First in a series this week on San Diego Section Southern California playoff matchups.

DIVISION 1-AA

Two of the state’s most successful coaches will square off at Cathedral Friday night at 7:30 in this repeat of a Southern California playoff in 2016, when Cathedral defeated the Narbonne Gauchos, 35-28, en route to a 15-0 season and the Dons’ second state championship.

Harbor City Narbonne coach Manuel Douglas is 110-32 (.775) since taking over the Gauchos’ program in 2009 and has two state titles, 28-14 over Concord Clayton Valley in 2015 and 28-21 over Pittsburgh in 2017.

Douglas was 8-6 and 6-6 in his first two seasons, but his teams have won at least 10 games every season since 2011 and three times have won 14.  Narbonne is located in one of the most fertile football areas of Southern California, approximately 7 miles west of Long Beach Poly and about 3.3 miles southwest of Carson High, which for many years ruled the L.A. City Section.

Cathedral’s Sean Doyle, who played for the Dons when they were known as University of San Diego High and has coached them since 1996, posting a 193-92 (.677) record, parlayed the 2016 win over Narbonne into a state championship, 38-35 over Stockton St. Mary’s.  The Dons also won a title in 2009, when they measured St. Mary’s, 37-34.

Narbonne is named after Nathaniel Narbonne, who came South from the Sacramento gold rush in 1852 and eventually owned more than 3,500 acres of land as a cattle rancher in the area around Lomita and Harbor City.  Narbonne passed in 1881 and the school opened in 1925.

Cathedral opened in 1957, a year after the nascent University of San Diego played its first football game.

The Dons are led by Shawn Poma, who played a significant role in Cathedral’s 2016 championship, was injured for much of last season as the Dons fell to 5-7, and returned to rush for 1,413 yards, a 10.2-yard average, and has scored 17 touchdowns this season.

Junior quarterback D.J. Ralph, son of Jerry, the longtime San Diego-area head coach, has passed for 1,194 yards and 15 touchdowns.

Narbonne’s sophomore quarterback Jake Garcia has completed 76 per cent of his passes for 1,802 yards and 13 touchdowns. Sophomore Marceece Yetts is averaging 5.9 yards for 114 carries and scored 6 touchdowns.

TRUE GRID

Cathedral (11-1) is ranked 11^th in the state by Cal-Hi Sports and 16^th by Max Preps…the Dons’ Cal-Preps.com rating is up to 65.7…the three rating systems have the Gauchos at 13^th, 25^th, and 54.2, respectively…this will mark Narbonne’s third appearance here…the Gauchos defeated host Mount Miguel, 25-7, in 1971…movie director Quentin Tarentino attended Narbonne, as did Bo Derek, who was an international sensation in the movie Ten…Paul Pettit, major league baseball’s first 100,000 bonus baby, also attended Narbonne…Cathedral lists golfer Phil Mickelson and Los Angeles Lakers head coach Luke Walton among its graduates…Cathedral came from a 14-0 deficit to overcome Torrey Pines for the San Diego Section Open Division championship, 28-17 in Week 14…Narbonne defeated Los Angeles Garfield, 55-7 for the L.A. City Open title….

To all our friends and visitors, we are taking the week off for Thanksgiving and will resume on Sunday, Nov. 25.

Here’s to a San Diego State victory over Iowa State today.

Rick Smith & Henrik Jonson.

Cathedral and Torrey Pines, 1.8 miles apart on San Diego’s Del Mar Heights Road, meet in  the region’s biggest game Saturday night at Southwestern College in Bonita, more than 30 miles away.

Southwestern’s Jaguar Stadium is a terrific venue which probably could squeeze 10,000 persons into its concrete stands and is the only edifice capable of handling a so-called game of the year and Open Division championship in the San Diego Section.

This isn’t Texas, where 20,000-seat high school stadiums are not uncommon.  But Southwestern’s is the best in this area of more than 3 million persons. Long gone are San Diego State’s Aztec Bowl and Balboa Stadium on the San Diego High campus, which were larger and hosted similar contests over the years.

SO CLOSE

Cathedral and Torrey Pines, the Open Division finalists,  are closer on the field than their geographic cheek to cheek.

Torrey is 11-0, Cathedral 10-1.

