It didn’t have much influence on John Maffei’s Union-Tribune Top 10 poll through Week 7, but the Carlsbad-Torrey Pines game, a last-second, 34-33 win for coach Thadd MacNeal’s unbeaten Lancers, rates as the game of the year and easily the best since the pandemic.

Sophomore quarterback Julian Sayin drove the Lancers 90 yards in the waning moments and connected with Josh Davis on a 12-yard pass for a game-winning, come-from-behind touchdown with 0.9 seconds remaining in the game.

Sayin completed 18 of 28 passes for 283 yards and three touchdowns in the victory.

Carlsbad remained at the top of the poll but Torrey Pines dropped from fifth to sixth.  The Falcons, it says here, should have risen in the poll.

OLD RIVALRY

One of the oldest will be observed tonight when San Diego visits Coronado. San Diego leads, 16-9, in a series that began in 1915.  Infrequent is the best way to describe their meetings.

The teams didn’t play from 1919-43 and from 1945-89.  Coronado has led with nine victories to eight since then, with other lapses.

Each is now aligned in the City League after being together in the Central League.

RANK	TEAM				RECORD	POINTS	PREVIOUS
1.		Carlsbad		6-0 (13)		227	1
2.		Cathedral	5-2 (11)			224	2
3.		Lincoln		5-1		193	3
4.		Mater Dei		5-0		158	4
5.		Mission Hills		4-2		141	6
6.		Torrey Pines		3-2		130	5
7		Scripps Ranch		5-0		87	7
8.		Mt. Carmel		6-0		64	9
9.		Helix		3-2		37	10
10.		Santa Fe Christian		6-0		21	NR

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES
Madison (4-2, 10 points), Poway (4-2, 10), Eastlake (4-2, 6), El Camino (3-3, 6), El Capitan (5-1, 2), Ramona (4-2, 10).  

VOTING PANEL
Twenty-four sportswriters and sportscasters throughout San Diego County.

• John Maffei, San Diego Union-Tribune.
• Steve Brand, Thomas Gutierrez, Rick Hoff, Jim Lindgren, Terry Monahan, Eric Williams, Thomas Gutierrez, freelance contributors.
• John Carroll, Nick Pollino, KUSI Ch. 51.
• John Kentera, Braden Suprenant, 97.3-FM The Fan).
• Adam Paul, ECPreps.com.
• Bodie DeSilva, scorebooklive.com.
• Rick Smith, Partletonsports.com.
• Christian Pedersen, San Diego Sports Association.
• Troy Hirsch, Fox 5 San Diego.
• Raymond Brown, sdfootball.net.
• Joe Heinz, Todd Cassen, Ron Marquez, Mike Dolan, CIF San Diego Section.
• Ramon Scott, Eastcountysports.com.
• Steve (Biff) Dolan, Mountain Country, 107.9-FM.

How others see San Diego’s Top 10:
*The second entry in each rating is from the previous week.

Team	Record	Cal-Hi Sports	MaxPreps	CalPreps
Cathedral	4-5	20/20*	18/14	53.7/54
Carlsbad	6-0	13-13	20/18	51.7/48.8
Mission Hills	4-2	25/25	32/33	43.8/43.5
Lincoln	5-1	15/15	27/25	47.7/47.4
Mater Dei	5-0	41/47	35/32	42.9/33.5
Helix	3-2	NR/NR	70/65	33.1/31.1
Torrey Pines	3-2	35/40	42	40.9/39.2
Scripps Ranch	5-0	NR/NR	62/70	35.6/32.9
Mt. Carmel	6-0	NR-NR	119/121	23.3/22
Santa Fe Christian	6-0	NR-NR	171	18.2

MaxPreps.com and CalPreps.com computer ratings are usually the same and based on strength of schedules and other factors.

Cal-HiSports.com ratings are created by publisher Mark Tennis, who coordinates with several state-wide sources.

And still others, such as the CIF San Diego Section Open Division power ratings, based on several factors including strength of schedule, with points noted:

1–Carlsbad, 47.17.
2–Cathedral, 46.29.
3–Mission Hills, 46.0.
4–Torrey Pines, 45.0.
5–Lincoln, 44.50.
6–Helix, 44.0.
7–Madison, 44.33.
8–Granite Hills, 44.00.
9–Eastlake, 43.67.
10–Grossmont, 42.50.

The lower classifications held sway.

Grossmont was the Southern Section team champion in Class B and most of the area’s future Class A champions were underclassmen, at least a year or two away.

Hoover was enjoying a period of dominance in CPL dual meets, routing San Diego, 64 1/3-39 2/3.  Grossmont also defeated the Cavers, 79 5/6-24 1/6.

Birt Slater took over for the retired Bill Patten as coach at San Diego High, destined to excel in this role and as a future head football coach at Kearny.

San Diego lost the potential for a big finish in the championship meets when Bill Walters, outstanding in the short races as a sophomore in 1954, transferred to Sweetwater and was the County leader with a :09.9 100-yard dash.

3/3/55

Two future stars, sophomore sprinters Bobby Staten and Roscoe Cook of San Diego, ran 1-2 in the 100-yard dash, but Hoover ran, jumped, and tossed its way to first place in the annual City Prep Relays in Balboa Stadium.

The Cardinals were first in the combined, three-man broad jump, shot put, and mile relay, showing strength on the track and in the field events.

Hoover scored 65 points to San Diego’s 45, and Kearny’s 44. La Jolla followed with 17. Lincoln and Point Loma had 10 each and Mission Bay 8.

Staten beat Cook in a :10.2 100 and teammate Leonard Kary topped La Jolla’s Junior Jackson in a :15.2 120-yard high hurdles race.

Hoover jumpers Denny Hill, Choc Sportsman, Jr., and Rod McMillan combined to reach a record 62-3 ¼ in the broad jump. Hill had the best jump, 21-3 ¼.

