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 Division II-A, champion, and now winner of 21 games in a row, edged Helix, 44-43, in double overtime a month ago, and knocked out Carlsbad, 46-45, in overtime in the Open semifinals.

Those were just warmups.

Victory Saturday night at came after the Hornets had leads of 13-0 and 26-13.

Granite Hills (12-0) fought back and nudged ahead with 5:32 left in the fourth quarter on a three-yard pass from freshman quarterback Zach Benitez to Josh Zander.

The successful point after kick by Robert Petrich, grandson of Bob, a 1960s San Diego Chargers linebacker, proved the difference in the final score.

NOT OUT OF WOODS

The Eagles still faced a scary finish.

After a change of possession, Lincoln (11-1) took over on its 40-yard line with 1:30 remaining.

Akili Smith ran 6 yards and completed two passes to C.J. Williams to put the ball on the Eagles’ four-yard line with 58 seconds remaining.

Lincoln had second down on the one-yard line after the teams traded penalties and the Hornets’ Aden Jackson gained six yards to the one. Two thrusts into the middle of Granite’s defense netted nothing and a fourth-down snap from center eluded quarterback Smith.

Ball game.

Cue the celebration.

DIVISION VI

“And we’re going to be better next year,” Foothills Christian coach Joe Mackey exclaimed to Rick Hoff of The San Diego Union-Tribune after the 9-2 Knights had defeated 8-3 St. Joseph, 31-26, for their fourth eight-man championship since 2016.

Mackey, 55-17 since taking over the program in 2016, was referring to several underclassmen, notably running back Kameron Brown, who rushed for 175 yards in 32 carries and scored twice on a 15-yard run and 40-yard pass from quarterback Ben Hernandez, who also returns in 2024.

DV-AA

Holtville knows football. The Vikings (9-3) won their sixth San Diego Section championship since 1984, 27-21, over Army-Navy (8-4).

Sophomore quarterback Armando Cuevas threw two fourth-quarter touchdown passes and Enrique Armas ran for a clinching touchdown with 3:35 remaining.

Holtville defeated Army-Navy, 37-27, for the Class A title in 1990 and had not appeared in the championship since a 42-6 win over Crawford for the D-V title in 2013.

D-V

Sweetwater (7-6) exploded for 25 consecutive points in the second half and defeated 9-4 Calexico Vincent Memorial, 46-37.

The Red Devils, overcoming an 0-4 start, won their first championship since they started 1-4 but went on to top Monte Vista, 7-0, for the D-IV title in 2013.

Sweetwater, in the eras of coaches Dave Lay and Gene Alim, won championships in 1972, ’83, and ’84. Brian Hay coached the 2013 championship run.

Championships in Division I, II, III, IV will be decided this week at Southwestern College.

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

17^TH 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 Hurdles	Dill	Poway	:14.17w	2nd*
	Blunt	San Pasqual	:14.60	13th
300 Hurdles	Blunt		:44.05	6th*
	Dill		:46.69	19th
4×100 Relay		Morse	:48.37	12th
		Mt. Carmel	:48.87	13th
		Lincoln	:48.95	16th
4×400 Relay		Mt. Carmel	3:56.27	10th
		San Pasqual	3:56.39	11th
		Lincoln	4:01.05	16th
High Jump	Armstrong	Torrey Pines	5-4	8T*
	Weeks	Madison
	Barnes	Granite Hills	5-0	20T
Long Jump	Crisell	Fallbrook	16-9	18th
	Conston	Oceanside	16-3 ½	20th
Triple Jump	Sims	Oceanside	38-3/4	6th*
	Harrison	Mount Miguel	37-3 ¼	9th*
	Andrews	Torrey Pines	35-8 ¾	16th
Shot Put	Houston	Montgomery	39-2 ¾	10th*
	Bailey	Ramona	36-5 ¼	19th
	Beers	Poway	—	—
Discus	Bihis	Mt. Carmel	139-6	6th*
	Wadlington	Granite Hills	118-9	20th
	Allen	El Capitan	109-02	23rd

