Christian, El Centro Central, Francis Parker, Kearny, and Torrey Pines continue to set the pace, each with a 6-0 record.  Seven teams, Valhalla, Patrick Henry, Ocean View, El Cajon Valley, Hoover, Mabel O’Farrell, and Clairemont, are setting a reverse pace, each without a win.

La Costa Canyon, which I had voted as the top team in the Union-Tribune poll since the start of the season, lost to San Marcos and fell from the undefeated ranks last week. The score of 12-8 sounded like a game between the tackles in the 1950s.  The Knights held the Mavericks to 47 yards rushing, forced four turnovers, including an intercepted pass returned for a touchdown, and had six quarterback sacks.

The San Marcos-La Costa scoring paucity was in contrast to adding-machine totals at three other area venues.

GOING LIKE SEVENTY

Of the 45,000-plus games played in the County since San Diego High first teed it up in 1891 against the “San Diego Football Club”, there have been a reported 139 in which the winning team scored at least 70 points.  Eighty-four have come in 11-man football,  55 in eight-man.

San Diego tied a 1944 school record in a 72-0 win over Mission Bay last week.  The Cavers toppled Hoover by that score 74 years ago in a contest remembered in news accounts for Hoover players bumping into each other while attempting single or double reverses.

Valley Center also got into the act with a 70-7 win over Fallbrook, matching the Jaguars’ highest point total since they set their record in a 70-0 blowout over Orange Glen in 2010.

Every Valley Center victory, 157 in all since the eastern North County school opened in 1998, have been with Rob Gilster at the coaching reins.

Kearny’s 66-0 beat-down of Patrick Henry brought back memories of the great Birt Slater teams.

Slater squads seldom, if ever, played a game at home, a convenience now enjoyed by Coach Will Gray’s burgeoning program, which competes in a sleek, on-campus facility named after Birt, but originally misspelled “Bert” on the electronic scoreboard.

Slater’s home field was Mesa College, beginning in 1964, although the school record, 70-0 rout of Crawford in 1969 was on the Colts’ then-home field, Aztec Bowl.

CAL-HI SPORTS

A 35-28 win over Carlsbad didn’t impress the newsletter, which dropped Torrey Pines, No. 1 in San Diego, from 13^th to 14^th in the state top 50.  Cathedral moved up one spot to 15^th.  The loss to San Marcos resulted in La Costa Canyon’s falling all the way from 14^th to out. Eastlake and Helix were unchanged, remaining at 42 and 46, respectively.

La Costa Canyon now has bubble status in Cal-Hi’s view, along with Carlsbad, San Marcos, and St. Augustine.

QUICK KICKS

Ramona’s Damon Baldwin could become the 43rd coach with 100 career victories but the Bulldogs will have to go deep in the playoffs for that to happen this  season…Baldwin is 94-59-1 since taking over in 2005…Granite Hills is 48-20 from 2013 under coach Kellan Cobbs, following a 1-9 start with Cobbs in 2012…Sweetwater, under second-year coach Bryan Wagner, a former NFL punter who played for the San Diego Chargers after a high school career as a placekicker at Hilltop, rebounded from successive losses of 62-0 to Carlsbad and 69-0 to Lincoln, with a couple shutouts, 35-0 over El Cajon Valley and last week 56-0 over San Ysidro…Sweetwater last had back-to-back shutouts in 1993 when Gene Alim held sway and the Red Devils had 4 in a row…San Marcos held La Costa Canyon to 213 yards total offense after allowing 737 to Oceanside 3 weeks before…Granite Hills’ return to the Grossmont Hills League from the Grossmont Valley loop, where the Eagles won three championships in four years, was an initial success…a dramatic, 30-27 win over Steele Canyon, last year’s state III-A champion…the Eagles scored with 48 seconds to go, then had to ride out a Steele threat that was stopped with 9 seconds remaining when Noah Medeiros sacked the Cougars’ Nathan Barnett on the game’s final play…Cathedral coach Sean Doyle, after the Dons’ 49-7 rout of Madison, to the Union’s Don Norcross:  “For twenty years I think I have the best defensive coordinator in the state,” referring to John Montali.  “My opinion hasn’t changed.”….

