We bided our time for several weeks before tuning in to the Union-Tribune writer’s 2025-26 season weekly poll, which he began weeks earlier.   That explains our Week 1 designation for winter Maffei Madness.

So far, other than a few intersectional victories along the way, it’s been a relatively quiet season in the San Diego Section.

Two small private schools, Santa Fe Christian in Solana Beach and Victory Christian in Chula Vista, are holding sway; traditional big shots Mission Bay and Cathedral have represented, but Torrey Pines and St. Augustine are treading water.

Things should change in the next several weeks. The season is at about the halfway juncture.  League play now is paramount, along with the occasional weekend “classics”.

Cal-Hi Sports, which publishes a top 50 in football, so far has scaled basketball down to 30, without a single San Diego Section team in the mix.  Santa Fe, Mission Bay, and Francis Parker are on Cal-Hi’s bubble.

First-place votes in parenthesis.
Points awarded on  10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.
Cal-Hi Sports rankings are by Mark Tennis, the newsletter’s publisher, with contribution from his statewide correspondents.
Max Preps essentially relies on various school representatives.

TEAM	RECORD	POINTS	PREVIOUS	MAXPREPS.COM	CAL-HI SPORTS
1. Santa Fe Christian	15-1 (18)	180	1	15	Not Ranked
2. Victory Christian	10-4	145	5	42	NR
3. Cathedral	11-5	132	3	89	NR
4. Mission Bay	12-5	109	4	68	NR
5. Francis Parker	7-8	113	2	119	NR
6. Madison	12-2	92	6	57	NR
7. Torrey Pines	7-8	56	10	165	NR
8. San Marcos	11-5	41	9	101	NR
9. Mira Mesa	13-5	38	8	108	NR
10. St. Augustine	8-7	33	7	146	NR

Others receiving votes: La Costa Canyon (11-5, 26 points), Olympian (12-4, 15) Rancho Bernardo (8-6, 4), Army-Navy (10-5, 2), Morse (14-0, 2), Poway (12-5, 2), Calexico (11-2, 1).

VOTING PANEL (18)
John Maffei (San Diego Union-Tribune).
Aaron Burgin (Full-Time Hoops),
Steve Brand, Bodie DeSilva (Union-Tribune freelance contributors).
Todd Cassen, Ron Marquez (San Diego Section honchos).
Rick Smith (partletonsports.com).
Tom Helmantoler (Southern Conference).
Joe Evangelist, Rex Johnson (San Diego Section Advisory Committee).
Christian Pedersen (San Diego Sports Association).
Braden Surprenant (97.3-FM The Fan).
Dennis Ackerman, Steve (Biff) Dolan, John (Coach) Kentera, Adam Paul, Tom Ronco, Eric Williams (freelance contributors).

 

 

Coach Mike Morrow’s team started with an uneven, 2-3-1 record and needed a tie-breaking playoff win over Long Beach Poly for the Coast League championship and berth in the Southern Section playoffs.

Vance Randolph, sidelined a few games because of illness, was the Hilltoppers’ most-valuable player, with a .521 season batting average and pitched the 8-2 victory over undefeated (12-0) Santa Maria that clinched the school’s 10^th Southern Section title.

Morrow’s team was 15-8-1 overall and 13-4 against high school squads.

3/1/35

An alumni team, comprised of several professional players leaving for spring training, was scheduled to meet the San Diego High varsity tomorrow in a third annual benefit contest.

Proceeds would be used to help send the Hillers to Pomona for the annual 20-30 Rotary Club Invitational and demonstrations in base running, throwing, and fungo hitting was to add to the game activity.

Among those scheduled to play for the alumni included Athos Sada, Al McNeely and brothers Chet and Swede Smith.

—The Hoover varsity had 13 base hits to 5 and defeated the “Yannigans”, 12-7, in an intrasquad game.  The team name was slang for rookie or reserve players.

3/2/35

Heavy rain soaked the City Stadium field and forced cancelation of the alumni-varsity contest.

3/3/35

Julius Skinner gave up one hit and doubled in the winning runs in the ninth inning of a 3-1 victory over the Hilltoppers’ Yannigans.

3/6/35

The destroyer escort U.S.S. Dobbin team won its 48^th consecutive game, 3-1 in seven innings over San Diego High.  Hillers starter Vance Randolph took the loss, having given up two runs in the top of the seventh.