Torrey Pines is ranked 11^th in California by Cal-Hi Sports.  Cathedral is 12^th.

Cathedral is 11th in the state and 51^st nationally as calculated by Max Preps.  Torrey Pines is 14^th and 71^st, respectively.

Calpreps.com gives Cathedral a 63.3 ratings.  Torrey is assigned 60.5.

Cathedral dropped its opening game, 19-7 to La Costa Canyon.  Torrey Pines scored a late-season, 38-0 victory over the Mavericks.

DONS DRAMA

School honchos suspended coach Sean Doyle for last week’s 35-0 playoff win over Carlsbad after reported hazing among players.  Doyle was said to have been unaware and not involved but being the captain of the ship, Doyle took the hit.

The distraction notwithstanding, we’ll take Cathedral over the Falcons, 42-28.

QUICK KICKS

Higher playoff seeds will be the home teams for the semifinals in Divisions 1 through V…possible most significant matchups:  Eastlake (2) and Helix (3)  in D-I…Mission Hills, lowest seed at 9, versus 4 St. Augustine in the other D-I semifinal…Mira Mesa, a 7 seed, visits Valley Center (3) in D-II…Santa Fe Christian, a 6 seed, travels to No. 1 El Centro Central in D-III…No. 6 Serra visits No. 1 San Diego in D-IV…Orange Glen, at 7-4 enjoying its first winning season since 1997 and hoping to forget a 21-year record of 51-153-1, is the No. 1 seed in D-V and takes on visiting No. 4 Holtville…Orange Glen’s last winning season was the 9-3 of coach Rob Gilster’s 1996 squad…Gilster then went over the hill and north of Lake Wohlford to start the Valley Center program in 1997….

 

 

 

Helix won its third championship in the last six seasons, but the Highlanders were just breaking ground. The best was yet to come, thanks to Bill Walton, a once-in-a-lifetime player.

Meanwhile, the ball continued to swish through the net.

A record twenty-three players scored at least 400 points and junior Paul Halupa of Bonita Vista averaged 28.7, bettering the record of St. Augustine’s Tom Shaules, who averaged 28.3 in 1957-58. Halupa set a Bonita Vista record with 46 points in a 99-65 loss to Chula Vista.

Not to be outdone, Granite Hills’ Tim Doerr knocked down 47 points on the final night of the regular season, but the Eagles sustained a 99-88 loss to Monte Vista, the reverse exclamation point in a 1-21 season.

Julian’s Rob Petrie tied Shaules’ single-game record of 60 in a 115-76 win over Mountain Empire.

There were more teams and more players and the number of games had increased since early-decade, but the high schoolers continued to refine their shooting skills. In 1960-61, the first year of the CIF San Diego Section, two players scored at least 400, led by the 428 of San Dieguito’s John Fairchild, and 13 scored at least 300.

At least 30 players touched 300 this season, the total no longer notable.

Leaders:

NAME	TEAM	GAMES	POINTS	AVERAGE
Strong	Kearny	30	774	25.8 (3)
Edwards	Madison	32	766	23.9 (5)
Halupa	Bonita Vista	25	718	28.7 (1)
Delgadillo	Castle Park	31	553	17.8
Chaffin	Orange Glen	30	550	18.3
McCargo	Oceanside	27	546	20.2 (T8)
Higgins	La Jolla	27	545	20.2 (T8)
Doerr	Granite Hills	22	508	23.1 (6)
Millar	Coronado	24	505	21.0 (7)
Gibbs	Lincoln	25	504	20.2 (T8)
Skelley	Hoover	25	500	20.0
Boone	Crawford	28	483	17.3
Schutier	Chula Vista	24	465	19.4
Menzies	Grossmont	28	459	16.4
Petrie	Julian	17	446	26.2 (2)
Bojorquez	Fallbrook	24	442	18.4
Bill Walton	Helix	26	434	16.7
Gerding	Point Loma	25	428	17.1
Mushovic	Coronado	24	411	17.1
Jackson	Hilltop	23	418	18.2
Hays	Carlsbad	21	413	19.7
Barstow	Mount Miguel	25	412	17.5
Carlson	Mar Vista	24	407	17.0
Carr	Poway	24	399	16.6
Russell	San Diego Military	16	392	24.5 (4)

Rascon, Mountain Empire, scored 221 points in 11 games, a 20.1 average.