6/2/90

17^TH GIRLS STATE FINALS, CERRITOS COLLEGE, NORWALK

EVENT	NAME	SCHOOL	MARK	PLACE
100	Kimmey	University	:12.10	5th
400	Dring	Mt. Carmel	:55.07	3rd
	Bugg	Patrick Henry	—	—
3200	Glusac	Fallbrook	11:10.01	7th
	Armstrong	San Dieguito	11:10.69	11th
	Villareal	La Jolla	11:13.73	15th
100 Hurdles	Dill	Poway	:14.19	5th
300 Hurdles	Blunt	San Pasqual	:43.95	7th
High Jump	Armstrong	Torrey Pines	5-6	7th
Triple Jump	Sims	Oceanside	38-2 ½	2nd
	Harrison	Mount Miguel	36-5	8th
	Bihis	Mt. Carmel	133-6	8th

Seventeen of 48 qualifiers from the San Diego Section finals advanced from the 72^nd 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 the finals.

Noon, the 1969 state champion at 66-1 ½, defended his shot put title with a throw of 74 feet, 4 3/4 inches and came close to the national record of 77 feet in another competition, with a career best of 76-2.

The nearest anyone would come to Noon’s CIF meet standard in the next 30-plus years was more than two feet less, 72-0 by Matt Katnik of Bellflower St. John Bosco in 2015.

Noon was second in the discus at 200-8, his all-time best despite still recovering from a sore hamstring muscle.

Price won the long jump at 25-3 ½, and had several legal and wind-sided attempts trying to break Doyle Steel’s Section record of 25-5 ¼, once jumping 25-8 with more than the allowable wind allowance.

Sophomore Riley Washington of San Diego Southwest gave notice of what to expect in the future, finishing third in the 100 meters in :10.70.

5/3/90

Fallbrook’s Brent Noon hurled the shot 76 feet, 2 inches, a personal improvement of almost two feet in a dual meet with Torrey Pines.

Noon’s distance, second best all-time in the U.S., moved him closer to the accepted national record of 77 feet by Michael Carter of Jefferson high in Dallas in 1979.  Carter had a throw of 81-3 ½ in the postseason Golden West Invitational.

Noon also set a personal best and a San Diego Section record with a 196-6 effort in the discus, bettering Billy Joe Winchester’s 195-8 in 1970.

—Pat Pidgeon of St. Augustine became the first record holder in the first Harbor League finals, clearing 13 feet in the league meet at Balboa Stadium.

–Scott Hammond ran the 100 meters in :10.6 as Lincoln clinched the Eastern League dual championship, 71-54 over Crawford.

5/9/90

BOYS

EASTERN LEAGUE TRIALS, @BALBOA STADIUM

George Denny of Morse won a 400 heat in :49.2 and ran a leg on the Tigers’ 400 relay team that included Brian Griffith, Teddy Lawrence, and Stephan McQueen.  The Tigers quartet was timed in :42.1.

Patrick Henry’s David Gregory (:49.5) and Mira Mesa’s Sean Cahill (:50) ran 1-2 in another 400 heat.

AVOCADO LEAGUE TRIALS, @MIRACOSTA COLLEGE

Pulu Poumele of Oceanside (51-11 ¾) edged Junior Cienega of Escondido (51-11 3/8) in the shot put, setting up a rematch in the finals.

5/10/90

FINALS

PALOMAR @MIRACOSTA COLLEGE

Poway’s Steve Pomiak was a triple winner and named athlete of the meet.  Patrick won the 100-meter dash in :11. 200 in :22.8, and long jumped 22 feet, 7 inches.

Fallbrook’s Brent Noon set a San Diego Section record in the discus with a throw of 195-9, topping the 1970 mark of 195-8 by Mount Miguel’s Billy Joe Winchester.

5/11/90

PALOMAR SHOT PUT, @ORANGE GLEN

Brent Noon of Fallbrook smashed his meet record with an effort of 75 feet, 2 inches.

METROPOLITAN, @HILLTOP

Riley Washington of San Diego Southwest won the 100 (:10.80), and 220 (:21.7) and was a member of the winning 4×100 (:43.5) and 4×1600 (3:30.4) relay teams.