3/8/35

Heavy rain the night before washed out the Hoover-vs.-Alumni game at Hoover, canceling a planned “Dad’s Day” for fathers of Cardinals players.

3/12/35

Frank Galindo’s triple scored Bing Williams in the eighth inning and San Diego and the Marine Corps Recruit Depot battled to a 1-1 tie after nine innings on the Leathernecks’ diamond.

—First baseman Ted Williams had five base hits and Hoover had 17 overall in a 17-3 win over the Naval Hospital squad.

3/13/35

Ted Williams relieved starter Morris Hurst after MCRD erupted for eight runs in the first inning.  Williams kept it close but the Leathernecks beat the guests, 12-11.

3/14/35

Bill Skelley and Julius Skinner limited the U.S.S. Milwaukee team to two hits as the San Diego won, 11-1, in City Stadium.

3/16/35

Ted Williams hit two home runs and a double and pitched the last three innings in relief of starter Ralph Twiss as Hoover scored a 6-2 victory over the Santa Ana Saints at Hoover.

—The Alumni defeated San Diego, 12-5, the graduates bunching seven hits and a couple Hilltoppers errors against starter Vance Randolph and relief pitcher Bill Skelley.

3/20/35

The Texas Liquor House team had 14 base hits against pitchers Morris Hurst and Ted Williams and defeated Hoover, 10-8, at Golden Hill Playground.

3/21/35

Charlie Strada allowed one hit and St. Augustine won, 4-0, at Sweetwater.

3/23/35

Winning pitcher Bill Skelley tripled in three runs in the top of the ninth inning and San Diego, outhit, 17-12, scored another run in the 10^th to defeat the USC Trojans’ Freshmen, 12-11. By agreement, San Diego was visiting team in the City Stadium encounter.

—Third baseman Roy Engle doubled and tripled and Woody Helm and Morris Hurst added three hits each as Hoover took a 10-1 victory at Long Beach Wilson.

Standouts (from left) were Bill Skelley, San Diego High; Ted Williams, Hoover; Vance Randolph, San Diego, and Woody Helm, Hoover.

3/26/35

Hosts Ralph Twiss and Ted Williams gave up three hits and Hoover scored a 3-2 victory over the combined San Diego State Varsity and Freshmen squads.

—The Hoover junior varsity and the Grossmont varsity struggled to a 0-0 tie at Grossmont, days after the teams deadlocked, 4-4, at Hoover.  San Diego High’s JV outlasted the Coronado varsity, 9-7, at Golden Hill Playground.

3/27/35

Hoover outhit host Sweetwater, 7-6, and made the hits count in a 7-2 nonleague win. The U.S. Coast Guard vessel Bonham squad struck for 18 hits in a 16-5 win at Coronado.

3/28/35

San Diego opened Coast League play with a 4-2 victory at Santa Ana.  Frank Galindo homered off Saints ace Willie (Emperor) Jones, but the Hillers trailed, 2-1, before launching five hits in a three-run rally in the eighth inning, ignited by a single by Bill Skelley, who pitched the distance, allowing four hits.

—Coronado outscored St. Augustine, 11-6.

3/30/35
Dick Sawaya’s two-run home run was not enough as the visiting San Diego Hillers dropped a 4-3 decision to the USC Freshmen at Bovard Field on the Trojans’ campus.

4/1/35

Charlie Strada’s four-hit pitching was enough for St. Augustine, 2-1 winner over the Naval Hospital team at Golden Hill Playground.

—Escondido defeated the visiting San Diego High junior varsity, 8-1, behind Orville Hoffmann’s four-hit pitching.

—Ted Williams went the distance on the pitching mound and went the distance at bat, socking two home runs in the Cardinals’ 11-3 win over the Marine Corps team on the Leathernecks’ diamond.

4/4/35

Art Rinder pitched a one-hitter and St. Augustine topped Coronado, 10-1, at Golden Hill playground.

—Marshall Pierson’s Texaco Servicemen dropped an 8-3 decision at Hoover.

4/5/35

Charlie Strada stopped the San Diego Junior Varsity, 4-2, and St. Augustine improved its record to 5-1-1 at University Heights playground.

—Grossmont led Oceanside, 2-1, in the seventh inning, when the Pirates took advantage of wildness and errors and beat the visiting Foothillers, 9-2.

Battery for Grossmont was from a famous San Diego sports family.  Bill Nettles started on the mound and twin brother Wayne caught.