3/5/55

SOUTH BAY RELAYS

The first annual at Chula Vista High was similar to the established City Prep League Relays. Totals were combined for three-man events.

Bill Walters, who showed promise at San Diego High as a sophomore, was outstanding for Sweetwater, his new school.

Walters won the individual 100-yard dash in :10 and anchored Sweetwater to wins in the 440 and 880 relays.

Grossmont won the team title with 68 points, followed by Chula Vista, 38, Sweetwater, 36, Helix, 17, and Mar Vista, 5.

Grossmont’s Rene Rogers won the individual mile in 4:48.8 and teammate Jerry Kocourek the 180-yard low hurdles in :20.8.

3/9/55

Hoover’s Bob Monzingo beat Mission Bay’s Jim Cerveny in a 4:47.6 mile in a race of future stars.

Hoover had most of the stars, winning 92 1/3-11 2/3.

La Jolla was losing a huge link to talent in Mission Beach and Pacific Beach as Mission Bay would fill out a senior class in the next school year.

But not yet. The Vikings socked Point Loma, 71 ½-32 ½, behind a couple diverse performers.

Mike McCartney won the 440 in :55, the 180 low hurdles in :20.8, and was third in the broad jump. Junior Jackson won the 120 high hurdles in :15.5 and the shot put at 46 feet, 1 inch.

McCartney and Jackson ran the last two legs of the relay, which Vikings won in 1:35.3.

3/10/55

Bernard Harrod won the 220 in :22.3, 440 in :51, and anchored the winning relay (1:33.8) but San Diego claimed the dual meet, 54 ½-49 ½.

3/12/55

Bill Walters of Sweetwater split races with Compton Centennial’s Ken Dennis, winning the 220 in :21.4 after Dennis took the 100 in :09.9 in the 34^th Southern Counties’ Invitational at Huntington Beach High.

Rene Rogers of Grossmont won one of the mile races in 4:31.

San Diego’s Leonard Kary was second in high and low hurdles races that were won in :15 and :19.7.

Hoover’s John Haley was second in an unofficial :21.6 to the 220-winning time of :21.5 by Joe Graham of Pomona.

North Phoenix pole vaulter Lee Bullard cleared 13-5 1/8, breaking the record of 13-3 by San Diego’s Bill Miller in 1929.

Sophomore Jim Brewer, Bullard’s teammate, cleared 13-0 and two years later would become the first prep to top 15 feet.

Walters joined San Diego’s Jimmy Willson (1929), Morris (Mushy) Pollock (1933), and Darnes Johnson (1950) in a group that had traversed the furlong in :21.4.

San Diego’s Glenn Willis (1942) and Grossmont’s Bert Kohnhurst (1952) ran :21.5.

Another San Diego runner, Harold Miller, clocked a wind-aided :21.2 in 1947.

3/17/55

Hoover stood only 5-16-1 since 1932, when the dual meet series started, after its 64 1/3-39 2/3 win over San Diego, but the victory was the Cardinals’ second in the last three seasons.

Leonard Kary of San Diego ran :14.8, the fastest 120-yard high hurdles of the season.  Kary also won the 180-yard lows in :20.2.

Hoover’s John Haley doubled in the sprints (:10.2, :22.7) and anchored the fastest 880-yard relay of the season, 1:31.7.

3/18/55

Lincoln outscored Point Loma, 57 ½-45 ½, in its CPL opener and celebrated its first-ever dual meet win after a 0-5 debut in 1954

Charlie Cox doubled in :10.3 and :23.8 in the 100 and 220 for the Hornets.

–John DeMarco flirted with the all-time CPL record, 12-foot, 5 1/16 inches by Helix Jim Terry in 1952.

The Kearny pole vaulter went over 12-3 1/8 in a 62 ½-42 ½ loss to La Jolla.

3/26/55

La Jolla won 5 of 12 events but was buried under an avalanche of Hoover depth, 71-33, in a meeting between unbeaten squads.

Bob Monzingo set a Hoover record of 4:34.2 in the mile and sophomore Dick Verdon set a shot put record of 54-4 ½, beating his older teammates, Tony Procopio and John Adams.

–Grossmont swarmed Mar Vista, winning the varsity dual, 97-7, Class B, 89-8, and Class C, 72-5.

3/30/55

Leonard Kary ran :14.8 in the 120-yard high hurdles and :20.6 in the 180 lows in San Diego’s 78-26 win over St. Augustine.

Alfred Woerner defeated sophomore teammate Roscoe Cook in a :10.1 100, won the 220 (:23.5), and hooked up with Cook as part of a 1:32.6 triumph in the 880 relay.

4/1/55

Grossmont took on Compton Centennial, a second-year school which already had already had won CIF Southern Section championships in track (1954) and football (1954) and would win this season in track.

The Apaches of coach Bill Gill won eight events and the dual meet at Grossmont, 59 ½-45 ½.

The Foothillers’ Rene Rogers logged a 4:30.9 mile, tops in the area this year.

–Darrel Sager’s 1:59.8 in the 880 and George McElvain’s :51.8 in the 440 set school records and McElvain was part of a foursome that included Eddie Vega, Waco Thrower, and Bill Walters that set a standard of 1:31.5 in the relay

–Lincoln was improving.  The second-year school was an 88 1/3-15 2/3 victim of powerful Hoover, a better result  than 1954’s 99-4 Hoover victory.

John Adams, Hoover’s 205-pound football star, equaled a City Prep League best when he clocked :10.2 in the 100. Adams returned to win the 220 in :22.6.

–Gil Bartell’s 2:03.4 880 and Jim Cerveny’s 4:45 mile set Mission Bay records, although La Jolla won the CPL dual, 74-28.

 

4/15/55

Grossmont and Sweetwater headed for a Metropolitan League collision, both undefeated after impressive victories.

The Red Devils defeated Chula Vista, 73-31, as Bill Walters won the 100 in :09.9, the 220 in :22.2, and anchored a 1:32.2 victory in the 880 relay.