FLASHED AS SOPHOMORE

Walton had come up from the junior varsity during the 1967-68 playoffs and impacted a semifinal victory over Hilltop with two blocked shots and three rebounds at important junctures in a 69-57 victory.

Listed then by writer Bill Center as a “spindly, 6-foot, 6-inch sophomore,” Walton had grown over the summer to variously cited heights of 6-7, 6-8 ½, and 6-9 1/2.

Walton missed the season’s first three games, nursing a fractured metatarsal bone in his right foot, two days after receiving permission to play on a strained ligament in the same foot, according to a report in The San Diego Union.

Despite winning CIF and national collegiate championships at UCLA and NBA titles with the Portland Trail Blazers and Boston Celtics, Walton’s career often was interrupted and shortened by painful, crippling foot injuries.

SURPRISING SETBACKS

Helix won 29 games and had two unlikely losses, 58-52 to  Monte Vista, with a 2-10 record, and 63-60 to Santa Paula, a small Ventura County school, in the annual Fillmore tournament.

Helix came into the Monte Vista game with a 13-1 record but never led.  Bill Belander (19) and Ernie Arroyo (16) kept the Highlanders at a distance and the Monarchs’ 1-3-1 and 1-2-2 zone defenses slowed the Scots, whose repeated attempts to fast break were short circuited by defender Jim Krattli’s intercepted passes.

The Scots righted the ship the following game, running past El Cajon Valley, 105-53, as Bruce Menser scored 29 points, Dave Unroe 19, Race Paddock and Mike Dupree 11 each, and Bill Walton, 9.

Bill’s older brother, Bruce, a 6-foot-5, 250 pounder, also was an effective rebounder and scorer who went on to an outstanding football career, drafted in the fifth round by the Dallas Cowboys in 1973.

COMING ON

Bill Walton’s emerging dominance was never clearer than in a two-game stretch of Grossmont League play in February.  He had 21 points and 33 rebounds in a 70-48 conquest of Mount Miguel and 21 points and 17 rebounds three days later in a 69-52 win over Grossmont.

Walton, in another overwhelming performance, had 34 rebounds and 24 points against El Capitan as Helix, despite 17 first-half turnovers, won, 84-53.

Walton averaged 19 rebounds and had a 16.7 scoring average despite playing only  one quarter in early-season games.

DON’T KICK HORNETS’ NEST

Bill Center’s lead paragraph in The San Diego Union:  “Morse High won the Eastern League basketball title yesterday by downing Lincoln in the closing seconds, 73-72, in a game that ended with both referees having to be escorted from the Hornets’ gym.”

The trouble began, Center reported, when Lincoln’s Stan Cherry was fouled attempting a shot.  Had Cherry scored, Lincoln would have won and tied for the league championship.

But the referees ruled, after conferring with the timer, that the foul on Cherry occurred after the final buzzer and end of game.

As referee Doug Harvey, a future baseball Hall of Fame umpire, and Bob Moss, a local prep coach and former three-sport athlete at Lincoln, discussed what happened at the official scorer’s table, the near capacity crowd flowed onto the court. When the decision was rendered tempers flared.

FAISON TO RESCUE

Led by Lincoln faculty member and former San Diego Chargers star Earl Faison, a cordon of school officials whisked Harvey and Moss out of the gym away from trouble and into the nearby dressing room.

Harvey had worked many tension-filled games at Lincoln, including one with brother Nolan in 1959-60, when the younger brother of a San Diego High player came out of the stands and took a punch at Lincoln’s Al Catlin.

Morse’s hero was Cedric Reed, who scored the winning basket on a follow shot with 14 seconds remaining.  Reed had beaten the Hornets with two late baskets in a 63-61 thriller earlier.

WILLIAMS’ FIRST

For Morse coach Tom Williams, once a junior member of the Lincoln coaching staff, the victory was particularly satisfying, marking Williams’ first league title in the school’s seven years.

Williams opened the program in 1962-63 and gradually got the Tigers to the top from humble beginnings.  His teams went 2-22, 9-16, 4-16, 13-13, 16-11, and 20-9 before this season’s 23-6.