—Sweetwater topped Coronado, 5-4, as Jack Brink hurled an 11-inning complete game.

4/6/35

Ralph Twiss allowed one hit, a sixth-inning single, and struck out 13 as visiting Hoover walloped Covina, 15-0.  Ted Williams hit for the cycle with a 5-for-5 day of two singles, double, triple, and home run.

The Cardinals’ Morris Siraton also had three singles and two doubles, and Sheldon Fouts homered. The Cardinals struck for 19 base hits against two Colts pitchers.

—Seven runs in the fourth inning held up for a 14-10, Coast League victory by Long Beach Poly over San Diego in the City Stadium.

The Hillers answered with six runs in the bottom of the inning but were victimized by six errors.

—Escondido took visitor Holtville, 7-1 and 9-6, in a doubleheader as the Hoffmann cousins, Karl and Orville, doubled up on the Vikings with complete game pitching.

4/9/35

Bill Ondler hit two doubles and Hoover outscored a team from the USS Detroit, 9-7.

4/10/35

Workhorse Charlie Strada tripled in two runs in the third inning and stopped Sweetwater on three hits in St. Augustine’s 3-1 win at University Heights.

4/11/35

Les Cassie’s double was the pivotal blow as the Hoover JV beat the Oceanside varsity, 5-4.

—Vance Randolph, sidelined with illness several weeks, returned to pitch and San Diego, with Bill Skelley relieving Randolph, scored a 14-6 win with a 22-hit attack over a team known as the All-Stars in the City Stadium.

—La Jolla, outhit, 11-6, outscored Sweetwater, 11-10, in a Metropolitan League game on the Vikings’ field.   Monte Soule, touched for 11 hits, struck out 12 Red Devils in the victory.

—Bill Nettles went all the way on the mound and Grossmont scored three runs in the eighth inning and three in the ninth to outscore Metro defending champion Escondido, 6-5.

—Ted Williams had four hits and struck out 16 and Hoover defeated visiting Glendale, 10-5.

4/12/35

Bill Skelley scattered 11 hits and his home run in the seventh inning put San Diego ahead, 6-4 in the eventual 7-4 ictory over Glendale in City Stadium.

—Army-Navy’s Hugh Kittle struck out 17 Coronado Islanders and gave up one hit in a 1-0, Metro League victory on the Warriors’ diamond in Pacific Beach.

—Hoover won at San Bernardino, 7-1, as Ted Williams homered and singled and Tommy Johnson had two hits and scored four runs.

POMONA 20-30 ROTARY CLUB TOURNAMENT

4/18/35

A five-run fourth inning doomed San Diego in a loss to Fullerton, 7-6, sending the Hillers into the consolation bracket in an event they were champions in 1933 and ’34.

—Hoover defeated Whittier, St. Augustine topped Puente, 12-4, and Escondido defeated Sweetwater, 11-2, in other first-round games, all played to seven innings.

4/19/35

San Diego gained the Consolation Bracket finals with victories over Brea-Olinda, 9-3, in the morning and Glendale Hoover, 6-2 in the afternoon.  Escondido advanced to the semifinal game by eliminating Montebello, 6-4, and Glendale, 2-1.

The Hilltoppers and Cougars were the only San Diego County teams remaining.  Long Beach Poly committed six errors but did not allow a hit and bounced St. Augustine, guilty of seven errors, 6-1. Glendale ushered out Hoover, 3-2, and Sweetwater fell to Covina, 6-3.

4/20/35

San Diego won a consolation semifinal in the morning, 6-1 over Whittier, and conked Calexico, 15-0, in the afternoon final as sophomore Bill Skelley hurled a four-hitter.  Gus Angelous and R.C. Moore hit home runs in the 14-hit attack.

Escondido was eliminated in the championship semifinals, 2-1, in eight innings by Pasadena Muir Technical. Long Beach Poly then edged Muir, 2-1, for the title.

—Back home, Hoover came up short again, 7-1, to the U.S.S. Whitney at Central Playground.

4/24/35

Third baseman Roy Engle starred in the field and at the plate as Hoover won the opener of the three-game “Civil War” series, 3-1, in seven innings after a 10 a.m. start in City Stadium before San Diego High’s student assembly and assorted baseball fans.

4/25/35

San Diego High evened the series before a Hoover crowd of assembled Cardinals students, 9-5.