Castle Park’s Eric Bell struck four hurdles but still managed to finish the 110 highs in :14.8 and won the 300 barriers in :40.2.

Hector Hernandez of Mar Vista won the mile in 4:27.8 and two-mile in 9:54.7.

AVOCADO, @ MIRACOSTA COLLEGE

Junior Cienega of Escondido won the shot put showdown with Oceanside’s Pulu Poumele, 56-2 ¾-53-0.

Escondido doubled in the relays, :42.9 in the 4×100 and 3:24.3 in the 4×1600.  The Cougars Keith Williams  was byed into the CIF trials in the 300 hurdles.

GROSSMONT 3-A, @HELIX

El Capitan edged Helix, 75-74, for the team championship, with Granite Hills at 73 ½, Monte Vista, 32, and Mount Miguel, 19.

David Loshenkohl of Granite Hills was a double winner, 53-8 ½ in the shot put and 145-4 in the discus. Chris Ruff of El Capitan won the 110 hurdles in :14.9, 300 hurdles in :40.5, and ran a leg for the Eagles’ 4×1600 relay.

GROSSMONT 2-A, @HELIX

Santana outscored Grossmont, 96-71, for the team title.  El Cajon Valley had 63 points, Valhalla 31, and West Hills 28.

5/16/90

Brent Noon sustained a leg injury in the Palomar League finals but would be denied a request to be byed into the Section finals in the shot put and discus, according to CIF commissioner Kendall (Spider) Webb.

5/19/90

SAN DIEGO SECTION TRIALS, @BALBOA STADIUM

Allowable wind is 2.04 meters, so Jerome Price’s 25-foot, 8-inch long jump, while better than Doyle Steel’s 25-5 ¼ in 1966, was not a record.

Nor was another wind-sided jump of 25-3, so the University City jumper settled for 25-0 ¾, second longest in County history and No. 1 in the state.

Morse’s Teddy Lawrence was second with a jump of 23-4.

San Diego Southwest sophomore Riley Washington won a heat in the 100 meters in :10.72 and Kearny’s Darnay Scott lowered the season best in the 220 to :21.55.

OTHER SEASON BESTS

Eric Bell, Castle Park, :14.46, 110 high hurdles.

Hector Hernandez, Mar Vista, 4:19.2 1600.

Lincoln 4×100 relay, :42.01.

Morse 4×1600 relay, 3:21.92.

A virtually immobile Brent Noon, nursing a tender hamstring, led qualifiers with a 61-1/2 shot put and 168-foot discus throw.

5/26/90

SAN DIEGO SECTION FINALS, @POWAY

Morse outscored Mt. Carmel, 56-38, for the team title.
Brent Noon set a meet shot put record of 74-10 ½ and University City’s Jerome Price came close to Doyle Steel’s 25-5 ¼ broad jump in 1966, closing with a 25-4 ½ leap.

Two meet records were set.

NAME	EVENT	RECORD	NAME	PREVIOUS	YEAR
Washington, San Diego Southwest	100	:10.53	Ethridge, Crawford	:10.56	1987
Noon, Fallbrook	Shot Put	74-10 ½	Noon	66-7	1989

OTHER SEASON BESTS

—Darnay Scott, Kearny, :21.49 200.

—Sean Cahill, Mira Mesa, :48.49 400.

—Scott Robeson, Mt. Carmel, 1:54.49 800.

—Hector Hernandez, Mar Vista, 4:17.26 1600.

—Tom Bache, University, 9:25.78 3200.

—Chris Jones, Morse, :37.89 300 hurdles.

—Wes Stephens, Orange Glen, 15-0 pole vault.

—Matt Johnson, Castle Park, 46-11 triple jump.

