Oceanside dropped from sixth to seventh in Cal-Hi Sports‘ weekly State Top 25.

The 8-0 Pirates, driving toward their first undefeated regular season since 2009, are joined among the state’s elite by Cathedral, which moved up to 22nd from 23rd, and Helix, which gained to 24th from 25th.

It’s been noted that Oceanside has not been as dominating in its last two games, which were Avocado West League victories over Torrey Pines, 42-21, and over Carlsbad, 28-14.

Not perfect, but still formidable.

El Capitan remained No. 1 in Division III South and Christian is No. 1 in Division  IV South.  Oceanside is fifth in D-I South.

There’s no room at the top in the UT-San Diego weekly poll.  Some points adjustments were noted, but the same eight teams remained in place from the previous week.

While there were no changes, Cathedral took one of Oceanside’s first-place votes.  Helix had swiped two first-place votes two weeks ago.

The Dons gained as result of eight straight wins and a 57-22 rout of St. Augustine, while Oceanside, still undefeated, had to grind out a 28-14 victory over Carlsbad.

Christian inched up from 10th to ninth and Sweetwater was admitted to the group at 10th.

The Red Devils of coach Brian Hay, who have won 16 games in a row since 2013, actually had one less point, 18,  than last week, when they were among the “others receiving votes”.

The regular seaason ends in two weeks followed by four weeks of playoffs and possible Southern California playoff berths.

According to the San Diego Section’s intricate ratings system it appears that Cathedral and Oceanside could be on a collision course to meet in the Open Division semifinals.

Poll results after Week 9:

*Awarded on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. NR–Not ranked.

Others receiving votes:  Point Loma, 16; Steele Canyon, 10; Rancho Bernardo, La Costa Canyon, 2 each; The Bishop’s, Hoover, Madison, 1 each.

Nineteen sportswriters, sportscasters, and CIF representatives from throughout San Diego County vote in the weekly poll: John Maffei, Kirk Kenney, UT-San Diego; Terry Monahan, Tom Saxe, Rick Hoff (UT-San Diego correspondents); Bill Dickens (eastcountysports.com); Steve Brand (San Diego Hall of Champions); John Kentera, Ted Mendenhall, Bob Petinak, (The Mighty 1090); Jerry Schniepp (CIF San Diego Section); Rick Willis, Brandon Stone, (KUSI-TV); Bruce Ward (San Diego City Schools); Rick Smith (partletonsports.com); Steve (Biff) Dolan, Rick (Red) Hill (Mountain Country 107.9 FM); Bodie DeSilva (Sandiegopreps.com); Drew Smith (sdcoastalsports.com).

Cathedral has been on a rampage and Oceanside may be losing some steam.

So Cathedral was No. 1 when I emailed my weekly Top 10 selections to John Maffei of UT-San Diego today.

The Dons ran away from St. Augustine, 57-22, in the battle of Catholic school titans last week and Oceanside gradually put away Carlsbad, 28-14.

The Pirates are still unbeaten, but have been a little off their game the last two weeks.

Oceanside is 8-0 through Week 8 and Cathedral is 8-1.  The Pirates were sixth in Cal-Hi Sports‘ most recent Top 25 and the Dons 23rd.  Helix (7-1) was 25th.

How bad were the Dons in their 55-10 loss to Folsom on the opening weekend?  Maybe not as bad as the score indicated, as preposterous as that would appear.

Folson is 8-0, the scourge of  the Sac-Joaquin Section, and has topped 55 points in five games since, including a 56-21 blowout of 24th-ranked Rocklin last week.

Maffei publishes the Top 10 poll each Tuesday.  The rest of my vote:  3, Helix. 4, El Capitan. 5, Mission Hills. 6, Eastlake. 7, Ramona. 8, Christian. 9, Point Loma. 10, tie, San Marcos and Sweetwater.

EASY NOW

Serra topped San Diego, 35-8, but the Cavers scored their first points under coach Knengi Martin, who took over after the third game.  Martin was encouraged.  “This was the kind of energy that will lead to winning,” said the coach.