Ted Williams, the winning pitcher two days before, was the losing pitcher as the rivalry series evened at one game apiece.  Roy Engle doubled and tripled for Hoover and Williams hit a home run.

The Cardinals’ four-run outburst overcame a 1-0 San Diego lead in the third inning, but the Hilltoppers scored three in the fourth and five in the sixth.

Del Ballenger had four singles in four at bats in Hoover’s 12-hit attack.   Frank Galindo had two of the Hillers’ nine hits.

San Diego had five hits in the five-run sixth, including doubles by Bill Skelley, R.C. Moore, and Jim Harris.

4/26/35

Bill Skelley’s two-hit pitching included 12 strikeouts and Johnny Bareno contributed a single and double and San Diego coasted, 7-0, at Pasadena.

—Sweetwater stepped out of the Metropolitan League again and sent St. Augustine back to its North Park campus, 7-1, a day following the Red Devils’ 10-3 win over the Hoover JV.

—Meanwhile, Oceanside (2-0) took undisputed possession of first place in the Metro, 4-0 over visiting La Jolla (2-1) behind Johnny Ortega’s two-hitter.

—Bill Nettles gave up six hits and hurled Grossmont (2-1) to a 10-5 win at Army-Navy (1-2) and Karl Hoffmann pitched Escondido (1-1) to a 3-1 victory at Coronado.

4/30/35

Ted Williams allowed five hits and Hoover defeated San Diego, 6-2, to claim the best-of-three series for the city championship. Williams, Roy Engle, and Woody Helm each had two hits.

5/3/35

Ted Williams homered and Ralph Twiss struck out 13 as Hoover won a nonleague game at La Jolla, 13-3.

—Karl Hofmann socked two home runs and Escondido, despite 12 strikeouts by Hugh Kittle, Hoffmann’s rival pitcher, won at Army-Navy, 10-5.

—Grossmont improved to 3-1 and was in first place in the Metropolitan League with a 6-4 win over visiting Coronado.

—The longest trip for any team other than San Diego or Hoover was Sweetwater’s 88-mile roundtrip jaunt to Oceanside, where the Red Devils scored a 7-3 victory.

—San Diego wrapped the Coast League race with a 6-2 win at Alhambra, giving the Hilltoppers a first-place tie with Long Beach Poly, each with a 4-1 record.

5/4/35

Charlie Strada scattered eight hits and the visiting Saints surprised at Hoover, 6-2, aided by a first-inning grand slam home run by Francis Drummy.

5/6/35

Bing Williams’ three-run home run in the first inning was enough for San Diego, behind Bill Skelley’s pitching, to claim a 7-2 victory in a playoff for the Coast League championship at Long Beach Poly.

5/9/35

CIF commissioner Seth Van Patten, wanting to continue the interest of anything that included Hoover and San Diego, scheduled a Southern California playoff Saturday between the freelance Cardinals and Coast loop champion Hilltoppers.

5/10/35

Grossmont’s fourth straight Metropolitan League win, 4-1 over La Jolla behind Bill Nettles’ seven-hit pitching, left the Foothillers in first place.

—Karl Hoffmann went 13 innings on the mound and Escondido outlasted traveling Sweetwater, 2-1.  Oceanside beat Army-Navy, 9-2, and St. Augustine, behind Charlie Strada’s three-hitter, won a nonleague game at Coronado, 3-2.

5/11/35

Union reporter Harry P. Hache declared that a crowd of more than 2,000 persons were in City Stadium and saw San Diego score seven runs in the bottom of the eighth inning and won the Southern Section playoff with Hoover, 14-11.

The Cardinals outhit San Diego, 18-17.  R.C. Moore homered for the Hilltoppers and Ted Williams for the Hoover.

5/16/35

Jim Harris’ grand slam home run in the fifth inning and Bill Skelley’s six-hit pitching were enough for San Diego to win a quarterfinals playoff, 9-4, at Placentia Valencia.

—Grossmont claimed a tie for the Metropolitan League championship with a 6-4 victory in 10 innings at Sweetwater.  Bill Nettles went the distance for the Foothillers, giving up five hits.

—Army-Navy took a bye from league action and defeated St. Augustine, 5-0, sending ace Charlie Strada to his first loss, as Hugh Kittle struck out 19 Saints.

–Oceanside and Oceanside, which were to meet later in the week, kept alive their hopes for a tie with Grossmont.  The Pirates took advantage of 11 errors to score a 16-3 victory at Coronado and Escondido blanked La Jolla, 5-0, on the road.