6/1/90

72^ND STATE TRACK TRIALS, @CERRITOS COLLEGE, NORWALK
(*qualified for finals)

EVENT	NAME	SCHOOL	MARK	PLACE
100	Washington	San Diego Southwest	:10.66	5th*
	Lawrence	Morse	:10.88	12th
200	Hammond	Lincoln	:21.75	8th*
400	Cahill	Mira Mesa	:50.01	16th
	Gregory	Patrick Henry	:50.26	18th
800	Robeson	Mt. Carmel	1:54.59	9th*
	Luna	Poway	1:56.96	19th
	Sanchez	Castle Park	2:01.70	27th
1600	Hernandez	Mar Vista	4:12.95	3rd*
	Walker	San Pasqual	4:14.05	9th*
	Biddle	Mt. Carmel	4:17.15	14th
4×100 Relay	Lincoln		:41.98	7th*
	Morse		:42.38	9th*
	University City		:42.60	13th
4×1600 Relay	Mira Mesa		3:17.87	4th*
	Morse		3:20.83	13th
	Poway		3:22.10	15th
110 Hurdles	Jones	Morse	:14.8	11th
	Bell	Castle Park	:14.87	14th
300 Hurdles	Williams	Escondido	:38.26	3rd*
	Lewis	Mira Mesa	:38.94	12th
	Jones	Morse	:39.97	21st
High Jump	Duffield	Vista	6-4	10th
	Krebs	University City	6-2	18th
Long Jump	Price	University City	24-4 3/4	2nd*
	Balina	Mt. Carmel	23-4 ½	5th*
	Hammond	Lincoln	22-1 3/4	13th
Triple Jump	Johnson	Castle Park	45-1/4	20th
	Lundy	Morse	43-10 ¾	22nd
Shot Put	Noon	Fallbrook	73-6	1st*
	Martz	Orange Glen	54-9 1/2	10th
	Cienega	Escondido	53-5 1/2	13th
Discus	Noon		193-6	2nd*
	Martz		168-7
	Graham	Mira Mesa	154-11
Pole Vault	Stephens	Orange Glen	14-8	9th*
	Roth	Mt. Carmel	14-0
	Aubuchon	Fallbrook	13-8

6/2/90

72^ND STATE FINALS, AT CERRITOS COLLEGE, NORWALK

EVENT	NAME	SCHOOL	MARK	PLACE
100	Washington	San Diego Southwest	:10.70	3rd
200	Hammond	Lincoln	:21.84	8th
800	Robeson	Mt. Carmel	1:53.89	6th
1600	Hernandez	Mar Vista	4:14.42	5th
	Walker	San Pasqual	4:18.78	7th
3200	Lozano	Helix	9:32.17	19th
	Hernandez		9:35.81	21st
	Bache	University	9:46.93	23rd
110 Hurdles	Jones	Morse	:14.90	7th
300 Hurdles	Williams	Escondido	:38.29	6th
4×100 Relay	Lincoln		:42.34	7th
	Morse		:42.38	8th
4×400 Relay	Mira Mesa		3:17.66	7th
Long Jump	Price	University City	25-3 ¼	1st
	Balina	Mt. Carmel	23-1w	5th
Shot Put	Noon	Fallbrook	74-4 ¾	1st
Discus	Noon		200-8	2nd
Pole Vault	Stephens	Orange Glen	15-2	5th

The CIF’s scoring system had evolved since the first meet in 1915. Originally a finish in the top four was awarded points and a medal.

By 1980, scoring had evolved to include recognition and points as far down as sixth place.

YEARS	FIRST	SECOND	THIRD	FOURTH	FIFTH	SIXTH
1915-28	5	3	2	1	—	—
1929-30	5	3	2	1	½	—
1931-65	5	4	3	2	1	—
1966-79	6	4	3	2	1	—
1980—	10	8	6	4	2	1

6/16/90

The 31^st Golden West Invitational in Sacramento attracted some of the nation’s premier athletes.

Brent Noon of Fallbrook won the shot put with a throw of 72 feet.  Jim Flanigan of  Brussels, Wisconsin, was second at 66-5.

University City’s Jerome Price was fourth in the long jump at 24-5 ½, behind the winning 25-5 ½ by Michael Hightower of Paris, Texas.

(Avocado and Eastern League championship meet results were not found).

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 14^th Granite Hills.

The Eagles bused 44 miles and then outlasted state No. 8 Carlsbad, 46-45, in overtime, while top-ranked Lincoln, behind in the fourth quarter for the first time, rallied to beat Helix, 45-38, in two overtimes.