Darrel Sager broke the school record in the 880 for the sixth time in the last two seasons, recording a 1:59.4 clocking.

–Hoover clobbered Point Loma, 94 2/3-9 1/3, as John Haley became the first CPL competitor  this season to run the 100 in 10 seconds.

4/22/55

Grossmont stunned Sweetwater, 75 ½-28 ½, in the big Metropolitan League dual, with Jerry Koucerek leading the way.

Koucerek won the 120 high hurdles in :15.4, 180 lows in :20.5, broad jump at 21 feet, 2 inches, and was a member of the school-record 880 relay squad that finished in 1:32.

Rene Rogers set another Grossmont record, winning the mile in 4:26.0 and bettering the all-time County best of 4:26.8 by San Diego’s Al Heredia in the 1939 state meet.

4/26/55

San Dieguito lost the relay as Vista set a school record of 1:36.4, but the Mustangs had enough points before the race and clinched the Avocado League dual-meet championship, 52 2/3-51 2/3.

Mustang Phil Medina won the high hurdles (:16), broad jump (19-7) and 440 (:53.1).

4/27/55

Denny Hill took the County lead with a 22-foot broad jump and Hoover completed an undefeated season with a 79-25 win over Kearny.

4/28/55

Bob Coon set a Chula Vista record of 2:01.3 in the 880-yard run, but the Spartans took an 80-24 licking from undefeated Grossmont in the season’s final dual.

Darrel Sager set another record for Sweetwater, but not in the 880.  So named “The Stork”, Sager strolled the mile in 4:34.3 and the Red Devils defeated Mar Vista, 86 2/3-13 1/3.

4/29/55

Luther Hayes, a sophomore mid-semester transfer from Lincoln, knocked Hoover’s Denny Hill from his two-day lead in the broad jump, reaching  22 feet, 1 inch, in the final dual meet of the season.

Hayes also won the 440 in :54.4 and ran a leg on the winning relay team (1:33.6) as San Diego defeated Point Loma, 72-31.

5/3/55

LEAGUE TRIALS

Sweetwater’s Bill Walters ran :21.5 in the 220 in the Metropolitan League preliminaries at Chula Vista.

Grossmont sent 41 entries in Varsity, Classes B, and C to the finals. Chula Vista actually had more varsity qualifiers, 16 to the Foothillers’ 14.

Jerry Koucerek tied a Grossmont record of :15.2 in the 120-yard high hurdles.

THOSE KEARNY MESA BREEZES

San Diego’s Alfred Woerner ran the 100 in :10 and 220 in :21.6, marks that would have set CPL Class B records but were aided by the usual wind at Kearny.

Hoover led all varsity qualifiers with 17, followed by La Jolla, 11.

San Diego’s Roscoe Cook (:10.1) and Bobby Staten (:22) had faster 100 and 220 times in Class B than that of varsity heat winners.

5/6/55

CPL FINALS, @BALBOA STADIUM

Hoover romped to the team championship with 78 points to 36 for La Jolla, but the action was in Class B.

A team of Roscoe Cook, Dennis Russell, Alfred Woerner, and Bobby Staten covered the 660 relay in 1:07, setting a CPL record and tying the Southern Section meet record.

Hoover’s Bob Monzingo ran the B 1320 in 3:15.6, which tied the CIF meet record but was short of the City Prep League mark of 3:15.1 by Grossmont’s Rene Rogers in 1954.

CIF records could be set only in divisional or championship meets.

The Hoover quartet of Willie Kaufman, Bob Agnew, John Adams, and John Haley covered the 880 relay in 1:30.1, better than the 1:30.6 by San Diego in 1954.

La Jolla’s Cookie Taylor, with an all-time best of 6-4 in the high jump and the 1954 Southern Section Class B champ, did not qualify for the Divisional meet the next week.

T.C. Johnson of Kearny won at 5-9 ¾ and Taylor had more misses than the two jumpers with whom he tied for second.  Three qualified in each event.

AVOCADO FINALS, @ESCONDIDO

San Dieguito, with 45 ¾ points, took the team title in the first-year league.

Charlie Love of Coronado was a triple winner, :15.5 in the 120-yard high hurdles, :52.3 in the 440, and 20-5 ½ in the broad jump.

METROPOLITAN FINALS, @CHULA VISTA 

Grossmont swept all three classifications and qualified 46 entries in next week’s CIF Divisional meet.

Rene Rogers’ 4:24.3 mile smashed the record of 4:35.7, set by the Foothillers’ Jim Giyer in 1953 and bettered Rogers’ 4:26 County record.

Another Grossmont mid-distance runner, John Kershaw, won the 880 in 1:57.9.

Chula Vista’s Bob Coon trailed Rogers with an unofficial time of 4:33.

5/14/55

Hoover (15) and Grossmont (12) led in varsity qualifying on a cold, blustery Divisional day at San Diego State.

La Jolla’s Mike McCartney won a 440 heat in :51.5.  John Kershaw of Grossmont and Bob Gallaher of Hoover won 880 trials in 2:01.3 and 2:01.4, respectively.

Leonard Kary of San Diego (: 15, :20.3) and Junior Jackson of La Jolla (:15.3, :20.4) were winners in heats of the 120-yard high hurdles and 180-yard lows.

Ray Hiscock of St. Augustine led shot putters at 53-8 ½, and Hoover ran 1:30.7 to lead the 880 relay.

5/17/55

Rene Rogers became the Southern California leader with a 4:21.7 mile in the Divisional semifinals at Huntington Beach.

Rogers’ time threatened the CIF meet record of 4:21.2 by Torrance’s Louie Zamperini in 1934.

Grossmont placed 13 athletes in Classes A, B. and C for the championship meet later in the week.

Bill Hammond of Grossmont set a Class B pole vault record at 12 feet, 11 inches, and teammate Jim Walton set a school record of :13.3 in the 120-yard low hurdles.