5/24/35

Oceanside pushed over runs in the eighth and ninth innings to defeat defending champion Escondido, 2-0, and earn a tie for the Metropolitan League title with Grossmont, both with 5-1 records.

Escondido finished with a 4-2 record. La Jolla, Coronado, and Sweetwater each was 2-4 and Army-Navy, 1-5.

Monte Soule struck out 18 Coronado batters but 10 errors torpedoed Soule and the Vikings, who made one base hit against the Islanders’ Jack Brink.

6/1/35

Vance Randolph, moving from shortstop to the mound, relieving Bill Skelley in the eighth inning with the bases loaded and one out, retired the side and San Diego beat Colton, 5-2, in a Southern Section semifinal game in City Stadium.

6/8/35

Vance Randolph pitched and slugged San Diego to an 8-2 win over visiting and undefeated (12-0) Santa Maria, earning the Hilltoppers their 10^th Southern Section championhship since 1917.

Randolph also tripled in two runs in the first inning, doubled in two more in the seventh and stole home in the inning.

Cathedral’s 42-21 victory over Los Alamitos last week in the state regional Division I-AA playoffs was the 251^st in coach Sean Doyle’s career.

That’s right, 251.  The Dons’ victory over Carlsbad in the San Diego Section finals had been hailed on the Southwestern College scoreboard as No. 250 for Doyle, sending the Dons into the regionals, while this website, while not official and not affiliated with  the CIF,  declared that the win was No. 248.

An ineligible player, asserted in a statement from the office of CIF commissioner Jerry Schniep, had appeared in all 10 games in 2012, wiping out Cathedral’s 8-2 season.  We originally went along with that information.

But when asked by John Maffei before the Los Alamitos game, Doyle told the reporter that he had researched game film, talked to coaches and players, and said that the ineligible player had not been a participant in two Cathedral victories, 29-21 over Lincoln and 28-20 over St. Augustine, Cathedral’s main Eastern League opponents. The player’s overall participation was such that in four other games he had been in for one play.

According to Maffei, after visiting with Doyle, Cathedral’s forfeits should have been eight and an overall record of 2-8 and not 0-10 in 2012. Max Preps originally had reported eight forfeits and Cal Preps originally reported six.

Doyle goes for No. 252 this week against Folsom, longtime Sac-Joaquin Section power and a familiar championship game opponent for the Dons.  Cathedral lost to the Bulldogs, 21-14, in 2018 and won a rematch, 33-21, in the 2021 final.

Adjustments in the Coach 100 table will be made at the end of this week’s games. The records of Doyle, Lincoln’s David Dunn, and St. Augustine’s Richard Sanchez will be noted.

SAN DIEGO SECTION REGIONAL RECORD 4-2

Christian outscored Cerritos Valley Christian, 27-13, in Division V-AA and Valley Center defeated Moreno Valley Valley View, 30-19, in Division VI-AA in other Friday night’s regional openers.

Oxnard Pacifica edged Granite Hills, 42-35, in D-IA, Arcadia Rio Hondo topped Santa Fe Christian, 26-21, and Morse ousted Simi Valley Grace Brethren, 57-40 in VI-A, on Saturday.

Cathedral will meet Folsom at Mission Viejo Saddleback College on Friday, Dec. 12.

Christian plays Oakland Bishop O’Dowd of the North Coast Section on Friday at Buena Park High.

Valley Center’s game against San Jose Lincoln of the Central Coast Section will be on Friday at Fullerton High.

Morse and Winters of the Northern Section will kick off at Buena Park High on Saturday, Dec. 13.

MAFFEI MADNESS

John Maffei’s The San Diego Union-Tribune final 2025 poll:
Points awarded on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. *First-place votes. Previous rankings in (italics).
NR–Not ranked. MaxPreps, Cal Preps, and Cal-Hi Sports are state rankings.