Williams went on to win 443 games in his career, which included starting up the Serra program when that school opened in 1976.

STANDLY STEPS DOWN.

San Diego High coach Bill Standly announced he was retiring from coaching after nine seasons with the Cavemen, preceded by a long run in Minnesota high schools.

The Cavers fell to 12-15 this season but Standly concluded his Cavers tenure with a 170-85 (.667) record, not counting five forfeits because of player ineligibility in 1965-66, and two Eastern League and two San Diego Section titles.

BARNBURNERS 

Kearny’s Wilburn Strong outscored Phil Edwards, 36-24, but Edwards’ teammate Michael Cohen scored 28 as Madison defeated its league rival, 89-87.  Strong had 40 points, 11 rebounds, and six assists as the Komets broke through on the Warhawks, 83-80, in the rematch.

“I’ve been waiting three years for this,” declared Kearny coach Wayne Colborne.  “They beat us twice with (Steve) Rostoker and twice with (Ron) Dahms.  The kids just made up their minds they wouldn’t do it twice again.”

As Bill Center noted, “Tearful Komets cheerleaders sang the school’s alma mater.”

UNI TRAGEDY

Kevin Madden, a three-sport standout for University, was killed on his way to school in a two-car accident on Friar’s Road near the school’s Linda Vista campus.  The school decided to play the scheduled game against Clairemont the following night and the Dons defeated the Chieftains, 66-44.

REPAIRMAN TO RESCUE

Madison’s 70-66 Western League win over University was delayed almost 20 minutes.  Just before the opening tip a Uni player took a final practice shot and the basket came unhinged and fell to the floor.

TOURNAMENTS

SOUTHERN PREP LEAGUE

–Rob Petrie scored 32 and Julian won the league’s December event, 74-49 over San Diego Military.

FALLBROOK

–Coronado defeated host Fallbrook, 65-56, in finals of the eighth annual of eight teams.  San Clemente, Perris, and Laguna Beach came in from outside the county line.

KIWANIS

–Twenty-second annual included 40 teams in Unlimited (Helix 64-57 over Madison), Limited (University 58-53 over Orange Glen), and Classified (San Marcos 55-45 over Bonita Vista) divisions.

–Highlanders coach Gordon Nash probably heard some groans from his team.  Helix led by one point with 1:43 left against John Hannon’s quick, scrappy Warhawks.  “We’ll be practicing tomorrow morning,” said Nash. “Walton has been out practically all season.  He hasn’t been able to practice with the team.”

–Walton, who did not always take the floor with the starting lineup, scored 67 points in four tournament games, including 24 in the championship.

–Bruce Walton made the all-tournament team.

–Hoover’s Tim Skelley came within one point of John Havens’ school-record 38 points in an 86-75, overtime loss to Point Loma.

–University moved to 9-0 but was held below its 77-point average in the 58-53, Limited Division championship against Orange Glen.

–Paul Halupa had 60 per cent of Bonita Vista’s points, 27 of 45, in the Classified loss.

EL CENTRO ELKS

–Madison and Phil Edwards set school records.  The Warhawks stormed past Mexicali CETY’s, 112-45, and Edwards scored 43 points, augmented by 31 from Bob Brady.

–Crawford, destined to finish 4-8 and in sixth place in the Eastern League, with an overall, 17-11 record, stunned Madison, 71-65 in the semifinals, shocking the team that would win the Western League at 11-1 and finish 26-6 overall.

–The Colts then surprised Morse, 49-48, in the finals.  The Tigers would win the Eastern League at 11-1.

FILLMORE

Santa Paula defeated Helix, 63-60, as Bill Walton was on the bench with five fouls and the Highlanders could not overcome a 54-38 deficit after three quarters.  It was the third time in this event since 1959  that Helix had lost to the unheralded Cardinals.

The Scots recovered to outscore Bakersfield, 78-61, for the consolation championship.

UNIVERSITY

The tournament program was 0-4, retaining its record of misspelling the name of the tournament director, Uni coach Hector Macis.

Macis again was identified as “Mr. Marcis” in the publication.

–Kearny’s Wilburn Strong set a school record with 42 points in a school-record 97-53 win over Granite Hills.

–“I saw where Phil Edwards scored 43 in El Centro last night and I figured I could get that many, too,” said Strong.