Week 7 Union-Tribune poll:

Others:  Christian (6-0, 20), Lincoln (4-2*, 20), Oceanside (3-3, 12), Poway (5-2, 5), Rancho Bernardo (4-2. 5), Mission Hills (2-4, 2), El Centro Central (6-0, 1), Kearny (6-0, 1), Monte Vista (1-0, 1).

Voting panel (30 sportswriters, sportscasters, various County football honchos):

• John Maffei, San Diego Union-Tribune
• 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.

Forty-five teams begin league play this week.  Twenty-three more will commence next week, and 22 already have started down that road as the season reaches Week 7 and the final month of the regular season.

It seems that every team in the San Diego Section will make the playoffs.  Although that is not the case it reminds of basketball in Indiana, where every town had a team and every team went to the state tournament.  Except the Indiana model, since changed, honored just one champion.  Here, and throughout the state, there will be six different champions, according to division play.

Winning a league championship is not as important as it used to be, but don’t tell that to the coaches, players, and students who work and support through the 10-game regular season.

On the flip side, of the 18 league champions in 2017, Steele Canyon, one of the 4 that advanced to a state championship game, did not win its league title and finished third in the Grossmont Hills with a 3-2 record.

The Cougars, who knocked off league titlists Hilltop, The Bishop’s, Granite Hills, and Ramona, in the playoffs, defeated Half Moon Bay of the Central Coast Section, 44-42, for the state Division III-A  title.

2017 league champions:

+San Diego now is in Central League, University City  in Eastern, and Lincoln in Western.

**Quarterfinals  & *** Semifinals playoffs.

^Section championship.

^^State championship.

IDLENESS BREEDS REST

Many teams took their bye weeks in preparation for the October stretch run, so there was little change in the Union-Tribune Top 10.

No. 1 Torrey Pines and No. 2 La Costa Canyon each made incremental moves up in the weekly Cal-Hi Sports rankings.  Torrey now is 13^th and La Costa 14^th. 

Cathedral advanced from 18^th to 16^{th,                                                                                                        according to the newsletter, which ranks teams throughout the state’s 10 sections}. Eastlake dropped to 42nd from 41st and Helix to 46^th from 44^th. Madison and St. Augustine are on the bubble.

QUICK KICKS

The 6-0 Kearny Komets are bringing back memnories of the Birt Slater days…the Slater-coached team won its first 10 in a10-1 season in 1975…Union-Tribune correspondent Don Norcross was on that team and was the starting quarterback on Slater’s 11-2, final team in 1976…last week the Komets won, 42-0, over Pomona, which hadn’t been seen in these part since 1976…San Diego teams are 8-9-1 against the Pomona Red Devils, dating to a 5-0 shutout of San Diego High in 1899…the Hilltoppers measured Pomona, 14-6, in the Southern Section semifinal playoffs in 1947 and La Jolla dropped a 27-21, semifinal battle to the Red Devils in 1951….

Of the 1,694 players on active NFL rosters on Kickoff Weekend earlier this month, 18 were from San Diego Section schools, six more than in 2017.

(There is an error in the table below.  Alex Mack did attend San Marcos High, in Santa Barbara, not at our local San Marcos).

Helix and La Costa Canyon were among 48 schools in 46 states, District of Columbia, seven countries, and American Samoa that had at least three players.  Saint Thomas Aquinas of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, led with 15.  Long Beach Poly was second and led California schools with 7.

Florida led with 211 players, followed by California, 185, and Texas, 175.

District of Columbia was the leader with most players per capita.  Based on the 2010 census, the District had 11 players, one per 54,702 persons.  Lousiana (59) was second with one player for every 78,837 persons.