RANK	TEAM/RECORD	POINTS	MAX PREPS	CAL PREPS	CAL-HI SPORTS
1.	Cathedral (10-2) 30*	300 (2)	10	63.0	13 (14)
2.	Carlsbad (10-2)	259 (5)	16	54.1	15 (13)
3.	Granite Hills (10-3)	226 (6)	15	54.3	20 (26)
4.	Mission Hills (9-2)	201 (1)	14	55.7	18 (20)
5.	La Costa Canyon (9-2)	187 (3)	17	51.6	19 (21)
6.	Lincoln (10-3)	158 (4)	22	49.1	23 (16)
7.	San Marcos (7-5)	102 (8)	28	41.3	On Bubble
8.	Santa Fe Christian (13-0)	64 (NR)	84	25.1	On Bubble
9.	Point Loma (11-1)	63 (7)	33	36.6	On Bubble
10.	Mount Miguel (8-4)	61 (10)	35	37.4	On Bubble

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES
Christian (7-7, 9 points), Oceanside (7-4, 8), Valley Center (7-6, 5), Steele Canyon (9-4, 3) Holtville (9-2), Mission Bay (11-1), Morse (9-4), Rancho Bernardo (8-3, 1 point each).

VOTING PANEL

Twenty-nine sportswriters, sportscasters, and administrators from the San Diego Section, plus Max Preps:

• John Maffei (The San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Donald Ray Norcross, Kevin Farmer, Rick Hoff, Steve Brand (Union-Tribune correspondents)
• Joe Heinz, Todd Cassen, Ron Marquez (San Diego Section)
• Brandon Stone, Allison Edwards, John Carroll, Chase Izidoro (KUSI-TV)
• Rick Smith (partletonsports.com)
• Braden Suprenant (93.7 FM “The Fan”)
• Mike Dolan (Coaching Legends)
• Tom Helmantoler (Southern Conference)
• Joe Evangelist, Rex Johnson, Bruce Ward (CIF Advisory Committee)
• Raymond Brown (sdsports.net)
• Christian Pedersen (San Diego Sports Association)
• Bodie DeSilva, John Kentera, Dennis Ackerman, Steve (Biff) Dolan, Eric Williams, Thomas Gutierrez, Tom Ronco, Adam Paul (freelance contributors).

The final 2025 Top 10 poll (above) followed a 12^th San Diego Section championship for Cathedral and coach Sean Doyle and, according to our records, gleaned from years perusing The San Diego Union–Tribune, put Doyle at 248 victories, tying the Dons’ mentor with Oceanside’s John Carroll for the second highest total of career wins behind Oceanside and El Camino’s Herb Meyer, who had 339.

The keeper of CIF records noted in a conversation with me that Doyle was believed to have 250 victories (the number posted on the scoreboard at Southwestern College following Cathedral’s 20-16, Open Division championship over Carlsbad last week).   A player ineligibility in 2012 had resulted in the Dons forfeiting eight games in a season in which their won loss record originally was 8-2.

Eight forfeits and two losses compute to 0-10 and an all-time 248 victories for Doyle, according to our Coach 100 table.  Our records are not official;  the CIF records are.

Max Preps and Cal Preps in their respective postings were not in complete agreement. Cal Preps noted only six forfeits and a 2-8 record. Max Preps had eight forfeits and a 2-8 record.

What I wrote, excerpted from a Union-Tribune story on my blog in November, 2012, after the reported forfeits:

“Cathedral’s honored program took a body blow this week when the Dons were forced to forfeit eight victories in an 8-2 season and were knocked out the postseason.

The Dons self-reported an ineligible player, who appeared in all 10 Cathedral games. San Diego Section rules state that a team with three forfeits cannot participate in the playoffs.

The violation seems minor, at worst.

According to sources, the player attended Cathedral as a freshman, transferred to another school for his sophomore year, and came back to Cathedral this year.

Routine paper work that would have allowed the player to be on the Cathedral squad this season apparently was not completed, misplaced, or overlooked.

Cathedral’s staggering loss was good news to Serra, which lost to the Dons, 55-7, in the final regular-season game and was to play Cathedral in the quarterfinals this week, the Dons having received a first-round bye.

Serra now will play at Ramona, which eliminated West Hills 41-21.

Cathedral was the San Diego Section’s preeminent Division III team.  The Dons topped No. 2-ranked Helix 16-9 and battled state-ranked No. 1 Vista Murrieta before surrendering a fourth-quarter touchdown and losing 21-10.

IT’S HAPPENED MANY TIMES

Cathedral’s misfortune is not new in any sport on the high school landscape.

Most recently Madison was forced to forfeit the D-IV title in 2010 because of a residential transfer beef.  The Warhawks, with help from the City Schools, litigated and had the judgment overturned.

Chula Vista forfeited 4 victories and went from 9-0 to 5-4 in 1976 and was out of the playoffs.

