So shocked were San Pasqual defenders they just watched.

Cathedral’s Jack Onstott ran 98 yards with an intercepted pass and brought a stunning conclusion to the Division I, San Diego Section championship game.

It was the most thrilling finish since…since Auburn beat Alabama with a 99-yard field goal return a week ago.

But Cathedral’s three-overtime, 37-31 victory over the school from Southeast Escondido was just as sudden and more final and maybe a little more emotional.

Onstott, just a junior, has next season to look forward to.

But the Dons’ linebacker ended this season and the careers of many players on the field at Qualcomm Stadium, seniors on both sides of the ball who most likely strapped on a helmet for the last time.

Scoreboard be damned, both teams were winners.

Remember it, guys, and take the experience with you through life.

ADMISSION SLOW, AS USUAL

It happens every year and it will happen again, because the host CIF either does not care, is unaware, or will forget the annual long lines for tickets when the 2014 championships are played.

Kirk Kenney, who wrote a sidebar to yesterday’s three games for U-T San Diego, noted that ticket windows at Gates B and D did not open until 50 minutes before kickoff to St. Augustine’s 49-0 victory over Mission Bay.

At  10 a.m., an hour before kickoff, I noticed a line that extended from Gate F to Gate H, at least 200 yards long and three and four deep of mostly Saints boosters waiting for the three ticket windows to open.

Peevish fans were patient, although a mob  gathered near the windows.

“They should have opened the gates at eight-thirty,” noted one of the yellow-jacketed ushers.

Perhaps there was a concern for expense, as far as paying the stadium rental, ushers, security, and ticket people.

That being said, the CIF appeared penny wise and pound foolish. 

I know of at least two people who paid $10 to get into the parking lot, then saw the line at Gate B, long but much shorter than Gate F, and turned around and went home.

Why piss-off the customers?

IT’S A CIF TRADITION.

Exasperating admission delays at CIF playoff events are not unusual.  They’re typical.

Two vintage examples:

Writer Nick Canepa and fellow San Diego High pal John Buscemi were so frustrated at the line leading to the only ticket booth, they climbed a fence to get into Balboa Stadium to watch the 1966 CIF track finals.

The meet drew a nice crowd of about 6,500 and should have been easily accessed.

“We still missed Doyle Steel’s national high school long jump record (25 feet, 5 inches)” said Nick.

POST KENNEDY

The semifinal playoff between No. 1 Escondido and No. 2 Kearny in 1963 had been postponed a week because of President Kennedy’s assassination.

The extra week created a buzz. 

One ticket window, on the West side of Balboa Stadium, was open the night of the game. 

I remember looking out from the top level of the Stadium press box in the second quarter. 

The line of potential ticket buyers went all the way down the alley that separated Balboa Stadium from San Diego High.  The line stretched almost to Russ Boulevard, at least 300 yards away.

The estimated Kearny-Escondido crowd of 17,000 still is a public schools record for the San Diego Section, established in 1960.  Crowds as large or larger were common years before.

HOW GOOD ARE THE SAINTS?

Mission Bay, 12-1 and on a roll, was overmatched against 10-2 St. Augustine in the D-II final.  In more ways than one.

That was evident before the game.  The Saints dressed 68 players compared to the Buccaneers’ 42.  The Saints had almost 50 cheerleaders to the Bucs’ 30.

The all-boys Catholic school also presented an impressive pep band and was supported by the 200-strong student group, usually visible in the raucous area known as “The Pit” at home basketball games.

The Saints might get some support for a state bowl series invitation if they would schedule some strong, out-of-area opponents in the nonleague season.

Same for San Pasqual and other top San Diego Section programs with outstanding records against mostly local competition.

Oceanside annually takes on a tough nonleague schedule, including big shots from north of San Diego County, and gets respect from Cal-Hi Sports and other statewide publications.

HAUSER DELIEVERS AGAI N

I thought Oceanside would beat Mission Hills in their rematch.  The Grizzlies’ 36-14 victory was no fluke and certainly a validation of their 30-6 win over the Pirates in the regular season.

Their coach, Chris Hauser, has an almost manic sideline persona but is taking his place among the best.