San Diego Serra was listed with 6 but that was in error.  The listing should have been for Gardena Serra.

IT’S ALL GOOD

It’s seashells and sunsets at some San Diego Section addresses.

As the season passes through the halfway juncture, there are five, 5-0 teams looking forward to practice and enjoying slaps on the back and friendly exchanges in campus corridors.

Francis Parker, coached by Matt Morrison, has not been 5-0 since 2013, when Matt’s father, John Morrison, guided the Lancers.

For Torrey Pines it’s been since 2010, for La Costa Canyon since 2009, and for Lincoln since 2008.

El Centro Central, which was 5-0 a season ago, also is 5-0 and 15-2 under second-year coach David Pena

There are six, 4-0 clubs as most nonleague schedules wind down and teams focus on league play.

IT’S ALL BAD

It had to be a difficult decision but El Cajon Valley coach Nick Osborn was not concerned about the score; he said it was about his players.  Osborn pulled the Braves off the field with 9:23 left in the game, trailing, 35-0, at Sweetwater.

The 0-5 Braves, with 21 players, are allowing an average of 50.4 points game and had given up 76, 55, and 44 points in previous routs.

IT’S ALL GOOD

Misery also had followed Sweetwater, which gave up 62 and 69 in its previous two games points but which reversed the carnage while entertaining a Homecoming crowd of almost 3,000.

Castle Park, losing games and players, forfeited its previous two, including a possible win at Fallbrook, and enjoyed the bus ride home to Chula Vista after rebounding to slap Hoover, 37-7.

VOTES

Torrey Pines and La Costa Canyon stayed in lockstep in the Cal-Hi Sports’ weekly ratings.  The Falcons moved from 15th to 14th and La Costa from 16th to 15th.

Cathedral went from 19th to 18th.  Eastlake is at 41 and Helix at 44, after running St. Augustine off the field in the second half and winning, 35-14.  Madison fell from 26th to “On the Bubble”, with St. Augustine.

Week 6 Union-Tribune poll:

Others:  Carlsbad (3-2, 37 points), Mira Mesa (4-0, 14),  Vista (4-1, 6), Christian (4-0, 1).

Voting panel (30 sportswriters, sportscasters, various County football honchos):

• John Maffei, San Diego Union-Tribune
• 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.

QUICK KICKS

Vista hasn’t been 4-1 since 2001, when Chris Hauser was coach, before Hauser began the Mission Hills program, and the Panthers’ 67 points against Mt. Carmel  almost equaled the 70 in a shutout of Pasadena Blair that season…the 67-6 loss was the most decisive in the Sun Devils’ 471-game history, dating to 1974…Valley Center whipped Mt. Carmel, 66-14,  in 2008…La Jolla  sophomore Max Smith made 15 tackles, including two quarterback sacks,  rushed 12 times for 63 yards, and caught 2 for 43, including the winning touchdown in a 13-10 win over Scripps Ranch…Lincoln’s Marquese Allen wasn’t far behind with 14 tackles, three forced fumbles, and 1 fumble recovery…Imperial’s Nathan Hart rushed for 185 yards in 26 carries and scored four touchdowns, forced a fumble, and blocked two PAT attempts….

Call it the Battle of Banner Grade, because a chunk of the 32-mile trip from Julian to Borrego Springs on California 78 traverses the circuitous path of the vintage East County road, past the 19^th Century gold-mining community of Banner, until the final stretch of the approximately 50-minute drive turns to County Road S2.

Julian Union High opened in 1893, although the Eagles didn’t field a football team until 1967, which coincidentally was the year Borrego Springs opened.  The teams have been playing each other for most of the last 51 years, either in eight-man or 11-man football.

Borrego coach Tim White, whose father, Ed White, was one of the great linemen in San Diego Chargers and NFL history, has coached at both places, at Julian from 2007-15 and for the last three seasons at Borrego Springs.  White is 8-6 in the 14 games against either Borrego or Julian, but no victory could have been more satisfying than Borrego’s last week.