The 1958-59 San Diego High basketball team, 16-2 and poised for a deep run in the Southern California playoffs, forfeited all 16 victories. Starting forward Otha Phillips was beyond the age limit to be athletically eligible.

The Cavers, behind the great Arthur (Hambone) Williams finished the season 24-2 competitively but 8-18 legislatively.”

For now we’ll stick with 248 wins (Cal-Hi Preps lists Doyle with 249), but hopefully more information will surface. That number also could change, perhaps this week, when Cathedral plays Los Alamitos in a regional state playoff at Long Beach Veterans’ Stadium on the Long Beach City College campus.

The article in The San Diego Union-Tribune on Nov. 14, 2012, announcing the forfeits:

 

Six area teams, from Granite Hills in the East suburbs of El Cajon to Valley Center in the rural North, won San Diego Section championships and are moving on and (possibly/maybe/who knows?) moving up in the super postseason.

Regional playoffs are this week, with winners advancing to State championship games Dec. 12-13  at Saddleback College in Santa Ana.  San Diego Section results:

OPEN DIVISION

CATHEDRAL (10-2) 20, CARLSBAD (10-2) 16.

The Dons scored an unusual victory and coach Sean Doyle’s 12^th title in 14 trips to the finals, the first since 2021, before an estimated 8,700 persons at Southwestern College.

Unusual in that No. 4-seeded Cathedral scored all of its points after trailing, 16-0, at the start of the fourth quarter. A touchdown passing play of 47 yards, quarterback Eli MacNeal to Travis Jeffery, early in the third quarter had given the 3 seed Lancers a two touchdown-plus advantage.

Doyle, his silver mustache glistening in the lights of the Southwestern stadium after a postgame splash by elated players, considered the significance of his team’s comeback.

“To be down like that, when we were shooting ourselves in the freaking foot every offensive series, then come back, right now that win has to rank right at the top,” Doyle exclaimed to reporter John Maffei.

A five-yard run by Honor Fa’alave Johnson got Cathedral on the board in the fourth quarter, then the Dons closed to 16-13 on a 71-yard pass play, Brady Palmer to Isaac Cook.

There were 6:32 left after the Dons’ score, but it wasn’t settled until the final 21 seconds when Fa’alave-Johnson scored from five yards to conclude a 71-yard drive with 2:14 remaining.

Next, Southern California Regional I-AA Playoff:  Los Alamitos (12-2), Friday, Dec. 5, 2025, 7:30 p.m., @Long Beach Veterans’ Stadium on Long Beach City College campus.

DIVISION I

Granite Hills (10-3) 41, Lincoln (10-3) 29.

The Eagles trailed, 14-0, but overcame Lincoln and won a fourth consecutive D-I crown before an estimated 6,500 persons at Southwestern College.

Zac Benitez threw for 296 yards and four touchdowns and Noah Walker caught four passes for 142 yards, including a 65-yard touchdown.

The Eagles’ Gage Spalding put game away late in the fourth quarter on a one-yard run from the Wildcat formation.

Junior Curtis led Lincoln with 159 yards in 18 carries and Rashad Robinson had 129 in 19 and two touchdowns.

Next, Southern California Regional I-A Playoff:  Oxnard Pacifica (14-0), Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, 7 p.m., @Granite Hills.

D-II

SANTA FE CHRISTIAN (13-0) 44, STEELE CANYON (9-4) 41.

Enrollment doesn’t matter where Eagles dare.

“The fact that this tiny school (with 400 high school students) …we said whatever division you put us in, we can’t control.  We just play the team you put in front of us,” said winning coach Jon Wallace to John Maffei.

The Eagles’ opponent at Southwestern College was Steele Canyon, with a student body approaching 2,200.

Santa Fe Christian quarterback Dax Labrum rushed 5 times for 27 yards and completed 21 of 33 passes for 286 yards and four touchdowns.

Next, Southern California Regional II-A playoff: Arcadia Rio Hondo (14-0), Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, 6 p.m., @Carlsbad High.

D-III

CHRISTIAN (7-7) 28, EL CENTRO CENTRAL (10-3) 14.

The Patriots came out of the weeds, rallying from an 0-4 start and entering the playoffs as a No. 6 seed.

Christian beat top seed El Centro Central at Southwestern College as quarterback Kaleb Runkle passed for 280 yards and four touchdowns.

“We had a lot of guys out earlier in the season (injuries), but we stayed the course and everybody worked real hard to get here,” Patriots coach Patrick Bugg told reporter Rick Hoff.