Hauser is 115-55-2 in 16 seasons at Vista and Mission Hills, with two championships and five appearances in the finals.

And give it up for the community of San Marcos, which has two teams that reached the finals.  The 9-4 San Marcos Knights will meet 11-1 Christian in the D-III finals Saturday night at Mesa College.

Christian deserves state bowl consideration but should be in Division IV.

QUICK KICKS                                                                                                                           

Sean Doyle has spent twenty-eight years as a player or  coach at Cathedral and has coached the Dons to an 8-0 record in championship games…St. Augustine has a strong connection with the San Diego Chargers…sophomore linebacker Quinn Seau is Junior’s nephew, and sophomore linebacker Frank Buncom IV is a grandson of Frank, who was a linebacker on the Chargers’ 1963 American Football League championship team…the younger Buncom also serves as the school’s “commissioner/athletics”…major league prices were en vogue at concession stands…a pair of hot dogs and a bottle of water destroyed most of the $20 bill I proffered…the two, $8 wieners passed the gastronomic grade test, but with not much to spare….

Imperial’s dream run and Crawford’s miracle run each came to an end…with a thud.                                                                                                                                                   

The Tigers of the Imperial Valley were no match for St. Augustine in the San Diego Section Division II semifinals, losing 56-12, despite a good performance by Royce Freeman.

Crawford, which had stepped down a division and rekindled success of years past, was ambushed 42-6 in the D-V championship by Holtville, a team the Colts had beaten 21-14 in the regular season.

Such is life in the postseason.

Five championships will be determined this week, three tomorrow at Qualcomm Stadium. Two more are scheduled Saturday at Mesa College.

OPEN DIVISION, 5 P.M.

Is there a possible California bowl series bid in the offing for either Oceanside (10-2) or Mission Hills (11-1)? 

Probably not, but hopefully.

The Grizzlies whacked Oceanside 30-6 during the regular season, but most pundits, including me, have sided with the Pirates.

As we see it:  Oceanside, 34-24.

DIVISION I, 2 P.M.

Less ballyhooed than the other two Monday matchups,  but Cathedral (10-2) and San Pasqual (11-1) are perfectly matched, which means this probably will be a slug-it-out, grind-it-out struggle.

Despite a big, 35-28 win over Southern Section-ranked Vista Murrieta, the Dons seemed to have lost some identity along the way.  San Pasqual quietly fashioned one of the best seasons in school history.

As we see it:  Cathedral, 17-10.

DIVISION II, 11 A.M.

Mission Bay (12-1) rallied from a 42-6 loss to Madison in the regular season and beat the Warhawks, 21-18, in the quarterfinals and is rolling, despite a playoffs No. 8 seed.

St. Augustine (10-2) crushed Imperial in the semifinals and holds a late-season win over Cathedral.  Its only losses were to Open powers Oceanside and Eastlake.

With a victory Mission Bay could move into discussion for a state bowl bid.

As we see it:  St. Augustine, 41-31.

DIVISION III, SATURDAY DEC. 7, 2 P.M.

Christian (11-1), a second seed from the Central League, seemingly is stepping up in class against the North County entry 5 seed from San Marcos (9-4).

The Patriots are a state-ranked team in their division, but this is one of those matchups that do not consider enrollment.  Christian has about 400 students and San Marcos more than 2,200.

The Knights definitely will have a larger cheering section.

As we see it:  San Marcos, 28-14.

DIVISION IV, SATURDAY, DEC. 7, 5 P.M.

It’s been a tale of two seasons for Sweetwater, 1-4 and outscored, 155-59, in its first four games, then a seven–game winning streak and a place in the finals against Monte Vista.

Red Devils coach Brian Hay also has experience end a turnaround. 

Hay was 7-3 at El Centro Southwest in his first head job in 2000, then struggled through an 8-34 stretch at Hilltop and was 9-32 at Mar Vista from 2006-09.  Since then Hay is 33-14.

Monte Vista has revived under veteran Ron Hamamoto, who took over a downtrodden program (16-55 from 2005-11) in 2012, and got the Monarchs into the playoffs in his second season.

Hamamoto is 194-138-2  in 28 seasons at University-Cathedral, Rancho Bernardo, Lincoln, and Monte Vista.