San Diego’s Roscoe Cook won his 100-yard dash heat in :10.2 and teammate Bobby Staten rook a 220 race in :22.2.  Both ran on the wining, 1:07.8, 660-yard relay squad.

Hoover’s Bob Gallaher qualified at 1:58.8 in the 800 and Bob Monzingo won his 1320 heat in 3:14.6.

Leonard Kary of San Diego set the pace in the Class A hurdles, winning in :14.6 and :19.4.  Hoover’s relay team won in 1:30.2.

5/21/55

Gorgeous, perfect weather at Ontario Chaffey for the CIF championships.

Junior Jackson was fifth in the 120-yard high hurdles in :14.7, one tenth of a second off the school record of :14.6 by Jerry Wood in 1950.

Compton Centennial’s future San Diego Chargers great Paul Lowe won a tight duel with San Diego’s Leonard Kary, tying the meet record of :18.9 in the 180 low hurdles, with Kary nosing out Lowe’s teammate Ken Thompson for second in :19.

Rene Rogers of Grossmont led until tying up in the final 180 yards in the mile.  Newport Beach Newport Harbor’s Tod White came on to win in 4:23.2 and Rogers barely hung on for second in 4:25.9.

Sophomore Luther Hayes, who was running 440s for Lincoln early in the season and before transferring to San Diego, was fifth in the broad jump at 21-9, off his County-leading 22-1.

St. Augustine’s Ray Hiscock was fifth in the shot put at 55-1, a school record.

Riverside Poly won the 880 relay in 1:28.2, with Hoover third in 1:29.0.

FOOTHILLERS EXCELL

Grossmont won the Class B championship with 18 points, ahead of Compton Centennial, 17, and San Diego, 13.

Jim Wade won the shot put at 52-10 ½, with teammate Armstrong third at 50-11 ¼.  Bill Hammond was first in the pole vault at 12-9 and teammate Bill Logan tied for second at 12-6.

Bobby Staten of San Diego won the 220 in :21.8, followed by the Cavers’ Alfred Woerner. Roscoe Cook was third in the 100 and fifth in the broad jump at 21-3 ¼.

Hoover’s Bob Monzingo was second and Mission Bay’s Jim Cerveny third in the 1320, behind the record 3:11.9 of

Newport Beach Newport Harbor’s Don Beatty.

San Dieguito tied for fifth with 9 points in Class C as Funaki tied the 1938 meet record of :13.4 in the 120-yard low hurdles and was third in the broad jump at 20-9 ¼.

5/28/55

STATE FINALS @LOS ANGELES COLISEUM

Area representation could not have been thinner in the 35^th state meet at the Los Angeles Coliseum, scoring only from San Diego hurdler Leonard Kary.

Kary won his heat in the 180 lows in :19.3 in the morning trials and was third in the afternoon final in :19.4, behind Compton Centennial’s Paul Lowe (:19.2) and Los Angeles Jefferson’s Willie White (:19.3).

Grossmont’s Rene Rogers was a non-scoring sixth in the mile and Hoover was eliminated in its heat in the 880-yard relay.

Carlsbad will be at  an interesting juncture as the regular season turns to the second half and the Lancers riding a 10-game winning streak.

At 5-0, duplicating its record in the pandemic 2020 campaign and 5-0 starts in 2013 and 2007, coach Thadd MacNeal’s team will try to become  6-0 for the first time since 2006 when it takes on Avocado League neighbor Torrey Pines Oct. 1.

The Falcons have won 17 of 26 games with the Lancers since 1975, but, although only about 17 miles and 20-25 minutes apart, the rivals were not always in the same league and would go years without playing.

Carlsbad won, 42-0, in 2020 and 42-7 in 2019.

The Lancers are first and have 13 No. 1 votes in the weekly The San Diego Union poll, but Cathedral, depite  thumpings by state powerhouses Corona Centennial and Concord de La Salle, still is getting love from the voters with 11 first-place votes.

Cal-Hi Sports ranks Carslbad 13th this week and Cathedral, despite the two losses, is 20th.

The clubs won’t meet unless they tangle in the Open Division playoffs. Torrey Pines, winner of 3 in a row since an opening, 28-14 loss to Cathedral and Cal-Hi Sports‘ 41st-ranked team this week, hopes to have a voice.

RANK	TEAM/RECORD					POINTS	PREVIOUS
1.		Carlsbad		5-0 (13)		227	1
2.		Cathedral	4-2 (11)			223	2
3.		Lincoln		3-1		191	3
4.		Mater Dei		4-0		165	4
5.		Torrey Pines		3-1		136	5
6.		Mission Hills		3-2		130	6
7		Scripps Ranch		4-0		93	7
8.		Madison		4-1		53	9
9.		Mt. Carmel		5-0		36	NR
10.		Helix		3-2		21	8

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES
El Camino (3-2, 19 points), Santa Fe Christian (5-0, 17),  Eastlake (3-2), Poway (3-2, 2). West Hills (6-0, 2), Oceanside (3-2, 1).

VOTING PANEL
Twenty-four sportswriters and sportscasters throughout San Diego County.

• John Maffei, San Diego Union-Tribune.
• Steve Brand, Thomas Gutierrez, Rick Hoff, Jim Lindgren, Terry Monahan, Eric Williams, Thomas Gutierrez, freelance contributors.
• John Carroll, Nick Pollino, KUSI Ch. 51.
• John Kentera, Braden Suprenant, 97.3-FM The Fan).
• Adam Paul, ECPreps.com.
• Bodie DeSilva, scorebooklive.com.
• Rick Smith, Partletonsports.com.
• Christian Pedersen, San Diego Sports Association.
• Troy Hirsch, Fox 5 San Diego.
• Raymond Brown, sdfootball.net.
• Joe Heinz, Todd Cassen, Ron Marquez, Mike Dolan, CIF San Diego Section.
• Ramon Scott, Eastcountysports.com.
• Steve (Biff) Dolan, Mountain Country, 107.9-FM.