–Strong was the tournament most-valuable player and set a record with 121 points (ex-teammate Russ [Whimpy] scored 100 in the 1966 tournament), but Hoover won the championship, 80-60, over Castle Park.

–Coach Wayne DeBate’s Cardinals jumped to a 16-2 lead in the first four minutes, shot 69 per cent from the field in the first half, and balanced the scoring among all five starters.  Bob Martinez led with 18 points, followed by Tim Skelley, 17, Bill Conti, 16, Jack Neal, 15, and Gary Browning, 14.

–“I’ve never had a team come so close to playing as well as those kids tonight,” said DeBate.

JIM MITCHELL MEMORIAL

Originally known as the Mustang Optimist, the name was changed to honor former San Dieguito star Lt. Jim Mitchell, who was killed in action in Viet Nam.

–Eight teams participated.

–El Cajon Valley emerged from the eight-team field, defeating Vista, 58-47, for the championship after knocking off Pomona, 82-42.  San Dieguito claimed third place, 69-64 over Bonita Vista, whose Paul Halupa scored 37 points for the second time this season.

SAN BERNARDINO KIWANIS

San Diego defeated Redlands, 59-56, then was sent home after losses to Ontario Chaffey, 84-65, and Anaheim, 60-49.

CHINO

Escondido went further than Mar Vista and Chula Vista but bowed to Pomona, 64-57, in the consolation semifinals.

PLAYOFFS

–The CIF still was jamming the postseason into one week, with 16 teams in one division.  Poor Julian had to play with the big boys.  Two teams each from the Eastern, Western, Grossmont, Metropolitan and Avocado, which had moved from Class A to Class AA this year, plus one each from the Palomar and Southern leagues, and 4 additional at-large clubs, were invited.

FIRST ROUND

–Madison eliminated Vista (16-10), 81-70.  Castle Park (23-9) ousted Mount Miguel (16-9), 56-40.  Helix beat 16-11 Hoover, 76-41.  Oceanside (15-12) topped Coronado (16-9), 73-57.  Kearny (20-10) edged 16-10 Lincoln, 64-58.  Grossmont (18-10) overwhelmed Julian (13-4), 93-36.  Orange Glen (22-8) got past Marian (16-12), 52-49, and Morse topped University (24-4).

–Morse’s first-ever playoff win was a tribute to ironmen and teamwork.  All five starters went the distance, all in double figures, led by Terry Antoine with 23 points and Avery Clark with 20.

SECOND ROUND

Helix eliminated Kearny, 70-57.  Castle Park nudged Orange Glen, 65-53.  Morse whacked Oceanside, 79-63, and Madison beat Grossmont, 83-73.

SEMIFINALS

–There were 4,635 persons at the Sports Arena, hosting the Final 4 for the first time, although CIF honcho Don Clarkson said the Friday night crowd was closer to 3,800.

–Bob Brady’s two free throws with one second left in overtime lifted Madison past Morse, 67-66.  Helix bombed Castle Park, 68-40.

CHAMPIONSHIP

Bill Walton scored 13 points and had 15 rebounds in 19 minutes as Helix repeated a Kiwanis Tournament victory over Madison, 87-72.  Morse edged Castle Park, 69-64, for third place.

A triple header started with the third place game at 5 p.m., followed by the championship at 7 and the San Diego Rockets-L.A. Lakers  NBA contest at 9, witnessed by an announced turnout of 14,380.

Attendance for the Helix-Madison game was estimated at 6,500. No pep bands were in attendance and cheerleaders were closer to the building’s rafters than the floor, according to Bill Center.