The Rams stopped the visiting Eagles four times inside their five-yard line in the final minute to preserve a 29-28, Citrus League win.  Eight-man, which the teams play now, or 11-man, Borrego’s stand brought some 2018 meaning to the thrill of victory and agony of defeat.

Julian leads the series, 36-12.

OLIVER DOESN’T SWALLOW OLIVE

Several miles West, but still in the East County, Christian coach Matt Oliver could have kicked an extra point for a tie and extended an overtime struggle with Monte Vista, but Oliver, in his 19^th season as the chief Patriot, won his 160^th career game, by taking a chance.

“Had to go for two…all the way,” Oliver told Jim Lindgren of The San Diego Union-Tribune after the Patriots pulled out a 22-21 victory over  Monte Vista in a battle of 3-0 teams.  Javier Jimenez swept his right end for the winning, two-point conversion after Owen Easley’s 22-yard touchdown pass to Alex Gonzalez made the score, 21-20.

”I thought they were going to pass,” said Monte Vista coach Ron Hamamoto, denied his 222^nd victory.

Hamamoto gave the ball to his big running back Jahmon McClendon, who responded with 235 yards in 48 carries, and one touchdown run of 28 yards.  “We’ll see them in the playoffs,” McClendon declared.

SAINTS NO AINTS

St, Augustine, under new coach Joe Kremer, is a surprising 4-0 but should be tested this week by fading but still dangerous Helix, 1-3.

The Saints buried Otay Ranch, 40-0, and featured huge linemen, speed, and the sharp quarterbacking of Angelo Peraza.  The combination was too much for the Mustangs, who were minus 12 yards total offense.

Cathedral trailed Helix before a fourth-quarter field goal and touchdown pulled out a 30-21 win.  The Dons’ Shawn Poma and the Highlanders’ Eleyon Noa finished in a dead heat matchup of two of the San Diego Section’s premier running backs.  Poma gained 205 yards in 23 carries and scored twice.  Noa had 221 yards in 25 carries and touchdowns of 14 and 56 yards.

FALCONS STILL FIRST AND 15^TH

Torrey Pines’ hold on first place in the weekly Union-Tribune poll still is solid, but four voters joined me and gave La Costa Canyon their first-place nod and others hailed two for Madison.  I immodestly add that I’ve had the Mavericks first since their opening-week, 19-7 win over Cathedral.

As things are now, La Costa Canyon and Torrey Pines will scrap for Avocado League marbles on the final regular-season Friday.

Torrey Pines remained at 15^th and La Costa Canyon at 16th in the weekly Cal-Hi Sports ratings.  Cathedral moved from 20^th to 19^th, Madison stayed at 26^th, with an intersectional against No. 37 Vista Murrieta this week.  Eastlake barged into the top 50 at No. 44.  Helix, San Marcos, and St. Augustine are on the bubble.

QUICK KICKS

Matt Oliver’s all-time winning percentage of .724 (160-64-3) is third among active coaches…Rick Jackson of Madison is 132-39-1 (.770),  and John McFadden of Eastlake is 123-42 (.740)…Ramona’s Damon Baldwin could become the 43^rd coach to win 100 games…with a  3-1 record this season, Baldwin is 93-57-1…Cathedral coach Sean Doyle on Shawn Poma:  “They were obviously keying on him but he just kept saying, ‘Coach, give me the ball.  I’m going to break it,’” according to Don Norcross of the Union-Tribune…the San Diego Section is 33-18 in intersectional games against teams from California, Arizona, and Baja California…biggest win, Cathedral’s 42-21 romp over Gardena Serra…biggest loss, Helix’s 40-3 crash at San Bernardino Cajon…Mountain Empire made the best of a 227-mile jaunt to Barstow’s neighboring little brother Yermo in the high desert, topping Silver Valley, 20-0…Del Norte is 3-1 for the first time since school doors opened in 2009…Bonita Vista, 3 seasons removed from 12-3 and a state Division IV-AA title game, is working on a 16-game losing streak…Chris Thompson, under whom the Barons had their success, is back at Mira Mesa, where he was an assistant for many years…the Marauders are 4-0, same as last season under Gary Blevins, but that team flattened out to 5-6….

