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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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Sophomores Alison Dring of Mt. Carmel and Erin Blunt of San Pasqual gave promise but only four of the original 45 qualifiers from the San Diego Section finished in the top five in finals at the state meet. 6/1/90 17TH GIRLS STATE TRACK TRIALS, @CERRITOS COLLEGE, NORWALK EVENT NAME SCHOOL MARK PLACE 100 Kimmey University City :12.10 8th* McKinney Monte Vista :12.20 10th Henderson Morse :12.28 13th 200 Dring Mt. Carmel :25.11 10th Henderson Morse :25.16 11th Kimmey — — 400 Dring :55.55 2nd* Bugg Patrick Henry :57.59 7th* Freeman Crawford — — 800 Stowell Mt. Carmel 2:16.78 12th Scott Mt. Carmel 2:18.57 19th Schoene La Jolla 2:24.07 26th 1600 Schiebel Orange Glen 5:10.83 14th Faye San Pasqual 5:11.50 15th Ferguson La Jolla 5:14.10 17th 100 ...

Seventeen of 48 qualifiers from the San Diego Section finals advanced from the 72nd state meet trials at Cerritos College in Norwalk, including San Diego Section all-timers, Brent Noon of Fallbrook and Jerome Price of University City. Nine of the 17, or 53 per cent, scored points based on at least a top six finish in ...

DIVISION I Top seed Bonita Vista took care of business, dominating No. 4 and 17-3 Calexico, 33-13, in the San Diego Section semifinals. The Lady Barons (18-1) have lorded over opponents, with a  514-137 scoring advantage, punctuating their MaxPreps’ state No. 6 rating. Torrey Pines slipped past 12-5 Grossmont, 14-13, with a last-10-seconds, come-from-behind score, to remain ...

After an essentially quiet first week, quarterfinals and Open Division semifinals brought the San Diego Section playoffs to life, starting with a couple wild Open Division battles. Distance and facing California’s No. 8-ranked team and second seed didn’t deter third seed and California-ranked 14th Granite Hills. The Eagles bused 44 miles and then outlasted state No. 8 ...

Division I Unlike the first round, most favorites won handily.  Torrey Pines (15-0) had to outscratch the Brawley Lady Wildcats, 14-13. Bonita Vista (17-1) and Grossmont (12-4) featured their offenses,  each putting up more than 30 points. The Lady Barons, MaxPreps’ state No. 13, next face Calexico in the semifinals.  The Lady Falcons of Torrey Pines, Max ...

Two of the four better seeded teams prevailed in the first round of the San Diego Section Division I playoffs, including  Scripps Ranch, which had a close call with Hilltop, 13-12. No. 11 seed Olympian upset 6 Mira Mesa, 12-7. The 9-5 Lady Eagles were behind early to the 8-9 Lady Marauders, but came back with ...

The  CIF’s power ratings, a football version of diversity, inclusion, and equity, worked in all but four games in the week 12, first round of San Diego Section playoffs. The National Football League long has fostered the “on-any-given-day-any team-can-win” mantra.  There aren’t upsets; they’re…well, surprises. There were four “surprises” as the San Diego Section postseason got underway. ...

Bonita Vista and Classical drew the top seeds in the two-division, inaugural postseason. DIVISION I While Torrey Pines (14-0) is the only undefeated San Diego Section team, MaxPreps ranks Bonita Vista (16-1) higher, based on strength of schedule. CIF bosses made the Lady Barons the number 1 seed and the Lady Falcons number 2. Calexico (16-2) is ...

The advent of  power ratings, leading to alteration of teams’ division and league placements and affecting playoff seeding, changed the landscape. League championships don’t carry that once-cherished cachet. But don’t tell that to the players, coaches, and student bodies.  A league title still goes down as a matter of  record and still looks great on that letterman’s ...

Torrey Pines (13-0) remains the only undefeated team and stays put on MaxPreps’ state rankings as number 13, while Bonita Vista (14-1) buoyed to number 5 from 6 in rankings this week. About 38 games remain in the regular season. The top 12 teams in each division will be announced with playoff pairings on Nov 2. The ...

A significant accomplishment was overlooked for a few weeks. Mater Dei’s John Joyner became the 49th San Diego Section coach to win a career 100th game. Fast-finishing for a second straight year, the Crusaders coach’s team defeated Eastlake, 36-7, for its fifth straight win after an 0-3 start and gave Joyner his 103rd victory. Victory No. 100 ...

Flag football’s initial season has been a numerical and seeming artistic success, with 217 games played through eight weeks, and about 70 scheduled in the remaining two weeks of the regular season. The 46 San Diego Section girls teams will split into two Divisions for the playoffs, based on school enrollment. The D-I upper half ranges ...

Lincoln won its 21st game in a row, 42-7, over St. Augustine last week and improved to 9-0 this year.  The Hornets will be seeking their first, undefeated, 10-0 campaign Saturday when they wrap the regular season at University City. Coach Vic Player’s Hornets were undefeated in the 1979 regular season but city schools played only ...

Two of the San Diego Section’s most enduring rivalries were on display. San Diego and Hoover met for 73rd time,  Helix and Grossmont for the 70th. San Diego ended a nine-game, non winning streak against the Cardinals with a 56-45 victory, the Cavers’ first of the season.  Helix beat Grossmont for the 27th consecutive time, 57-8. CAVERS FADE Things ...

Del Norte survived four overtime possessions and finally defeated Rancho Bernardo, 49-43, last week, tying a 46-44 Granite Hills victory over Helix in 2022 for the longest game ever played by a San Diego County team. Existing rules are that each team has four downs beginning at the 25-yard line with straight football rules.  Simply put, ...

Grossmont became the eighth different team since 1980 to win the San Diego Section 2-A championship.  Forgotten by many, the title also was the Foothillers’ first since they claimed a larger bauble.  They won the Southern Section major division crown, 5-0, over Compton in 1951. The Foothillers also won a Southern Section minor division title in ...

The week’s schedule is loaded with potential benchmark league openers as 11 of the 18 San Diego Section loops begin play. Key games: AVOCADO Carlsbad (5-0), @Mission Hills (4-1). Mission Hills leads, 4-3, since 2011 in games matching two of the section’s most successful coaches, the Grizzlies’ Chris Hauser and Carlsbad’s Thadd MacNeal…Hauser is in his 23rd season, ...