As we see it:  Monte Vista, 28-21.

Warren Vinton, who helped Helix establish itself as an athletic force as San Diego schools moved to form their own CIF section, passed away in Murrieta in Riverside County recently at age 89.

Vinton  posted a 25-9-1 record as the Highlanders’ head coach from 1964-67, winning two Grossmont League championships and taking his team to the San Diego Section title game in 1966.

The University of California at Santa Barbara graduate joined the coaching staff at Helix in 1956, when coach Tom Welbaum guided the Highlanders to an 8-1 record and a berth in the Southern Section playoffs.

When Welbaum relocated to start the new Mount Miguel program in 1957, Vinton remained as college teammate Dick Gorrie became head coach.

After posting a 39-21-2 record in seven seasons, Gorrie was named head coach at Santa Ana Junior College and was succeeded by Vinton.

Vinton stepped down after the 1967 season but remained on the Highlanders’ faculty until his retirement in 1989.

A  La Mesa resident for 56 years, Vinton was remembered by Helix graduate and San Diego Evening Tribune sportswriter Roger Conlee, who covered the Highlanders during one of the most successful eras in school history.

“Warren was a contrast, more cerebral, less rah-rah than the charismatic Gorrie,” said Conlee.   “He had a droll sense of humor and a keen knowledge of football, especially the defensive side of the game.”

Vinton was tall, Gorrie much shorter.  Both handsome, they crafted an image of Helix football that was hip and almost glamorous compared to their Grossmont League brethren.

Ailing John Carroll, still not fully back from a late-season health scare,  wasn’t about to go hyperbolic.

After all, Carroll has won 233 games  in  25 seasons at Oceanside.

U-T San Diego writer Don Norcross wanted to know if the Pirates’ rally from 23 points behind at the half to a 33-30 Open Division playoff victory over Eastlake was the greatest..

“No, thank God, we’ve done it before,” said Carroll, “but (it was) the best this year.  Fantastic!”

History and tradition must mean something.

TITANS COULDN’T FINISH

In boxing parlance Eastlake had the Pirates on the ropes. Sawdust was removed from their gloves after several knockdowns, and a roaring Eastlake home crowd was screaming what amounted to a standing 8 count.

It was 30-7 at halftime, but the Titans eventually surrendered and Oceanside knocked out the state’s 13^th-ranked team and the pride of San Diego’s South Bay.

The decisive blow was a benign, 19-yard field goal but it  brought an end to the semifinal barnburner in the closing seconds.

Oceanside had allowed the run-oriented Titans to amass more than 200 yards rushing in the first half,  mostly by Isaiah Strayhorn and Isiah Olave.

But Strayhorn and Olave were slowed by injuries in the second half and Oceanside quarterback Matthew Romero, who completed 19 of 34 passes for 308 yards and two touchdowns, fueled a Pirates comeback.

Carroll, his voice still weak, according to Norcross, didn’t  join his team’s on-field celebration, but said, “I’m so proud of our kids right now…what an incredible comeback.”

Oceanside now meets Mission Hills, a 30-6 winner over Carroll’s club in  Week 6, in the Open championship Dec. 2 in Qualcomm Stadium.

Romero put it in context for writer Steve Brand:  “To tell you the truth, this means more than winning the Section championship last year (when the game was at Escondido High), because we get to go back to the Q.”

GRIZZLIES STOP HIGHLANDERS

Mission Hills overcame a 14-10 Helix lead to eliminate the Scots with an offense of three yards and kicked-up tufts of artificial turf.

Grizzlies coach Christ Hauser moved 210-pound linebacker Ricky Liuchan to offense and, in the spirit of Bronko Nagurski, Lichuan plowed straight  ahead.

Lichuan gained 25 yards in seven carries and scored on a three-yard run to give  the San Marcos squad a 17-14 lead in the third quarter and that touchdown was followed by a 10-yard Connor Wynn-to Scott Higgins touchdown pass for a 24-14 lead.

SWEETWATER’S LONGEST IN 27 YEARS

Before the game Sweetwater’s Brian Hay and his staff couldn’t agree on when was the last Sweetwater playoff victory, 1997 or ’99.

