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519 MATCHES PLAYED, JUST 88 REMAINING During the last 10 days of the regular season, most are focused on their League opponents, as the San Diego Section playoffs are on the horizon. The four brackets of 12 teams each will be revealed Nov. 6, with first games Nov. 12. All League champs are  automatically included. Top rungs ...

They were flying last week. John Maffei, The San  Diego Union high school expert, noted the many infractions and uneven play in the Western League showdown between Lincoln and Cathedral. “It was choppy,” observed Maffei. Perhaps that was because there was an officiating crew of seven instead of the standard six.  Play was interrupted 19 times because of ...

San Diego Section playoffs will consist of four divisions/brackets of 12 teams each, to be chosen by a CIF committee. Only criteria given is that seeding is based on record and MaxPreps* ranking, and brackets will include all League champions. Brackets reveal is on Nov 6. The top 4 seeds get a first-round bye, then meet ...

Number 1 Lincoln is at No. 2 Cathedral and unranked Scripps Ranch visits No. 10 University City  Friday with the winners the likely  champions in the Western and Eastern leagues. By the numbers: Lincoln is No. 1 in the San Diego Section Top 10 and 13th in the state, according to MaxPreps.  Cathedral is No. 2 and ...

State No. 3 Classical (17-4), with a 36-26 win over local No. 9 Torrey Pines (10-7), remains the team to emulate. A month is left in the season and more than 400 games have been played by 72 San Diego Section teams. The Caimans have played the most games (21) and the most out-of-section games ...

MAFFEI FEELS IT John Maffei’s The San Diego Union Week 7 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. NR–Not ranked. MaxPreps‘ and Cal-Hi Sports‘ are state rankings. RANK TEAM/RECORD POINTS MAXPREPS CALPREPS.COM CAL-HI SPORTS+ 1. Lincoln (4-2) 26* 296 (1) 14 (16) 55.5 (54.2) 14 (16)  2. Cathedral (5-1) 1* 267 (2) 35 (36)  41.8 (40.2)   41 (43)  3. Granite Hills (4-1) 3* 248 (3) 45 (47)  37.6 (35.8) 17 (18) 4 Mission Hills (5-1) 195 ...

Floating at state No. 3, Classical (16-4) hoped for repeat success over #2 Newport Harbor (19-2), but the Sailors battened the hatches for a 37-0 win. The Caimans had keelhauled the seafaring club, 26-13, as well as #4 San Juan Capistrano JSerra (17-5) and #6 Huntington Beach (17-7) earlier this season. Mira Mesa (11-2) bobbed at ...

No. 1 Lincoln is the only team in The San Diego Union’s Top 10 with two losses as action moves into the sixth week after many clubs took a mid-season bye.  The Hornets’ schedule is one of the most difficult in California and there’s still a game with legendary Southern Section opponent Los Alamitos this ...

State No. 3 Classical (13-3) slipped two notches by losing to #11 Corona del Mar (13-5) and #18 Huntington Beach (13-6), but crept back up by thumping #20 Mira Mesa, 41-0. The Caimans are outscoring opponents 553-259, led by sophomore QB Ella Moore, who has  passed for  70 touchdowns. Moore has a 71% completion rate ...

John Maffei’s The San Diego Union Week 5 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. NR–Not ranked. Max Preps‘ and Cal-Hi Sports‘ are state rankings. RANK TEAM/RECORD POINTS MAXPREPS.COM CALPREPS.COM CAL-HI SPORTS 1. Lincoln (2-2) 21* 291 (1) 17 (16) 53.3 (51.4)  16 (16)  2. Cathedral (4-1) 2* 256 (2) 38 (28)  38.3 (33.0)  43 (48) 3. Granite Hills (3-1) 7* 242 (3) 44 (49) 36.7 (32.9)  18 (18) 4. Mission Hills (4-1) 190 (5) 53 ...

Granite Hills shook off a tie with Monte Vista, one of the the poorest teams in the County.  The deadlock had prevented the Eagles from a championship tie with Helix in the Grossmont League, but the Eagles went on to win their first San Diego Section title. 3/11/77  Granite Hills, a preseason No. 2-ranked in the San ...

State No. 2 Classical (12-1) bested then No. 3 San Juan Capistrano JSerra (10-3), 28-13. The Caimans’ and No. 1 Orange Lutheran (15-0) also are numbers 1 and  2 nationally, according to Max Preps. Classical next faces Mira Mesa (9-1), whose lone loss was to a strong Our Lady of Peace (6-1) squad. Grossmont jumped up to ...

The Trinity League forms a 30-mile stretch of Orange County, with side trips to State 55 and the area around I-605. Bellflower St. John Bosco, Anaheim Servite, Santa Ana Mater Dei, Orange Lutheran, Rancho Santa Margarita, and San Juan Capistrano JSerra comprise the far-flung circuit, where it is a 43-mile trip from Bosco to JSerra and ...

State No. 2 Classical (10-1) handled Bonita Vista (4-2), 43-6, and next week faces No. 3 San Juan Capistrano JSerra. The Caimans’ lone loss was to state and national No. 1 Orange Lutheran (13-0), 40-14. Classical is averaging 39 points a game and has outscored opponents, 433-172. Mira Mesa (7-1) squeaked by Torrey Pines, 9-8, to ...

Take a bow, Chris Hauser, and a doffing of the fedora  to the Mission Hills coach, the 11th in San Diego County history to win at least 200 games. Hauser (200-87-2) last week coached the Grizzlies to a 28-14 victory over Oceanside 21 seasons after his first, 26-6 over Vista Murietta in 2004. That win in ’04 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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), ...

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 ...

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 ...