How others see San Diego’s Top 10:
*The second entry in each rating is from the previous week.

Team	Record	Cal-Hi Sports	MaxPreps	CalPreps
Cathedral	4-2	20/20*	14/11	54/61.6
Carlsbad	5-0	13-13	18/21	48.8/47.9
Mission Hills	3-2	25/25	33/31	42.5/40.7
Lincoln	3-1	15/15	25/21	47.4/48.8
Mater Dei	4-0	47/49	32/61	33.5/26.2
Helix	3-2	NR/NR	65/67	31.1/23.6
Torrey Pines	3-1	40/41	39/39	40.5/39.2
Scripps Ranch	4-0	NR/NR	70/70	32.9/29.3
Mt. Carmel	5-0	NR-NR	121	22
Madison	4-1	NR-NR	104/104	25.1/23.2

MaxPreps.com and CalPreps.com computer ratings are usually the same and based on strength of schedules and other factors.

Cal-HiSports.com ratings are created by publisher Mark Tennis, who coordinates with several state-wide sources.

By three points, Carlsbad retained its lead over Cathedral, 226 points to 223 and will sit out this week with a bye.

John Maffei’s weekly The San Diego Union-Tribune Top 10:
First place votes in parenthesis.  Points on scale of 10 points to 1 point.

RANK	TEAM/RECORD					POINTS	PREVIOUS
1.		Carlsbad		5-0 (13)		226	2
2.		Cathedral	3-2 (11)			223	1
3.		Lincoln		3-1		191	3
4.		Mater Dei		3-0		167	4
5.		Torrey Pines		3-1		133	6
6.		Mission Hills		3-2		129	5
7		Scripps Ranch		4-0		82	7
8.		Helix		3-1		55	10
9.		Madison		3-1		52	8
10.		Eastlake		3-1		33	9

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES
Mt. Carmel (4-0, 12 pts), Santa Fe Christian (5-0, 11),  El Camino (2-2, 6), Poway (3-2, 4).

VOTING PANEL
Twenty-four sportswriters and sportscasters throughout San Diego County.

• John Maffei, San Diego Union-Tribune.
• Steve Brand, Thomas Gutierrez, Rick Hoff, Jim Lindgren, Terry Monahan, Eric Williams, Thomas Gutierrez, freelance contributors.
• John Carroll, Nick Pollino, KUSI Ch. 51.
• John Kentera, Braden Suprenant, 97.3-FM The Fan).
• Adam Paul, ECPreps.com.
• Bodie DeSilva, scorebooklive.com.
• Rick Smith, Partletonsports.com.
• Christian Pedersen, San Diego Sports Association.
• Troy Hirsch, Fox 5 San Diego.
• Raymond Brown, sdfootball.net.
• Joe Heinz, Todd Cassen, Ron Marquez, Mike Dolan, CIF San Diego Section.
• Ramon Scott, Eastcountysports.com.
• Steve (Biff) Dolan, Mountain Country, 107.9-FM.

How others see San Diego’s Top 10:
*The second entry in each rating is from the previous week.

Team	Record	Cal-Hi Sports	MaxPreps	CalPreps
Cathedral	3-2	20-10*	11/8	54/61.6
Carlsbad	5-0	13-13	18/21	48.8/47.9
Mission Hills	3-2	25/25	31/35	42.5/40.7
Lincoln	3-1	15/15	21/14	47.4/48.8
Mater Dei	3-0	49/Bubble	61/74	33.5/26.2
Helix	3-1	NR/NR	67/76	31.1/23.6
Torrey Pines	3-1	41/44	40/38	39.2/35.4
Scripps Ranch	4-0	NR/Bubble	72/70	29.3/18.6
Eastlake	3-1	NR-NR	76/86	28.2/22.9
Madison	3-1	NR-NR	104/100	23.2/20

MaxPreps.com and CalPreps.com computer ratings are usually the same and based on strength of schedules and other factors.

Cal-HiSports.com ratings are created by publisher Mark Tennis, who coordinates with several state-wide sources.

San Diego High, for decades the No. 1 team in Southern California baseball, was undefeated and favored to win an 11^th CIF championship.

Until….

The Hillers, as they were most often called (besides Cavemen, Cavers, and Hilltoppers) during the era, lost a quarterfinals playoff to a team it had beaten, handily, twice before.

This San Diego team had several players who signed professional contracts and two, Floyd Robinson and Deron Johnson, would have long careers in the major leagues.

The loss  (below) ranked as perhaps the most unexpected and disappointing in school history.

NO STOPPING CHULA VISTA

Coach Bob Geyer’s Chula Vista Spartans, closing with 15 consecutive victories won a CIF Southern Group (small schools) trifecta.  The Spartans also had claimed titles in football and basketball.

So strong was Chula Vista that it would be placed in the large school (Central Group) playoffs at the beginning of the 1955-56 school calendar.

3/1/54

San Diego High announced a 22-game schedule that included a visit by Orange County power Fullerton and visits to Los Angeles Loyola and Lynwood.

3/3/54

Tony Asaro’s two-run home run and Paul Gaughan’s five-hit pitching was enough for San Diego to win its opener, 2-1, at Chula Vista.

Lennie Arevalo drove in three runs and Percy Campbell homered as new City Prep League member Lincoln, with no senior class, improved to 2-0 with a 7-3 victory over Mar Vista.

Dave Jordan hit two home runs and drove in six and pitched La Jolla to a 9-5 win against San Dieguito.

3/5/54

Edward (Duke) Hottell of Kearny blanked Chula Vista on two hits, 2-0, and home runs by Louie Serrano and Frank Rogers paced Point Loma to a 7-3 win over Mar Vista.

3/6/54

Sophomore Jim Gilchrist hit an inside-the-park home run on San Diego’s diamond and Lee Babbitt scattered eight hits as the Hillers defeated Fullerton, 7-2.

Freddy Tooze and Johnny Bates combined for a no-hit pitching performance and Helix bats and six Brown Military errors led to a 17-0 victory.