UT-San-Diego correspondent Alex Riggins asked Martin what the Cavers could achieve in 2015. “The playoffs,” she said.

ATTENDANCE UP

Homecomings, rivalry games, and perfect weather had football fans in the mood.  Almost 7,000 packed Mesa College’s Merrill Douglas Stadium to watch Cathedral and St. Augustine.

Another 5,000 were on hand at Eastlake, where the host Titans kept possession of the bronze boot with a 45-20 victory over Bonita Vista.  Eastlake holds a 13-8-1 advantage in the series and hasn’t given up the boot since 2005.

NONE BETTER

“We’re the best 3-4 team in the county,” Torrey Pines coach Ron Gladnick said to Rick Hoff of UT-San Diego before the Falcons’ 14-0 win over El Camino.

A quick check showed nine other 11-man clubs with 3-4 records before Friday’s games: Mater Dei, Olympian, Santana, Valley Center, Del Norte, Bonita Vista, Francis Parker, Grossmont, and Carlsbad.

Let the discussion begin.

Noel Mickelsen, Charlie Paulk, and Richard Verlasky recently passed.

Mickelsen, 80, had a lengthy coaching career in San Diego’s East County after posting a 71-62 record in nine seasons of professional baseball, including three years in  the AAA Pacific Coast League.

The 6-foot, 6-inch Mickelsen was a star player on the 1955-56 San Diego State basketball team that posted a 23-6 record and gained the second round of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics tournament in Kansas City.

The Aztecs were beaten, 69-60, by Gustavus Adolphus of Minnesota.  Mickelsen still ranks No. 10 among the Aztecs’ all-time leading rebounders.

HORNETS WON STATE TITLE

Paulk, 68, became coach at Lincoln before the 1994-95 season and led the Hornets to a 25-7 record and the state IV championship, the first for San Diego Section team.

Led by future NBA player Mark Sanford, the Hornets closed fast and won four state tournament games,  105-51 over Easton Washington, 83-51 over Oxnard Santa Clara, 94-93 over Los Angeles Verbum Dei, and 63-50 over San Anselmo Sir Francis Drake.

A 6-8 forward from Northeastern State in Louisiana, Paulk played three seasons in the NBA. He was the Milwaukee Bucks’ first selection and the seventh pick in the first round of the 1968-69 draft.

SAINTS STANDOUT

Verlasky, 70, was a San Diego attorney who starred at St. Augustine and played for legendary coach Phil Woolpert at the University of San Diego and with future NBA coach Bernie Bickerstaff.

Verlasky averaged 12 points  and was one of the Eastern League’s leading scorers in the Saints’ 13-7 season in 1961-62.

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You win your last four games by combined points of 168-21  and lose votes?

That’s what happened to Oceanside (7-0) in this week’s  UT-San Diego poll.  The Pirates, who defeated Torrey Pines, 42-21,  remained on top,  but it wasn’t unanimous.

No. 3 Helix (6-1) claimed two first-place votes.

Cathedral, ranked second with a 7-1 record and a victory over Helix, must be scratching its head. The Dons won their sixth in a row, routing Lincoln, 48-0.

Helix has scored 167 points in the last month.  Oceanside has had four consecutive outings of 42 points each, while Helix has scored 42 in each of three games and 41 in the other.

Poll result after Week 8:

*Awarded on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. NR–Not ranked.

Others receiving votes:   Sweetwater, 19; Point Loma, 11; The Bishop’s, 2; West Hills, Rancho Bernardo, Vista, El Camino, 1 each.