Two startling contests and two outstanding teams, 10-1 Carlsbad of the Avocado League and 9-2 Helix of the Grossmont Hills, that saw their seasons come to jarring ends.

“It might have been the best game I’ve ever seen,” said veteran Union-Tribune writer John Maffei of the Carlsbad-Granite thriller.

WARHAWKS BRING DOWN FALCONS

Two surprises stood out in  Division I and III quarterfinals.

A stunner was No. 9 Madison’s upset of D-I top seed Torrey Pines, 21-0.

The loss shocked not only the Falcons but the North County cognoscenti, which proclaims, sometimes loudly, that the best football is played in the Avocado League.

Other reversals included D-I No. 5 St. Augustine’s thumping No. 4 La Costa Canyon, 32-17, in another Avocado League setback, and No. 6 La Jolla Country Day’s 35-7 win over 3 West Hills in D-III.

Madison, written off after six losses in a seven-game stretch that ended with a seemingly meaningless, 33-0 win against 1-9 University City, pitched its third consecutive shutout.

The Warhawks’ defense constricted Torrey Pines, which mustered 113 yards offense and six yards rushing.

Madison (6-6) will try to continue its late-season run in the semifinals against Western League rival 8-4 St. Augustine, a 34-14 winner in the teams’ Week 9 matchup.

Not all was despair for the Avocado League.  Mission Hills, annually tough and seasoned and the No. 2 seed in D-I, takes on loop rival 3 El Camino after a 27-13 win over 7 seed and neighbor San Marcos.

The Grizzlies  of coach Chris Hauser, making their 15th semifinals appearance in the last 18 years, gave the ball to Giovanni Harte, who responded with 286 yards in 37 carries and scored four touchdowns.

FOUR FINALS

Games at Escondido High Friday, Nov. 17, and Saturday, Nov. 18, will determine lower division champions:

V-AA—1 Holtville (8-2) versus 2 Army-Navy (8-3), 1  p.m. Saturday.

VI—1 Foothills Christian (8-2) versus 2 St. Joseph (8-3), 4:30 p.m. Friday.

V—No. 1 Calexico Vincent Memorial (9-3) versus 2 Sweetwater (6-6), 7:30 p.m. Friday.

OPEN–1 Lincoln and 3 Granite Hills will kick off at 7:30 p.m.  Saturday, Nov. 18, at Snapdragon Stadium.

Divisions I and IV will be part of a doubleheader Friday, Nov. 24, at Southwestern College.  Divisions II & III will settle matters in a twin bill Saturday, Nov. 25. Starting times are 2 and 7:30 p.m. each day

Lincoln (11-0) and Granite Hills (11-0) are the first undefeated, 11-man opponents since Christian (12-0) met The Bishop’s (12-0) in the Division III championship in 2016.

Foothills Christian (10-0) played San Diego Jewish (8-0) in an eight-man title game in 2019.

Three others undefeated but tied also have played.

Bold type  indicates winning team:

YEAR/DIVISION	TEAM	RECORD	TEAM	RECORD	SCORE
1970 AA	Grossmont	11-0	St. Augustine	11-0	13-8
1974 AA	Vista	12-0	Patrick Henry	11-0-1	32-0
1982 AA	El Camino	12-0	Pont Loma	10-0-2	6-6
2004 III	Brawley	12-0	Valley Center	10-0-2	39-36
2016  II	Christian	12-0	The Bishop’s	12-0	49-20
2019 8-MAN	Foothills Christian	10-0	San Diego Jewish	8-0	62-0
2023 OPEN	Lincoln	11-0	Granite Hills	11-0