3/9/54

Kearny and Escondido and Hoover and St. Augustine couldn’t come to a decision.

The teams headed home after each game was called because of darkness.

Hoover and St. Augustine went 11 innings to an 0-0 standoff, with the Cardinals’ Ron Wilkins and Joel Mogy holding the Saints to one hit.

Kearny and Escondido were at a 2-2 deadlock after eight innings.

3/10/54

Floyd Robinson had two hits and three runs batted in and Horace Tucker and Deron Johnson each had two hits, backing Lee Babbitt in San Diego’s 9-3 win against Chula Vista.

3/12/54

City Prep League teams were 4-0 against outside opponents until independent St. Augustine defeated La Jolla, 5-3.

The Vikings’ Jack Cravens had struck out 12 and allowed the Saints no hits for the first six innings.

San Diego sophomore Deron Johnson struck out 10 and gave up five hits as the Hillers stopped Metropolitan League toughie Sweetwater, 4-1.

3/16/54

Evening Tribune writer Jerry Brucker called it one of the best played games of the (very young) year “in spite of the wind, dust, and cold” on the “bitter-cold Sweetwater diamond.”

The Red Devils beat City Prep League power Hoover, 2-1, on home runs by Jim Redman and Alonzo Boles, and defensive plays that three times cut down Hoover runners at the plate.

Hoover’s Billy Capps was the hitting star with a double and two triples, but was thrown out at home in the first and eighth innings.

Hoover scored in the ninth when Bob Youngs singled with two outs and scored on Gene Leek’s long hit to left, but Leek also was out trying for an inside-the-park home run.

3/17/54

La Jolla and Sweetwater went nine damp innings to a 4-4 tie in National City, but 5 miles North at Lincoln the Hornets and visiting Chula Vista canceled because of wet grounds.

Rain washed out a San Diego trip to Los Angeles Loyola.  Escondido’s visit to Point Loma also was off.

3/27/54

Hoover’s sojourn to El Camino Junior College in Inglewood was rewarded with a 12-6 win over Manhattan Beach Mira Costa as Bob Youngs (four for five) and Jerry Smith (three for four) set the pace.

3/30/54

March came in like a lion but was not going out like a lamb.

The fields at Point Loma and Grossmont, where Kearny and Hoover would open the CPL season, were still wet from a drenching two nights earlier.

Two games, La Jolla’s defending champion at San Diego, and Helix at Lincoln, were worth braving the weather.

Floyd Robinson’s seventh-inning home run was the difference in a pitching duel between the Hillers’ Lee Babbitt and the Vikings’ Dave Jordan.

Babbitt allowed four hits and struck out 10 in the 4-3 victory.

Lincoln’s Vince Kilpela and Helix’ Freddie Tooze each struck out 15, but Lincoln won, 3-2, as Joe Merino scored on David Washington’s eighth-inning triple.

Kenny Lee restricted Sweetwater to three hits and Chula Vista (2-0) beat their Metropolitan League arch rival, (1-1), 6-1.

4/2/54

Trailing, 4-1, after six innings, San Diego scored 13 runs in the final three innings at Grossmont to win, 14-5.

Joe Barrington of La Jolla limited Helix to one hit and the Vikings clinched an 8-3 victory with a six-run fifth.

Kearny’s Edward (Duke) Hottell shut down first-year Lincoln, 5-0.

4/8/54

“Sophomore Bob Imlay, a pink-cheeked  right hander who specializes in several varieties of curves, a changeup, and expert control…” was part of the opening sentence in the Point Loma-Kearny writeup by Jerry Brucker of the Evening Tribune.

Brucker was describing Imlay’s two-hit pitching and the Pointers’ 4-1 victory. The Komets’ Bud Clark allowed only one hit but was victimized by walks and outfield errors.

Gene Leek homered and Tommy Rinks hit a pair of doubles as Hoover bombed Grossmont, 15-2. Helix routed Lincoln, 17-3.

Bob Franklin hit two home runs as Chula Vista (7-0) beat San Dieguito, 14-6.  Sweetwater (5-2) beat Oceanside, 13-6, and Mar Vista topped Vista, 13-6.

4/12/54

The fourth annual Lions Club tournament opened for approximately 425 players and 32 games in three days at San Diego High, Navy Field diamonds, and an Unlimited Division championship game at Lane Field, home of the Pacific Coast League San Diego Padres.

Yuma, Santa Monica, Manhattan Beach Mira Costa, Fullerton, Inglewood, Banning, Brawley, and Thermal Coachella provided out-of-area flavor.

San Diego (Unlimited Division) and Mar Vista (Limited) were defending champions.

All games were scheduled for seven innings, short of the usual regular-season game.

4/12/54

Deron Johnson, who held Sweetwater to three hits, drove in Floyd Robinson with the winning run in the sixth inning of the 2-1 decision after Robinson had tripled.

Thermal Coachella and Oceanside set a record in the Limited Division as the Desert squad outpointed the Pirates, 23-14, in a game of 24 base hits and 12 errors.

Helix’ Ron Svalstad, Oceanside’s Dick James, and Fullerton’s Jerry Fishel hit first-day home runs.

4/13/54

Mar Vista claimed its second straight Limited Division crown, defeating Coachella, 11-8, after eliminating Fallbrook, 2-1.

San Diego gained the Unlimited final by blanking Yuma, 8-0, and Lincoln, 10-0, but the Hillers went to bed not knowing if their championship opponent would be Fullerton or Chula Vista, which were deadlocked at 4 when the game was called because of darkness.

Kearny’s Duke Hottell pitched the first no-hitter in tournament history, 7-0.

4/13/54

Fullerton outlasted Chula Vista, 5-4, in 11 innings to qualify for the championship against San Diego.

The first game of the Lane Field doubleheader (the Padres and Portland Beavers also were on the card) was called after six innings with the Hillers ahead, 13-2.