JUMP SHOTS

Francis Parker (9-10) dropped its first-ever game, 53-31 to the Marian Freshmen, who were led by George Milke’s 20 points and Dan Prager’s 18…the Lancers got into the win column in the next game, a 67-19 rout of the San Diego Military junior varsity as Scott Braly scored 27 points at Municipal Gym…Parker scored the first 24 points in a 66-13 win over Southwestern Military in San Marino….Patrick Henry (2-23) lost its inaugural, 70-25 to Vista and its first victory was 49-44 over Vista’s Palomar League neighbor, San Marcos, as Bill Hilke scored 22…the new school in San Carlos was coached by Alan (Fritz) Ziegenfuss, who played for Jim Sams at Crawford in 1960-61…mentor beat student twice in Eastern League play, 63-40 and 68-33…Rod Boone scored 22 in each game to lead the Colts…a 103-31 loss to Calipatria was part of Borrego Springs’ introductory, 1-7 season…Brian Standly, the Madison High correspondent for The San Diego Union, is son of San Diego High mentor Bill Standly…Lincoln equaled a school record in an 86-63 win over Hilltop and bettered that mark in a 91-40 rout of  Patrick Henry that set an Eastern League record for most points in one game…6-foot-9 Ken Barstow, Mount Miguel’s lone starter back from the 32-0 1967-68 team, scored 22 points and pulled down 14 rebounds all in the first half of a 70-63 win over Santana…the Matadors’ County record 35 consecutive wins and 53 of 54 came to an end in a 80-65 loss to St Augustine (16-12) despite Barstow’s 35 points…Coronado enjoyed a 33-4 edge in free throws, which was enough to hold off Sweetwater, 71-65…the losing Red Devils were ahead from the field, 62-38, but converted only 4 of 16 free throw attempts…the Islanders were 33×41 from the line…the San Diego High gym had a leaky ceiling from recent rain…Lincoln overcame the moisture, defeating the Cavemen, 55-50…Helix scored 35 points in the first quarter and clinched a tie for the Grossmont League title, 98-48 over Granite Hills…

 

 

The Santana Sultans, not usually compared to the St. Louis Rams’ “Greatest Show on Earth” of a generation ago, or today’s L.A. Rams, almost short-circuited the scoreboard.

Coach Tim Estes’ squad defeated La Jolla Country Day, 76-55, in an opening-round game in the Division IV playoffs.

This was not eight-man football.

The score represented the highest total by two teams in almost 100 years.

San Diego High and Army-Navy Academy combined for 137 points in 1920.  San Diego was on the front end with 130. The Hilltoppers’ achievement was made easier by a rule of the day that required the defensive team to kick off following a score.

Such was not the case for the Sultans, who still accumulated almost 55 points more than their 2018 average.  The losing Torreys had given up 383 points in their first 10 games, an average of 38 points, which Santana doubled.

Santana outscored ‘Day, 28-27, in the fourth quarter of the three-and-one-half-hour game.

“That was a fun and crazy game,” Estes understated to writer John Maffei.  “We’re at 62 points and I’m still worried they might come back.”

The San Diego Section record for combined points was 119, by Rancho Bernardo and West Hills in a 71-48 ‘Bernardo victory in the 1999 playoffs and by Monte Vista and San Diego in a 71-48 Monarchs win in the 2017 postseason.

WHO GOOFED?

Perhaps a mischievous geek.

I had to squint my eyes and look twice when I fired up the computer Saturday morning and went to Cal Preps.com.

Morse was reported to have beaten Hilltop by a score of 85-2.

The Tigers were a definite favorite, seeded fifth to the Lancers’ 12^th in D-III, but this result would have been the highest for a playoff since San Diego defeated Orange, 84-6, in the 1916 Southern Section postseason.

A quick check on The San Diego Union website showed the right score.  Morse actually won by the more conventional 42-14.  Cal Preps.com soon corrected its error.

FAVORITES COME THROUGH

Higher seeded teams won 25 of the 30 first-round games.  Three eight seeds topped nine seeds in essential pick-‘em contests.  Two No. 11 seeds provided the surprises.

San Diego Southwest traveled almost 140 miles and beat Calexico Vincent Memorial, 34-26, for its first postseason victory since 1989, when Carl Parrick held sway and claimed one of his 189 coaching victories.

Grossmont, saddled with a 3-7 regular-season mark that was its poorest since the 2-8 of 1999, stunned 6 seed Madison, 44-42.

Writer Jim Lindgren noted that seven seconds were left in the game and Madison was on the Foothillers’ 30-yard line.

Then the lights went out at Warhawks Stadium.

A 25-minute delay followed.

Daniel Stokes ran eight yards when play resumed.  The Warhawks still had time to try a reported 38-yard field goal, which was wide to the left.

Just two weeks before a lightning strike forced St. Augustine and Madison to suspend play until the following Monday, when Madison scored three fourth-quarter touchdowns to win, 28-24 as the game ended.