TRUE GRID

Lincoln is 2-0 all-time versus Granite Hills…the 1977 Marcus Allen-led Hornets upset the No. 1 Eagles, 19-12, in the semifinals and they repeated, 34-20, in a 2018 semifinal…St. Augustine is 13-11 against Madison in a series which began in 1968 with a 26-0 Saints victory….2 Chula Vista (9-2), which is host to 3 Westview (7-4) in D-IV, hasn’t been as successful since the 2003 team was 10-2…1 Del Norte (9-2) is in uncharted waters…the D-II Nighthawks, who entertain playoff savvy 5 Point Loma (6-5), came into the season with an all-time best record of 7-5 in 2021 and ’22…Greg Tate was Mission Bay’s fifth coach in four years when he took the job in 2019… the D-III 3 seed Bucs, who take on 5 seed Grossmont (6-5), are 27-13 with Tate…Holtville leads Army-Navy, 15-10, in a series that began in 1981 but hadn’t been renewed since 2014…latest Cal-Hi Sports state rankings:  6, Lincoln; 7, Granite Hills; 11, Carlsbad; 16, Helix.  On the bubble: El Camino, Madison, Mission Hills, St. Augustine….

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. Three ninth-ranked squads beat No. 8 seeds and a 5 seed upended a 4 seed.

WARHAWKS HAVE HISTORY

No. 9 Madison’s 27-0, Division I victory over No. 8 Mater Dei might be classified as an upset, considering what played out in the regular season.

The Warhawks, traditionally strong and blooded with two state championships in three seasons since 2010, limped into the Division I bracket with six losses in their eight previous games.

Mater Dei, the defending state D-IIAA champion, was riding a six-game winning streak but ran into a Warhawks defense that suffocated the Crusaders, who finished with minus 45 yards rushing.

COUGARS GET HEALTHY

Escondido coach Stephen Dixon told John Maffei of The San Diego Union that his Cougars squad was “whole” for the first time, after losing eight of 10 during the regular season, including its last six.

The 37-21 D-IV win over Calexico was a nice bounce and also maintained the Cougars’ record of never losing to the Bulldogs in this infrequently played series.

YEAR	TEAM	OPPONENT	SCORE
1956	Escondido	Calexico	26-6
1957			48-12*
2002			32-6
2003			35-0
2008			70-0
2009			79-0
2023			37-21*

*Playoff games.

El Capitan, seeded ninth, ushered out Patrick Henry, another eight seed, 30-14 in D-III, and Maranatha ranked fifth in DV-AA, rocked No. 4 Rock, 35-14.

DREADED ADMINISTRATIVE GLITCH

Orange Glen had a whopper.

The Patriots forfeited their D-IV playoff opener to Crawford not long after it was determined the Patriots had used an ineligible player for a 10^th consecutive game.

Someone was asleep at the Academic check point.

The player was a classroom grading casualty almost from Day I but was allowed to play the entire regular season before those responsible apparently discovered the oversight.

OPEN SEASON

Action advances to the quarterfinals this week with four Open Division stalwarts beginning play in a couple blockbusters.  Helix (9-1) is at Lincoln (10-0) and Granite Hills (10-0) visits Carlsbad (10-0).

Those four rank from sixth to eighteenth in Cal-Hi Sports’ state Top 50.

There are lots of other interesting quarterfinals matchups, including but not limited to those ranging up and down the Roman numerals:

D-I—6 Cathedral (4-7), @3 El Camino (7-4).

D-II—6 El Centro Central (9-2), @3La Jolla (8-2).

D-III—9 El Capitan (7-4), @1 Mission Bay (8-3).

D-IV—5 Crawford (8-3), @4 Santana (5-6).

D-V—4 Hoover (7-4), @1 Calexico Vincent Memorial (8-3).

DV-AA—4 Maranatha (5-6), @1 Holtville (7-2).

D-VI—4 Coastal (5-5), @Foothills Christian (7-2).

 

 

 

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 jacket or sweater.

There are 20 champions in the CIF San Diego Section’s 18 leagues this season, with playoffs beginning this week (schedules on the Football/Scores/2023 page).  Oceanside, Valley Center, and San Pasqual tied for first in the Valley loop.