Week 4, Union-Tribune poll:

NR–not ranked.

Others:  Ramona (3-1, 15 points), Mira Mesa (4-0, 14), Carlsbad (2-2, 3), University City (3-1, 3), Point Loma (2-2, 3), Rancho Bernardo (2-2, 2), Vista (3-1, 2), Christian (4-0, 2), Otay Ranch (2-2, 1) El Centro Central (4-0, 1), Oceanside (1-2, 1), Granite Hills (3-0, 1).

Voting panel (30 sportswriters, sportscasters, various County football honchos):

• John Maffei, San Diego Union-Tribune
• 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.

Helix and Cathedral collide this week while La Costa Canyon and Torrey Pines are on a collision course.

The Cathedral Dons, 5-7 last season and missing stud running back Shawn Poma much of the year, made a statement last week with a 42-21 win over high-powered Gardena Serra, the state’s 10th-ranked team, according to Cal-Hi Sports. 

Poma, who gained 160 yards in 21 carries with one touchdown, helped elevate Cathedral, which trailed, 14-7, at halftime, to 20^th from 32^nd in the ratings.  Helix, a 28-21 loser to Arizona’s Scottsdale Saguaro, is 1-2, with both losses coming to top teams, San Bernardino Cajon, now No. 10 in California, and Saguaro, No. 4 in Arizona.

Helix and Cathedral have been playing home-and-home every year since 2009 after not so much as passing on the freeway for 50 years.  Helix opened in 1951 and Cathedral, as University of San Diego High, in 1957.

Helix leads the series, 6-3, including a 39-0, home victory last season, when the Highlanders went to the state Division 1-AA finals. Cathedral, en route to a 15-0 season and the state Division 1-AA championship, won at home, 35-28, in 2016.

La Costa Canyon, No. 2 in the Union-Tribune poll and 16^th in California, will not meet Torrey Pines, No. 1 in San Diego and 15^th in the state, until the final game of the regular season.  If both get to that point undefeated and with 9-0 records, leave early for the game.  Record traffic is guaranteed on the Leucadia Boulevard off-ramps, either coming south or going north on I-5.

TOP 50

Madison is 26^th in the Cal-Hi rankings and Helix, 47^th despite the two losses, still commands some respect.  Eastlake and San Marcos are on the bubble.

Despite losing to Torrey Pines and La Costa Canyon by the identical, 38-35 score on successive weeks, San Clemente dropped only one spot, to 33^rd.

The Tritons led La Costa, 28-23, last week but the brothers Lippert were too much for the home team.  Karson and Alden Lippert combined to rush for 285 yards and three touchdowns.  They averaged 12 yards every time they touched the ball.

Torrey Pines scored on its first five possessions against Olympian and then kicked back and rested on its 35-0 advantage.

Week 3 Union-Tribune poll:

NR–not ranked.

Others:  Carlsbad (2-1, 17 points), Mission Hills (0-3, 15), Rancho Bernardo (2-1, 14), Otay Ranch (2-1, 13), Monte Vista (3-0, 9), Mira Mesa (3-0, 7), Grossmont (2-1, 6), Oceanside (1-2, 1), Granite Hills (2-0, 1),  University City (2-1, 1).

Voting panel (30 sportswriters, sportscasters, various County football honchos):

• John Maffei, San Diego Union-Tribune
• 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.

San Clemente has become the Avocado League’s weathervane.