You can’t make this up.

TRUE GRID

A couple more successes and Ramona’s Damon Baldwin will become the 42nd area mentor to win 100 games…Baldwin is 98-60-1 since 2005 and sends the 8 seed Bulldogs against 1 seed Granite Hills in the D-II quarterfinals this week…Monte Vista’s Ron Hamamoto needs two victories to tie John Shacklett at 229 victories, fourth all time…Dreaded Administrative Glitch:  Sweetwater recently was discovered to have forfeited six Metro League victories in 1968…the announcement was not made until two months after the season, although no reason was announced…the forfeits made coach Dave Lay’s all-time record  95-41-2…Mission Hills, a 9 seed, has won first-round games in 13 consecutive seasons and gets No. 1 La Costa Canyon in D-I  after a 20-13 win over Rancho Bernardo…Santana’s record for most points in a game was 70 in a shutout of Grande Prairie of Alberta, Canada, in 2011…domestically the Sultans’ highest was in a 59-19  over Kearny in 2015…John McFadden, coach of the 9-1 Eastlake Titans, is 129-43 (.750) since 2000…McFadden was on hiatus from 2014-17 and Eastlake, under two different coaches, was 24-22…Steele Canyon is on a roll similar to 2017, when the Cougars won a record 6 playoff  games and claimed a state III-A state title…the 5 seed Cougars rushed for 491 yards in a 49-17 win over El Camino in D-1 for their fifth in a row and take on No. 4 St. Augustine this week….

The move away from the ubiquitous and arcane “Power Ratings” to those offered by Max Preps and Cal Preps.com, preferred by the coaches, did not evoke the usual shouts of “We wuz robbed,” but still was painful to Scripps Ranch.

The Falcons, who moved to the City League from the Eastern this season, are the only team with a winning record not in the playoff field of 68 teams of 11-man and 8-man football.

Coach Marlon Gardinera’s squad posted a 6-4 record, its first winning season since 2013, but the two computer services were not impressed.

CalPreps.com churned out a 1.3 rating for Scripps, which put it below playoff teams Rancho Buena Vista (3.6) and El Capitan (4.8).  Max Preps rated the Falcons 486^th in the state, while RBV was 450th and El Capitan 428th.

Hilltop is in the the Division IV playoffs despite a Cal Preps.com rating of minus 2.  But as a league champion (Metro South Bay), the Lancers get the privilege.

Galling perhaps to Scripps Ranch is that RBV (4-6) and El Capitan (3-7) had poorer won-loss records.

Who you played can be just as important as your record—the  timeless “strength of schedule” argument.

Torrey Pines, from the Avocado League, the section’s strongest this year, has a 59.1 Cal Preps rating and Cathedral, from the weaker Western loop, is at 56.1.  Torrey Pines is 13^th in the state, according to Max Preps, and Cathedral 17^th.

FILLER UP

The rubber will hit the road this week.

Some of the longest trips in the San Diego Section await teams.

San Diego Southwest is separated by 125 miles from Calexico Vincent Memorial, a  mostly freeway journey that should be covered in one hour, fifty minutes,

Classical is 139 miles from Calexico, a probable two-hour, four-minute ride for the visiting Bulldogs.

West Hills to Imperial is 108 miles, Calipatria to Blythe 98 miles, and Borrego Springs to Foothills Christian, 77.

From North to South, El Camino is 59 miles from Steele Canyon.

2018 CHAMPIONS

LEAGUE	TEAM	LAST SEASON	2017 CHAMP
Avocado	Torrey Pines	Third	Mission Hills
Citrus	Borrego Springs	Tie, third	Julian
City	San Diego	First, Central	University City
Central	Serra	Fourth, City	San Diego
Coastal	Santa Fe Christian	Second	The Bishop’s
Eastern	Christian	Second	Lincoln
Grossmont Hills	Granite Hills, Helix Steele Canyon	*See below	Helix
Grossmont Valley	Monte Vista	Second	Granite Hills
Imperial Valley	El Centro Central	Second	El Centro Southwest
Manzanita	Mountain Empire	Third	Calexico Vincent Memorial
Metro Mesa	Eastlake	Second	Otay Ranch
Metro Pacific	Castle Park	Fourth	Montgomery
Metro South Bay	Hilltop	First	Hilltop
Ocean	Foothills Christian	Second	Calvin Christian
Pacific	Tri-City Christian	^Second	Maranatha
Palomar	Poway	Tie, fifth	Ramona
Valley	Valley Center	First	Valley Center
Western	Cathedral	Fourth	St. Augustine

• *Helix was first and Steele Canyon third in Grossmont Hills League.  Granite Hills was first in Grossmont Valley.