Nineteen sportswriters, sportscasters, and CIF representatives from throughout San Diego County vote in the weekly poll: John Maffei, Kirk Kenney, UT-San Diego; Terry Monahan, Tom Saxe, Rick Hoff (UT-San Diego correspondents); Bill Dickens (eastcountysports.com); Steve Brand (San Diego Hall of Champions); John Kentera, Ted Mendenhall, Bob Petinak, (The Mighty 1090); Jerry Schniepp (CIF San Diego Section); Rick Willis, Brandon Stone, (KUSI-TV); Bruce Ward (San Diego City Schools); Rick Smith (partletonsports.com); Steve (Biff) Dolan, Rick (Red) Hill (Mountain Country 107.9 FM); Bodie DeSilva (Sandiegopreps.com); Drew Smith (sdcoastalsports.com).

U.S. citizens have elected 11 Presidents since 1946, but Point Loma hasn’t gotten with the program.

The Pointers have had three head coaches in the 69 seasons since World War II.

Count ‘em.

Don Giddings replaced Bill Maxwell in 1946 and guided fortunes on Chatsworth Blvd., through 1954, succeeded by Bennie Edens, who didn’t hang up his whistle  until after the 1997 campaign.

Mike Hastings, who grew up on Point Loma and whose father taught and coached there and whose older brothers played for Edens, is a University alum  and played on teams coached by Ron Hamamoto.

After playing defensive tackle at Cal Poly of San Luis Obispo, where his roommate was Pointers grad Steven Cota, who starred on Edens’ 13-0 team of 1987, Hastings began working his way  home.

After coaching at Morro Bay, Hastings joined his father, Bill Hastings, as an assistant under Edens in 1993.

Now in his 17th season as head coach, Mike Hastings had made his mark.

The Pointers defeated La Jolla, 35-31, in the battle for The Shoe this week and are 7-1, their best record at this juncture since 2006 and headed for the postseason.

Hastings’ clubs have made 13 consecutive playoff appearances, and the victory was his 120^th.  That tied Hastings for 28^th all-time in San Diego County with Gene Alim and John McFadden, who also earned 120 victories.  Christian’s Mike Oliver won his 121^st this week.

VIKINGS SCARE

Jaylen Griffin gained 260 yards on eight carries and blew out touchdown runs of 78, 80, and 31 yards as Point Loma rushed for 332 in a 35-10 first half.

La Jolla’s second half surge had the Pointers perspiring.

“We persevered,” Hastings told Jim Lindgren of UT-San Diego.  “We really had to suck it up at the end.”

HAMAMOTO CLOSING IN

Hastings’s high school coach, Ron Hamamoto, now in his third season at Monte Vista after winning at University, Rancho Bernardo, and Lincoln, has guided the Monarchs to a 4-3 record and the 45-10 win over Santana this week  was the 199th victory of Hamamoto’s career.

Hamamoto’s 200th will place the Long Beach Poly graduate with seven others who have crossed that threshold: Herb Meyer (339), John Carroll (241), Bennie Edens (239), John Shacklett (229), Gill Warren (217), Ed Burke (215), and Jim Arnaiz (213).

SHOES, CUPS, BEARS

Point Loma’s victory was for the Shoe Trophy that has been in play most years since 1948.

Mt. Carmel and Poway reinstated the Kiwanis Cup challenge, which started in 1975 but was on hiatus since 2012. The Sundevils won, 24-14, and for the first time since 2006.

Carlsbad took an 11-10 series lead over La Costa Canyon with a 27-26, overtime vistory and possession of the Rotary Cup.

San Pasqual knocked off undefeated Orange Glen, 21-6, in the battle of Bear Valley Parkway and for the hand-carved wooden “Bear” trophy.

Both schools are located on Bear Valley Parkway in Escondido, four miles apart.

CARDS DEALING

It was Homecoming Week throughout the San Diego Section and Hoover had one of the nicest presentations.

The Cardinals began with NFL-style player introductions, followed with the national anthem sung by the school choir, and a blazing opening quarter.

Serra’s ponderous Conquistadors could not keep up with the Jerry Ralph’s small, cat-quick Redbirds, who bolted to a 27-0, first-quarter lead and a romped, 50-0.

The tone was set when Hoover’s George Jones bolted 44 yards for a touchdown on the Cardinals’ first play from scrimmage.