Next, Southern California Regional V-AA playoff: @Cerritos Valley Christian (11-3), Friday, Dec. 5, 2025, 7:30 p.m.

D-IV

VALLEY CENTER (7-6) 21, EASTLAKE (7-7) 14.

Bill Dunckel was teaching physical education classes and coaching baseball and softball when he was asked in 2023 to rescue a Jaguars team that was 0-4 and had been outscored, 154-45.

Dunckel righted the ship and the team northeast of Escondido is 18-13 since.

Dunckel is a North County product, a star, all-round wideout on Fallbrook’s 1986 San Diego Section championship team, scoring 18 touchdowns, four field goals, 35 points after touchdowns and a couple two-point conversions for 159 points in 12 games.

Next, Southern California Regional VI-AA playoff: Moreno Valley Valley View, Friday, Dec. 5, 2025, 7:30 p.m., @Valley Center.

DIVISION V

MORSE (9-4) 45, HOOVER (7-7) 30

Superior Garror was superior for the Tigers with 260 yards in 32 rushing attempts, plus six catches for 94 yards, and 4 touchdowns.

Hezekiah Manuel completed 30 of 41 passes for 333 yards and three touchdowns for Hoover.

Hoover hadn’t been in a final since 2014 and Morse was making its first trip since 2018.

Next, Southern California Regional VI-A playoff: Simi Valley Grace (11-3), Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, 6 p.m., @Moorpark College.

D-VAA

MARANATHA (12-1) 24, BLYTHE PALO VERDE VALLEY (8-3) 12.

Season complete.

D-VI

ST. JOSEPH (10-1) 61, BORREGO SPRINGS (8-2) 13.

Season complete.

This is perhaps the finest pair of Open Division and Division I championship game matchups  since the San Diego Section was formed in 1960. Mainly because of the four coaches leading their teams, veterans who have stood the test of time and turn out winners annually,  as their records attest in the table below.

Championship week for the Open and D-I, II, III, IV, and V divisions begins with the Open Tuesday evening, Nov. 25, at Southwestern College with Cathedral facing Carlsbad.

Lincoln and Granite Hills play for the D-I title Saturday, Nov. 29, at Southwestern. Other  championship games are Nov. 28.

Maranatha (12-1) defeated Blythe Palo Verde Valley (8-5), 24-12, for the V-AA title and St. Joseph (10-1) topped Borrego Springs (8-2), 68-13, in D-VI.

OPEN DIVISION/DIVISION I

*Includes coaches with at least 100 victories.

NAME	SCHOOL	SEASON	W-L-T	Pct.	*SECTION ALL-TIME/WINS	CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES W-L
Sean Doyle	Cathedral	30th	247-117-0	.679	3rd	11-2
David Dunn	Lincoln	14th	116-62-1	.651	39th	4-3
Thadd MacNeal	Carlsbad	14th	114-52-0	.687	40th	0-3
Kellan Cobbs	Granite Hills	14th	113-54-0	.681	41st	3-0

DIVISION II

NAME	SCHOOL	SEASON	W-L-T	Pct.	*SECTION ALL-TIME/WINS	CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES W-L
Jon Wallace	Santa Fe Christian	12th	102-43	.703	51st	0-1
Scott Longerbone	Steele Canyon	14th	80-78-1	.506	NA	1-0

DIVISION III

NAME	SCHOOL	SEASON	W-L-T	Pct.	SECTION ALL-TIME WINS	CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES W-L
David Pena	El Centro Central	9th	77-25-0	.755	NA	0-1
Patrick Bugg	Christian	4th	25-21-0	.543	NA	0-0

DIVISION IV

NAME	SCHOOL	SEASON	W-L-T	Pct.	SECTION ALL-TIME/WINS	CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES W-L
Jose Mendoza	Eastlake	6th	30-33-0	.455	NA	0-0
Bill Dunckel	Valley Center	3rd*	18-12-0	.600	NA	0-0

DIVISION V

**Gray coached at Kearny, 2015-19; McNair coached at Crawford, 2001-06.

NAME	SCHOOL	SEASON	W-L-T	Pct.	SECTION ALL-TIME/WINS	CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES W-L
Will Gray	Hoover	11th**	61-58	.513	NA	0-1
Tracy McNair	Morse	23rd**	117-129-3	.476	38th	1-0