It was 1999, but more impressive is that the 35-0 victory over Clairemont in Division IV was the seventh in a row for the Red Devils and their longest winning streak since Gene Alim’s 1986 squad opened the season with nine wins in a row.

ANOTHER EIGHT TOPS NO. 1

Mission Bay’s upset of Madison wasn’t the only instance of the lowest bracket seed beating the highest.

No. 8 Granite Hills defeated unbeaten, No. 1 Francis Parker, 27-16,  in D-III, toppling the Lancers from the playoffs but also assuredly blowing them out of the No. 1 position in Cal-Hi Sports’ State Bowl series ratings.

Note:  All playoff results and pairings can be accessed via “Scores” on the home page and choosing “Football, By year” on the drop-down menu, then 2013.

Props to the Open Division, which delivered the games the CIF hoped for in a terrific week of San Diego Section playoffs.

But Oceanside’s stunning comeback, which ousted Eastlake, 33-30, and Mission Hills’ grinding, 24-21 win over Helix were just part of  competitive, late November action.

And at most venues there was the accompaniment of a calendar visitor,  rain and chill.

It started Thursday night with  Divisions I and II quarterfinals.

BUCCANEERS SAIL ON MATSON LINE

–Mission Bay, now 11-1 but the No. 8 seed in D-II, rallied in the last three minutes, then weathered a last-second field goal attempt to knock out Madison, the No. 1 seed and the state’s defending D-III champion.

The 21-18 victory, coming on Andre Petties-Wilson’s 12-yard touchdown  catch of Nicholas Plum’s pass with 2:50 remaining, was the 161st in coach Willie  Matson’s 24-season career as a head coach.

Matson, a Kearny graduate, was head coach at Mission Bay from 1984-85 (5-15), then served from 1987-93 at Kearny (49-32-1) and logged  logged six seasons, 1996-2001,  at Hoover (38-28-2).

His  last nine years have been Mission Bay redux (69-35-3)  and few, if any, of the coach’s 161 victories (including one San Diego Section title), were more dramatic or satisfying.

Only six weeks before the Buccaneers were on the short end of a 42-7 score against Madison in the teams’ Western League opener.

FREEMAN FREES IMPERIAL

–El Capitan  took its 10-1 record and 44-point scoring average over the mountains to the Imperial Valley and became Imperial’s 11^th straight victim, 49-42.

The Tigers’ Royce Freeman rushed for 218 yards in 36 carries and scored three touchdowns to raise his season total to 43.

Imperial, undefeated and with an average winning margin of 46-14, was behind 35-21 at halftime.

Freeman finally put the Tigers ahead for the first time with a 13-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-three with 5:52 remaining in the game.

The Tigers, the 3 seed, now take on No. 2 St. Augustine in the semifinals at Mesa College next Wednesday.

RBV RETURNS TO PROMINENCE

–It took awhile for people to start taking notice of Rancho Buena Vista, which was 4-35-1 from 2007-11.

The Longhorns, seeded fifth in D-II, showed some unexpected muscle in blowing out 4 seed Mount Miguel, an 8-2 team, 50-10, and this followed a regular-season, 38-36 win over San Pasqual, top seed in D-I.

The Vista school’s comeback began when Paul Gomes, who was 59-37-7 in nine years at Escondido, took over the program in 2012 and immediately improved the Longhorns from 0-10 to 6-6.

Gomes had left Escondido after the 2009 campaign to take a job on the staff of Rancho Santa Margarita’s Harry Welch.

Note: results and pairings for next week’s games can be accessed by going  to the  “Scores” link on the home page, then visiting the drop-down menu “by year”.

The seeding panel of mostly former coaches did its job.

There were almost no upsets in any of the six rounds on the opening Friday of the San Diego Section playoffs.

None, except in the ubiquitous and maligned Division IV, where 11 seed El Centro Southwest (3-7) defeated six seed Montgomery (4-6), 10-7, and 10 seed Clairemont (4-6) upset 7 seed La Jolla Country Day (5-5), 28-14.

LOSERS THINNED OUT

Seventeen losing teams and eight with .500 records comprised 25 of the 64, opening-round qualifiers.

