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.

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.

DIVISION II

DIVISION III

DIVISION IV

DIVISION V

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

Eight more underdogs overcame seeding challenges last week as the San Diego Section playoffs tightened in the quarterfinals.

A second week of 26 games saw two No. 1-ranked squads go down, with additional upsets by 12, 11, 10, and six, and five seeds.

Most significant was No. 9 Hoover’s 52-49 win over top ranked Sweetwater in Division V that put the 6-6 Cardinals in the semifinals for the first time since 2023 and in what has  been rarefied air for the school, completing its 96^th season since opening in East San Diego in 1930.

Hoover had reached playoff semifinals in 1962, ’63, and 2000 and the championship game in D-III in 2014 but its history is marked by long, barren stretches.

Typical was the Cardinals’ 5-45 slog that followed their 31-9 loss to Christian in the D-III championship in 2014 and a 0-4 Covid-shortened start in 2020 under Will Gray, followed by 3-6 and 4-7 finishes. Gray’s team has improved to 19-16 since 2023.

The Cardinals’ semifinals opponent this week is 7-4 Canyon Hills, a 27-20 winner over Hoover in a Week 10 Central League contest.

UPSET?

No. 4 Cathedral eliminated No. 1 Mission Hills, 42-35, in the Open Division in what is hard to classify as an upset.  The Dons, weathering injuries to quarterback Brady Palmer and running back Honor Fa’alave-Johnson and a couple regular-season losses to Concord De La Salle and Point Loma, were given at least an even chance of beating the Grizzlies and advancing.

Fa’alave-Johnson scored five touchdowns for the Dons, including a clinching, 43-yard hike with 50 seconds left in the game.

Other significant wins were by No. 12 Scripps Ranch, 17-14 over No. 4 El Camino in Division II; No. 11 San Diego, 33-19 over No. 3 and undefeated, 10-0 Mission Bay in D-II, and No. 10 La Jolla Country Day, 22-7 over No. 2 El Capitan in D-IV.

STATE RATINGS

Cal-Hi Sports 

13, Carlsbad (9-2); 14, Cathedral (9-2); 17, Lincoln (9-2); 19, Mission Hills (9-2); 20, La Costa Canyon (9-2); 38, Granite Hills (8-3); 46, Mount Miguel (8-3); 47, San Marcos (7-4); On The Bubble, Point Loma (11-1). STATE: 1, Rancho Santa Margarita. (8-3).

Cal Preps

59.4, Cathedral; 57.6, Carlsbad; 55.7, Mission Hills; 53.7, La Costa Canyon; 51.2, Lincoln; 50.1, Granite Hills;  44.5, San Marcos; 41.0, Oceanside; 40.1, Mount Miguel; 38.0, Point Loma. STATE:  83.1, Santa Ana Mater Dei.

Max Preps

10, Cathedral (9-2); 11, Lincoln (9-2); 13, Mission Hills (9-2); 14, Carlsbad (9-2); 18, Granite Hills (8-3); 25, San Marcos (7-4); 29, Mount Miguel (8-3); 34, Point Loma (11-1); 41, Oceanside (7-5); 54, Rancho Bernardo (9-3). STATE: 1, Corona Centennial (10-1).

Rankings and favoritism didn’t matter to eight underdogs in the 26 San Diego Section first-round playoff games.

Two each of 11, 10, and 9 seeds prevailed over sixes, sevens, and eights in the divisional brackets.  The most significant reversal saw 12 seed Scripps Ranch put it to No. 5 La Jolla, 42-0.  Clairemont, another No. 5, also won, over 4 seed Calipatria.

Compared to seedings in basketball tournaments, the Falcons entered the game with a 35 per cent chance of winning. Since the NCAA event expanded in 1985, No. 12 seeds are 55-101 against fives.

Reports have circulated in the community known for its groves of eucalyptus trees (a City of San Diego worker once told me 3 million) that Scripps Ranch coach Marlon Gardinera may step down at the end of the season.  Gardinera, whose team visits fourth-seed El Camino in the second round, is 60-36 (.625) as the Falcons head coach since 2017, including a state II-A championship and 13-1 season in 2021.

LOOKING BACK

Thousands of games had been played since the last time there was an 11-10 result.  Santana defeated Bonita Vista in a Division V first-round contest by that score, matched only once, in 1982, when San Dieguito defeated Vista.

Santana won when 40 seconds remained after the Sultans scored a touchdown to close to 10-9 and lined up for a tying point after kick, but holder Koko Thornton took the snap and passed to Xavier Bennett for the winning two-point conversion.

TRUE GRID

St. Augustine’s Pai Polamalu, the son of retired Pittsburgh Steelers all-pro Troy Polamalu, rushed for 263 yards in 28 carries, scored five touchdowns, caught three passes for 67 yards and a touchdown, and completed a pass for 32 yards, accounting for 362 of the Saints’ 479 yards as the D-II No. 8 seed defeated No. 9 Mater Dei, 45-20…if that wasn’t enough, Pai also intercepted a couple passes….

STATE RATINGS

Max Preps: 

9, Mission Hills; 10, La Costa Canyon; 11, Carlsbad; 13, Cathedral; 20, Lincoln; 21, Granite Hills; 24, San Marcos; 27, Point Loma; 33, Mount Miguel; 35, Oceanside; 42, Rancho Bernardo.

Cal-Hi Sports:

12, Mission Hills; 13, La Costa Canyon; 15, Cathedral; 19, Carlsbad; 20, Lincoln; 38, Granite Hills; 45, Point Loma; On Bubble, Mount Miguel, San Marcos.

Cal Preps:

59.2, Mission Hills; 57.3, La Costa Canyon; 53.4, Carlsbad; 50.2, Lincoln; 50.2, Point Loma; 49.2, Cathedral; 45.3, Granite Hills; 42.4, San Marcos; 36.9, Mount Miguel; 36.5, Oceanside; 34.9, Rancho Bernardo. STATE:  87.4, Bellflower St. John Bosco.