle Nuñes, in a 50-0 rout of Cathedral Catholic.

The Lady Caimans’ defense added a touchdown pass off an interception as well.

With a freshman signal caller and young receivers, the Lady Caimans (17-2) figure to be an annual contender. They’re ranked 20th in the state and 38th nationally.

Cathedral finished the season with a 13-3 record.

THE FUTURE

CIF San Diego section bosses said the number of teams participating in 2024 is “expected to double”  from 46 to perhaps more than 90. In comparison, 99 boys football teams are active in 2023, from 34 when the section was formed in 1960.

A game officials crunch could be a problem, as flag teams may play up to 20 games, often two per week. Boys games are limited to 10 per regular season.

Future of the youth flag sport is bright and has been promoted for all ages by the National Football League. The International Olympic Committee added men’s and women’s flag football to the 2028 games.

—Henrik Jonson, Webmaster