La Costa Canyon, second ranked in this week’s Union-Tribune poll, will be the third Avo team in successive weeks to take on the Tritons, a respected Orange County entry just a few right or left turns and a modest hike up Interstate 5 from Oceanside (23 miles), Torrey Pines (43 miles), and La Costa Canyon (37 miles).

San Clemente defeated visiting Oceanside, 34-19, in Week 1 and was nipped at No. 1 Torrey Pines, 47-45, in a frantic finish in Week 2.

The Falcons and coach Ron Gladnick should not expect a repeat anytime soon.

Trailing, 45-38, Torrey Pines scored a late touchdown but an attempted two-point conversion was thwarted. San Clemente led, 45-44.  The Falcons recovered an ensuing onside kickoff with 43 seconds remaining.  Ted Merrifield sideswiped a 41-yard field goal with no time remaining for the win.

Now comes La Costa, going to San Clemente this week.

The Mavericks won the teams’ most recent meeting, 16-13, in 2013, but lost the previous three from 2010-’12 by scores of 28-21, 58-7, and  21-10.

San Clemente is 18-12-1 versus San Diego County team since the school opened in 1964.  The Tritons are 10-4 since 2005 against Avocado or Palomar League teams.

CAL-HI SPORTS’ TOP 50

La Costa Canyon moved from 30^th to 25^th in the weekly publication’s rankings.  San Clemente, with its loss to Torrey Pines, went from 31^st to 32^nd.  Torrey Pines replaced Madison as the top-ranked San Diego club, ascending from 23^rd to 20^th.  Madison, despite a 62-0 win over Bonita Vista, dropped from 18^th to 33^rd.

Other Cal-Hi recognized teams are Cathedral, 56-7 winner over El Camino, from 39^th to 32, and Helix, 34-7 winner over Arroyo Grande, from 44^th to 43^rd.

More defining challenges are in store this week for Cathedral and Helix in the annual Honor Bowl games.  The Highlanders meet Scottsdale Saguaro in a 4 p.m. game Saturday at Cathedral, while the host Dons take on rugged Gardena Serra in the 7 p.m. nightcap.

The Saguaro Sabercats are the third-ranked team in Arizona but lost to Henderson Liberty, Nevada’s No. 2-ranked squad, 22-12, last week after opening with a 48-3 win over the San Tan Valley Poston Butte Broncos.  Serra opened with a 41-22 Honor Bowl victory over San  Mateo Serra, the defending state Division II-AA team.

Week 2 poll:

NR–not ranked.

Others:  Carlsbad (1-1, 34 points), Ramona (1-1, 21) Rancho Bernardo (1-1, 13), Monte Vista (2-0, 11), Mira Mesa (2-0, 10), Point Loma (1-1, 9), Oceanside (1-1, 7), Granite Hills (2-0, 6), Otay Ranch (11, 6), Grossmont (1-1, 3), Imperial (2-0, 2), El Centro Central (2-0, 1), Morse (2-0, 1).

Voting panel (30 sportswriters, sportscasters, various County football honchos):

• John Maffei, San Diego Union-Tribune
• 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.

QUICK KICKS

San Clemente can claim two NFL quarterbacks among its alumni…Bill Kenney, who was there when the school opened, was a Kansas City Chiefs signal caller from 1970-78…rookie Sam Darnold apparerntly is ready to lead the New York Jets…Mac Bingham did the grinding work in Torrey Pines’ victory, rushing 31 times for 273 yards, and four touchdowns…Rancho Buena Vista determined it wanted to give the ball to Dorian Robinson, who liked the handle…Robinson rushed 39 times for 493 yards in a 55-35 win over Irvine…Robinson set the section record with 493 yards in one game in 2017…Lincoln and San Diego renewed their rivalry for the first time since 2008 and the Cavers, 2-26 against Lincoln from 1961-’92 and 1-3 since the teams stopped playing regularly in 1993, showed how the program has improved under fourth-year coach Charles James…Lincoln pulled out a 20-13 victory in overtime after trailing, 13-0….