The 17 other champions were outright winners:

		League			Overall
LEAGUE	TEAM	WON	LOST	Pct.	WON	LOST	Pct.
Avocado	Carlsbad	5	0	1,000	10	0	1,000
Central	San Diego	4	0	1,000	4	6	.400
City	Scripps Ranch	4	0	1,000	7	3	.700
Coastal	The Bishop’s	6	0	1,000	7	3	.700
Desert	Holtville	3	0	1,000	7	2	.778
Eastern	La Jolla	4	0	1,000	8	2	.800
Grossmont Hills	Granite Hills	5	0	1,000	10	0	1,000
Grossmont Valley	Mount Miguel	4	0	1,000	9	1	.900
Imperial Valley	El Centro Central	4	0	1,000	8	2	.800
Manzanita	San Pasqual Academy	6	0	1,000	7	3	.700
Metro Mesa	Mater Dei	3	0	1,000	6	3	.667
Metro Pacific	Chula Vista	4	0	1,000	8	2	.800
Metro South Bay	Olympian	3	0	1,000	6	3	.667
Ocean	Foothills Christian	5	0	1,000	7	2	.778
Pacific	Orange Glen	5	0	1,000	6	4	.600
Palomar	San Marcos	5	0	1,000	8	2	.800
*Valley	San Pasqual	5	1	.833	6	4	.600
	Valley Center	5	1	.833	5	5	.500
	Oceanside	5	1	.833	6	4	.600
Western	Lincoln	4	0	1,000	10	0	1,000

*Coin flip held for purpose of playoff seeding.  San Pasqual declared  champion.

John Maffei’s Week 12 Union-Tribune Poll:
This is the final regular-season poll.  There will be a “final final” poll after the San Diego Section playoffs.
Points awarded on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. *First-place votes.
NR–Not ranked.
Last entries in columns are previous rankings, except for San Marcos and St. Augustine.
Max Preps‘ and Cal-Hi Sports‘ are state rankings.

RANK	TEAM/RECORD	POINTS	MAXPREPS.COM	CALPREPS.COM	CAL-HI SPORTS
1.	Lincoln (10-0)	*27/297/1	6/8	63.9/61.3	6/6
2.	Carlsbad (10-0)	*3/269/2	9/12	61.1/59.5	7/7
3.	Granite Hills (10-0)	244/3	26/27	50.3/50.3	14/14
4.	Helix (9-1)	210/4	28/28	50.1/50.1	16/18
5.	Torrey Pines (7-3)	155/5	41/47	42.539.6	On Bubble/On Bubble
6.	Mission Hills (7-3)	145/6	38/40	43.6/42.3	On Bubble/On Bubble
7.	El Camino (6-4)	96/7	73/68	35.4/35.1	NR/NR
8	San Marcos (8-2)	65/NR	91	32.6/29.8	NR/NR
9	La Costa Canyon (5-5)	52/9	77/72	34.8/34.6	NR/NR
10.	St. Augustine (6-4)	45/NR	80	34.6/31.3	NR/NR

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES
Mater Dei (6-3, 38 points),  Mount Miguel (9-1, 11), Del Norte (8-2, 6), The Bishop’s (7-3, 3), Cathedral (3-7, 3), La Jolla (8-2, 3), El Centro Central (8-2, 2).

VOTING PANEL

Twenty-nine sportswriters, sportscasters, administrators from San Diego County, plus Max Preps.com.

• John Maffei (San Diego Union-Tribune).
• Don Norcross, Steve Brand, Rick Hoff, Eric Williams, Thomas Gutierrez , Freelance contributors.
• Brandon Stone, Allison Edmonds, John Carroll (KUSI, Channel 51).
• Rick Smith (partletonsports.com).
• Adam Paul (EastCountySports.com).
• Bodie DeSilva (ScorebookLive.com). 
• John Kentera, Braden Suprenant (97.3-FM The Fan).
• Steve (Biff) Dolan (Mountain Country 107.9-FM). 
• Christian Pedersen (San Diego Sports Association).
• Troy Hirsch, Nic Pollino (Fox 5 San Diego). 
• Joe Heinz, Todd Cassen, Ron Marquez (CIF San Diego Section).
• Mike Dolan, Rex Johnson, Bruce Ward (CIF Advisory Committee).
• Joe Evangelist (San Diego Coaching Legends Committee).
• Will Torrez (Valley Sports Network).
• Tom Ronco  (Imperial Valley Press).
• Raymond Brown  (SDfootball.net).
• Tom Helmantoler (Southern Conference Advisor).
• Max Preps.