^ Tri-City Christian had same, 3-1 record but Maranatha won head-to-head meeting.

LONG WAIT FOR SOME

Most of this season’s 18 league winners are familiar with the elation that is part of the ride.  All but 5 had at least one championship since 2013.

Manzanita League Mountain Empire’s last undisputed title was in 2000, although the Redhawks tied for first with Holtville and Calipatria in 2012.  Poway had not been in the Palomar League throne room since 2012.

Grossmont Valley titlist Monte Vista’s most recent first was as a member of the Grossmont South League in 2004.  It’s been since 2009 for the Imperial Valley League’s El Centro Central.

Avocado winner Torrey Pines hasn’t celebrated since it won the 2010 Palomar League championship.

El Centro Southwest, 14-1 a year ago and undefeated until the state Division 4-A title game, a 45-41 loss to Milpitas, fell to 4-6 and is out.  Julian, winner of the Citrus League in 2017, also is out of the four-team, 8-man playoffs.

HAIL, TORREY PINES

Torrey Pines took the lead with 22 first-place votes in the San Diego Union-Tribune poll for Week 1  and the Falcons maintained and finished the regular-season polling with 24 first-place votes.

There will be a final poll released following the last game.

Week 11 Union-Tribune poll

Rank             Team                        Record                Points           Previous

1.	Torrey Pines (24)	9-0	294	1
2.	Cathedral	9-1	276	2
3.	San Marcos	8-1	221	3
4.	Eastlake	9-1	202	6
5.	Carlsbad	6-3	193	6
6.	Helix	6-4	113	3
7.	St. Augustine	7-3	104	8
8.	Steele Canyon	8-2	78	NR
9.	La Costa Canyon	6-3	60	7
10..	Granite Hills	9-1	47	10

Others: Poway (8-2, 24 points), Christian (9-1, 19), Madison (6-4, 5), Mira Mesa (7-2, 5), El Centro Central (10-0, 4), Rancho Bernardo (7-3, 3), Lincoln (6-4 with 2 forfeit losses, 2), Mission Hills (3-6, 1), Monte Vista (9-01, 1).

Voting panel: 30 sportswriters, sportscasters, and officials from throughout the County.

• • John Maffei, The San Diego Union                                                                  Jim Lindgren, Rick Hoff, Terry Monahan, Don Norcross, Tom Saxe, Union-Tribune correspondents
  • Paul Rudy, Brandon Stone, KUSI Chl. 51
  • Adam Paul, ECpreps.com
  • Ramon Scott, EastCountySports.com
  • Bodie DeSilva, sandiegopreps.com
  • Ted Mendenhall, Tyler Quellman, The Mighty 1090
  • Steve Brand, San Diego Hall of Champions
  • Troy Hirsch, Fox 5, San Diego
  • Rick Smith, PartletonSports.com
  • Jerry Schniepp, John Labeta, Ron Marquez, Carlton Hoggard, CIF San Diego Section
  • Joe Heinz, Coordinator, Athletics, Sweetwater School District
  • Raymond Brown, sdfootball.net
  • Montell Allen, MBA Sports/San Diego Friday Night Lights Magazine
  • Bob Petinak, Fox 1360 Radio
  • John Kentera, Brandon Suprenant, 97.3 FM The Fan
  • Steve (Biff) Dolan, Mountain Country 107.9 FM
  • Jim Arnaiz, Mike Dolan, John Carroll, San Diego Section Tournament Directors.

CAL-HI SPORTS
Torrey Pines remained at No. 12 and Cathedral at No. 13 in the newsletter’s weekly top 50 rankings.  Eastlake also stayed in the same place at No. 40 and Carlsbad got into the spirit with its first appearance, at No. 45.

Helix, La Costa Canyon, and San Marcos are on the bubble.