There are  six losing teams and three .500 teams remaining as  quarterfinals take place in D-II, III, and IV, and semifinals in the Open and V divisions on Nov. 21-22.  Seven with non-winning records still are alive in  D-IV.

The Open Division semifinals are just what the CIF San Diego Section hoped for:  two big matchups, Helix at Mission Hills and Oceanside at Eastlake.

Division I is yet to shake out, but Carlsbad (4)-Grossmont (5) and Ramona (2)-Mt. Carmel (7) could be interesting.

IMPERIAL’S ROLLS ROYCE

Royce Freeman leads 10-0 Imperial against El Capitan in what could be a terrific 3-6 matchup in D-II.

The 6-1, 215-pound Freeman, headed to Oregon, is breaking all San Diego Section career scoring and rushing yardage records, but how good is his supporting cast?

The Tigers blew through the Imperial Valley League with the swirl of a Glamis sandstorm and scored routs of locals Sweetwater, Mater Dei, and Olympian.

Imperial also knocked out longtime desert bully Brawley, 29-10, in the premier matchup in that region this season.

But the Tigers are  in the same division with Madison (9-1), a defending state champion, and tough St. Augustine and Mount Miguel, each 8-2.

Unless willing to make a 111-mile jaunt over the Laguna Mountains to the community north of El Centro, local cognoscenti may see Freeman  only if the Tigers reach the finals in Qualcomm Stadium.

D-III has Francis Parker (10-0) and Christian (9-1), which lead their Southern California division in the Cal-Hi Sports state bowl series ratings.

Parker and Christian got first-round byes.  Parker now gets 8 seed Granite Hills and Christian meets 7 seed Morse.

WHAT ABOUT HILLTOP?

Lurking in D-III are the Hilltop Lancers, who won their first league title in 34 years and face Hoover, which has nine wins for only the third time in the school’s 84-season history.

Hilltop, the 3 seed at 9-1, hopes to better the school record of nine wins set by Stan Canaris’ 1979 squad.

Sweetwater, which started 1-4 before coach Brian Hay’s wing-T offense got rolling with five straight wins, appears to have an unimpeded path in D-IV.

Crawford (10-0) and Holtville (8-2) are on collision course in D-V for a rematch of the Colts’ 21-14, regular-season victory.

EL CAJON VALLEY

Despite a 191-7 negative point differential in the Grossmont Valley League, El Cajon Valley was in the playoffs and quickly out after a 55-7 beat-down at Marian Catholic.

Braves coach Norm Whitehead made a strong statement to U-T San Diego writer Don Norcross:

“I understand they want to reward the kids and blah, blah, blah, blah, but they should have a better system, so that not everyone goes to the playoffs,” said Whitehead.

“Rewarding the kids”?

What kind of reward is the certainty of  a scoreboard slaughter?

And shouldn’t a reward be for excellence and not for mediocrity (in many cases less than mediocrity)?

McFADDEN LIKES CHALLENGE

“You have to beat North County to get respect and this year we’ll have a chance to do that,” said Eastlake’s John  McFadden of next week’s tussle with top-seed and visiting Oceanside.

Eastlake will carry the pride of the South Bay against the outstanding Oceanside Pirates’ program, but McFadden is not flinching.

“We’re excited the play the best,” said the Titans’ coach.

TRUE GRID

West Hills’ Dave McManus set a San Diego Section record with his 10^th consecutive field goal, from 41 yards, and added a six-yard touchdown run…San Marcos was home for a playoff game for the first time since 1995 and took out Fallbrook 42-14…Manny Rodriguez and Rey Osuna each rushed for 112 yards in Olympian’s 35-18 win over Mira Mesa…Oceanside is in the playoff semifinals for the 20^th consecutive year…the San Diego Section did not have a copywrite on first-round blowouts…there were scores of 58-0, 62-0, and 83-0 in the Los Angeles City Section’s D-I and 71-0 and 71-6  in the Southern Section…biggest wipeout outside of Southern California was Modesto Central Catholic’s 75-0, Sac-Joaquin section playoff win over Marysville…Central Catholic is the same squad which hammered Santa Fe Christian, 66-7, in a state finals mismatch in 2012….