Floyd Robinson was named tournament most-valuable player after hitting two triples to the farthest reaches of the park and knocked in three runs.

Lee Babbitt allowed four hits and was the championship-game winner for the second year in a row.

4/23/54

Coach Bob Geyer’s Chula Vista Spartans stayed unbeaten in the Metropolitan League by scoring single runs in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings and winning, 5-4, at Escondido.

Kearny (4-1) defeated defending CPL champion La Jolla, 4-3, behind two-base hits by Tommy Gonzalez and Bud Clark in the ninth inning after the Vikings (4-2) tied the game with three runs in the eighth.

4/27/54

Deron Johnson pitched San Diego to an 18-3 win over Helix, moving the Hillers to 7-0 in the CPL and 17-0 overall.

4/28/54

Kearny (6-1) kept pace with San Diego as undefeated Duke Hottell struggled but held on for a 7-5 victory in a rain-makeup game against Point Loma.

5/1/54

San Diego’s Deron Johnson relieved Lee Babbitt in the first inning and checked La Jolla on two hits as the Hillers ram their record to 18-0 with an 18-3 victory.

Jim Gilchrist and Joe Dini each had four runs batted in for the Cavers.

5/8/54

San Diego’s 20^th consecutive win was an 18-5 laugher over Point Loma.

Sophomore pitcher Deron Johnson went the distance. Jim Gilchrist and Scott Armitage each had three hits, and Richie Johnson tripled and homered.

Vince Kilpela out pitched La Jolla’s Dave Jordan and Lincoln earned a third win against eight league losses, 2-1.

5/12/54

San Diego (11-0) clinched a CPL title tie and won its 21st in a row after scoring six runs in the first inning and hanging on for a 6-4 triumph over Kearny (8-3).

The Hillers scored on two hits, five walks and three Kearny errors.

San Diego pitcher Lee Babbitt ran into control problems and walked in two runs in the third, giving way to Paul Gaughan, who kept the Komets at bay until Hugh McMillan doubled, Bud Clark singled, and Bud Romero doubled for two runs in the seventh.

Sophomore Deron Johnson came on in relief after Gaughan walked the leadoff batter in the eighth inning and checked the Komets.

Point Loma was outhit, 12-4, by Helix but won, 7-6.

5/14/54

San Diego (12-0) clinched the CPL championship and won its 22^nd game in a row, 13-7, after Hoover (6-6) took a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning.

Richie Johnson’s two-run homer in the first inning ignited the Hillers, who scored the next 10 runs.

A bunt safety by Helix’ Ron Hamilton was all Bud Clark allowed as Kearny (9-3) won, 3-0.

5/18/54

Fifteen-year-old Deron Johnson gave up three hits, one a Lenny Arevalo fourth-inning home run over the short right field fence at Lincoln, and San Diego moved to 13-0 in the CPL and 23-0 overall, 7-1.

Defending CPL champion La Jolla (6-7) lost its fourth in a row as Kearny’s Duke Hottell, with a 7-0 league record, pitched the 7-2 win.

Chula Vista (10-0) clinched a tie for the Metropolitan League championship with two games remaining by stunning Vista with a nine-run first inning in an 11-0 win on the Panthers’ diamond.

Escondido (8-2) stayed alive with a 3-2 win over Sweetwater.

There were no field goals or touchdowns but football came to mind when Mar Vista beat San Dieguito, 20-15.

The Mariners, who struck 20 base hits that helped ease the burden of nine errors, led, 19-3, after six innings.

5/20/54

San Diego was roaring into the playoffs with a 24^th consecutive win, secured in a 22-2 rout of visiting Helix.

Floyd Robinson hit two home runs, tripled, and drove in seven, completing the 14-game league season with a .508 batting average, six home runs and 27 runs batted in.

Jim Gilchrist backed up Robinson with four hits and Lee Babbitt pitched a three-hit, nine-inning complete game.

5/21/54

Hoover played one game but picked up two victories.  An earlier loss to Point Loma was reversed as Pointers officials were found guilty of the Dreaded Administrative Glitch.  A Point Loma player was found ineligible and a Pointers victory was forfeited to the Cardinals.

Hoover defeated La Jolla, 7-3, on the City Prep League’s final regular-season day to finish 9-5 behind San Diego’s 14-0 and Kearny’s 11-3. Billy Capps hit a three-run home run and drove in four for Hoover.

Kearny’s Duke Hottell, who relieved Bud Clark in the fifth inning, received credit for an 11-4 win over Grossmont and a league-leading 8-0 record.

5/25/54

Chula Vista, 12-0 and Metropolitan League champion, defeated visiting San Bernardino Pacific, 8-3, in its opening round game of the Southern Section small schools (Southern Group) playoffs.

The Spartans, outhit 7-5, committed one error to the Pirates’ six and all of Chula Vista’s runs were unearned.

5/28/54

San Diego, rested after having received a first-round bye, faced Fullerton, a team the Hillers had beaten, 7-2, and 13-2 during the season.

Fullerton was more formidable than the two losses would have indicated.  It reached the quarterfinals with a 14-inning, 3-2 win over 23-2 Ontario Chaffey.

San Diego had a powerful lineup led by Floyd Robinson’s 24-game, .456 average and eight home runs.  Others included Horace Tucker (.404), Scott Armitage (.393), Deron Johnson (.373), Jim Gilchrist (.367), and Tony Asaro (.302).

The game had a 2 p.m. first pitch at Lane Field, where the Cavers had defeated Fullerton for the Lions Tournament title, and the Hillers started fast, taking a 3-0 lead after two innings.

But Fullerton hung around and trailed only 3-2 after the top of the seventh.

San Diego scored what appeared to be an insurance run on Robinson’s single and Deron Johnson’s triple to right centerfield in the seventh.

Fullerton scored two runs to forge a 4-4 tie in the eighth inning, driving San Diego starter Lee Babbitt to cover.  Deron Johnson came in from right field and maintained through the 10^th inning.

Johnson was the losing pitcher after the Indians scored on a single that brought one run home from second base and another on squeeze bunt in the 11th in a devastating, 6-4 loss for the Cavers.

SPARTANS EXACT REVENGE

Chula Vista exacted a measure of revenge in its semifinal, 20-2 victory over Laguna Beach.  The Artists had eliminated the Spartans, 19-0, in the 1952 football playoffs.

Coach Bob Geyer’s team was disappointed only in that they wanted to beat the visitors by 19 runs.

Leadoff man and centerfielder Bob Neeley collected four hits in five at-bats, hit two home runs and a triple, and drove in six.

Catcher Vern Sanna was 4 for 6, doubled, tripled, and hit his second home run of the postseason.  Bob Lusky also homered.

Laguna Beach was the “home” team because it could not find a suitable site to play the game in its area.

6/4/64

Edson Fielder was 2 for 3 and hit a home run, but the El Centro Central pitcher could not duplicate his feat of 1953, when he pitched his team to the championship over Chula Vista.

The Spartans, backed by busloads and carloads of supporters, won the rematch in the Imperial Valley city, 16-6.

Bob Neeley, who finished the season and Chula Vista’s 15^th straight win, with 10 hits in his last 11 at bats (6 for 6 with a double and triple), and Dave Erwin were the only players who also were on the winning football and basketball clubs.

Chula Vista’s Kenny Lee struck out 17 Central Spartans and scattered six hits over nine innings.

Cathedral coach Sean Doyle, whose team fosters a we’ll-play-anyone-anytime-anywhere mantra, gets another test this week against perhaps the most honored team in Califoria prep history.

The Dons, recovering fast from their disaster in Week  2 at Corona Centennial, blitzed Helix, 52-0, last week and head North to play Concord de La Salle, which has a 4-0 record against San Diego Section teams and won more than 150 games in a row in the 1990’s-early 2000’s.

De La Salle had home-and-home contests against Rancho Buena Vista in 1995 and ’96 and La Costa Canyon in 2002 and ’03.

The Spartans defeated Craig Bell’s RBV Longhorns, 35-16, there in 1995 and 36-19 in 1996 here.

They defeated Darrin Brown’s La Costa Canyon Mavericks, 28-7 here in ’02 and 56-27 there in ’03.

De La Salle had a 318-game winning streak against Northern California squads broken last week when upset by Mountain View St. Francis, 31-28. It has victories of 52-16 over Stockton St. Mary’s and 68-6 over Elk Grove Monterey Trail.

Cathedral is ranked 10th in Calfornia by Cal-Hi Sports.  De La Salle is 11th.

LOW POINT FOR HIGHLANDERS

The 52-point loss to Cathedral was the most decisive in 68 years and 753 games for Helix, which was beaten by Hoover, 50-0, in 1953, the Highlanders’  third season.  The points equaled a 52-6 loss at Oxnard in the flu-epidemic 1957 season.

THE RANKINGS

John Maffei’s weekly The San Diego Union-Tribune Top 10:
First place votes in parenthesis.  Points on scale of 10 points to 1 point.

RANK	TEAM/RECORD					POINTS	PREVIOUS
1.		Cathedral		3-1 (11)		227	2
2.		Carlsbad	4-0 (14)			226	1
3.		Lincoln		2-1		191	3
4.		Mater Dei		2-0		177	4
5.		Mission Hills		3-1		155	5
6.		Torrey Pines		2-1		121	7
7		ScrippscRanch		4-0		91	8
8.		Madison		3-1		53	10
9.		Eastlake		3-1		34	NR
10.		Helix		2-1		20	6

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES

Santa Fe Christian (4-0, 16 points), Mt. Carmel (4-0, 15), El Camino (1-2, 9), Oceanside (2-1, 6),  Poway (2-2, 2),  DEl Norte (3-1, 1), El Capitan (3-1, 1).

VOTING PANEL

Twenty-four sportswriters and sportscasters throughout San Diego County.

• John Maffei, San Diego Union-Tribune.
• Steve Brand, Thomas Gutierrez, Rick Hoff, Jim Lindgren, Terry Monahan, Eric Williams, Thomas Gutierrez, freelance contributors.
• John Carroll, Nick Pollino, KUSI Ch. 51.
• John Kentera, Braden Suprenant, 97.3-FM The Fan).
• Adam Paul, ECPreps.com.
• Bodie DeSilva, scorebooklive.com.
• Rick Smith, Partletonsports.com.
• Christian Pedersen, San Diego Sports Association.
• Troy Hirsch, Fox 5 San Diego.
• Raymond Brown, sdfootball.net.
• Joe Heinz, Todd Cassen, Ron Marquez, Mike Dolan, CIF San Diego Section.
• Ramon Scott, Eastcountysports.com.
• Steve (Biff) Dolan, Mountain Country, 107.9-FM.

How others see San Diego’s Top 10:
*The second entry in each rating is from the previous week.

Team	Record	Cal-Hi Sports	MaxPreps	CalPreps
Cathedral	3-1	10-12*	8/8	61.6/44
Carlsbad	4-0	13-11	21/16	47.9/49
Mission Hills	3-1	25-29	35/27	40.7/45.2
Lincoln	2-1	16-15	13/25	48.8/39.6
Mater Dei	2-0	Bubble-Bubble	74/71	26.2/24.6
Helix	2-1	NR-45	76/83	23.6/21.7
Torrey Pines	3-1	44-Bubble	38	35.4/32.6
Scripps Ranch	4-0	Bubble-Bubble	70/108	18.6/15.0
Eastlake	3-1	NR-NR	86/85	22.9/NR
Madison	3-1	NR-NR	100/98	20.0/NR

MaxPreps.com and CalPreps.com computer ratings are usually the same and based on strength of schedule and other factors.

Cal-HiSports.com ratings are created by publisher Mark Tennis, who coordinates with several state-wide sources.