How decisive was top-ranked Helix’ shocking, 43-3 defeat at San Bernardino Cajon last week? Two-hundred, sixty-nine games decisive.

You have to go back to the third contest of the 1996 season, a 41-0 Highlanders loss to El Camino, to find a more conclusive result.

Only four others in the school’s storied, 68-season, 691-game history—41-0 to San Diego in 1951, 50-0 and 49-0 to Hoover and San Diego, respectively, in 1953, and 52-6 at Oxnard in 1957, when the Highlanders decided to go ahead and make the trip after several players had been sidelined during the world-wide Asian flu epidemic—surpassed last week’s stinker.

Week 1, nonleague losses are important in ratings, but not as important as setbacks in league play, so Helix and four other teams in the first Union-Tribune Top 10 can hit the reset button.

–Helix, which still has the respect of the voters, is third in this week’s poll, and gets a chance to even the slate with a home game against Arroyo Grande, a former Southern Section school now toiling in the Central Section, to its early pleasure.  The Eagles opened with a 56-21 victory over San Luis Obispo.

–Mission Hills, a 26-18 loser to a Paramount squad the Grizzlies defeated, 41-14, on the road last season, dropped from fourth to fifth and plays host to another Southern Section team, Westlake Village Westlake, which beat Chatsworth Sierra Canyon, 35-30.

–Cathedral, beaten by La Costa Canyon, 19-7, takes on El Camino, 17-16 winner over Point Loma.  Jerry Ralph, former head coach at El Camino, now is on the Cathedral coaching staff and his quarterback son is on the Dons’ roster.

–Eastlake, ninth last week and consigned to the “others” category after a 13-0 loss to now No. 1 Torrey Pines, gets a home game against Hilltop, 31-20 loser to visiting Escondido in the first game at the Lancers’ new stadium..

–Steele Canyon, 10^th last week and the defending state Division III-AA champion, fell to Carlsbad, 41-13, and didn’t get a vote.  The Cougars could have begun a repeat of 2017, when they lost first-half games by scores of 41-10, 41-7, and 51-14 and then ran the table with a stunning, 8-0 finish.

Week 1 poll:

NR–not ranked.

Others:  Valley Center (1-0, 25 points), St. Augustine (1-0, 23), Eastlake (0-1, 19), Grossmont (1-0, 4), Mira Mesa (1-0, 3), Oceanside (0-1, 3), Rancho Bernardo (0-1, 3), Granite Hills (1-0, 1), University City (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.

QUICK KICKS
A 39-yard field goal by Jack Bosman gave Santa Fe Christian a 28-25, overtime win against Olympian, one season after the Eagles dropped an overtime, 28-25 game at Olympian…Torrey Pines rushed for 203 yards in the second half to squeeze Eastlake…Karson Lippett’s 46-yard touchdown run with 1:32 remaining in the game iced Cathedral for La Costa Canyon and showed that Lippert is recovered from the pulled muscle injury that shortcut his track season last spring…Rancho Bernardo’s Jonny Tanner intercepted a Madison pass, moved to offense on the resulting change of possession, took a reverse on the next play, and connected with Jackson Carpenter on a 50-yard touchdown pass play…Gunnar Gray of University City passed for 6 touchdowns and 400 yards in the Centurions’ 41-14 win over Valhalla…Lincoln (David Dunn) and Sweetwater (Bryan Wagner) are coached by ex-NFL players…Monte Vista led Mar Vista, 30-0, after one quarter, behind Jahmon McClendon’s 72 yards and two touchdowns and, by the end of the first half, the game was on a 44-0, running clock…Morse’s 39-0 win over Mount Miguel finished with a running clock…

Helix is number one, at least for the opening week.

The Highlanders received 14 first-place votes and 262 points from the panel of 30 in the first Union-Tribune football poll coordinated by veteran prep honcho John Maffei.

The Scots also were number one in the final 2017 vote:

*Includes forfeit loss.

Others:  Lincoln (9-2, 1 first-place vote, 26 points), Carlsbad (6-6, 23), Oceanside (6-7, 21), Valley Center (9-2, 16), El Camino (8-6, 13), St. Augustine (7-4, 12), Granite Hills (10-3, 3) Otay Ranch (8-4, 3), Rancho Bernardo (6-6, 2), El Centro Southwest (13-0, 2), University City (10-2, 2), The Bishop’s (9-1, 1), Monte Vista (8-6, 1).

Voters  (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.

CHALLENGING OPENER

Helix, 13-2 in 2017 and a state Division 1-A finalist, begins the season on the road against San Bernardino Cajon, an explosive D-III club from the Southern Section that was 14-2 in 2017, scored 748 points, and boast returning quarterback Jayden Daniels, who has passed for 110 career touchdowns.

The Cowboys, from the Citrus Belt League, also allowed 321 points.

The Highlanders are a preseason-ranked 26^th in the state, highest among San Diego Section squads, according to Max Preps.  Cajon, which defeated Moreno Valley Rancho Verde, 70-23, for the Southern Section championship but lost the state D-IIIA title to San Mateo Serra, 38-14, in 2017, is 12^th in Max Preps’ view.

Cal Preps.com gives Helix a 41.9 rating and Cajon 58.8.  The good San Diego Section teams usually receive low, early ratings from Cal Preps but gain cred as the season moves on.

CAL-HI SPEAKS

Cal-Hi Sports’ top 50 has Madison as the top-rated San Diego team  at 18, followed by Helix, 23, Cathedral, 33, Torrey Pines, 35,  Mission Hills, 42, and La Costa Canyon, 46.  San Marcos is in the “just missed” category and Helix’ opponent, San Bernardino Cajon, is 15th.

Madison, which opens at home against Rancho Bernardo, reportedly has a junior quarterback who transferred in from 12-3 Rancho Verde after passing for 40 touchdowns and 3,350 yards in 2017.

Other interesting opening week matchups will send No. 10 Steele Canyon (12-4 in 2017 and defending state DIII-AA champion) to Carlsbad (6-6), No. 2  Torrey Pines (7-5) to 9 Eastlake (9-3), and 3 Cathedral (5-7) to 6 La Costa Canyon (7-4).

MERRY GO-ROUND

There have been a whopping 16 head coaching changes since the end of last season, but at least five of the “new” coaches are “old” coaches.

–John McFadden returned to Eastlake, where McFadden built an outstanding program from 2000-13, during which his teams posted a 120-42-4 record.  McFadden’s win-loss percentage of .735 is second only among active coaches to the 128-39-1 (.764) of Madison’s Rick Jackson.

–Leigh Cole ran the Del Norte program from 2011-14 and was 20-25, including 6-6 in ’13 plus a couple seasons of 5-6. None of the two other Nighthawks head coaches, since the school teed it up in 2010, won more than two games in a season.

–Chris Thompson of Mira Mesa returns to his figurative alma-mater. He was a longtime assistant for the Marauders as far back as the Brad Griffith era in the 1980s.  Thompson was 26-25 from 2013-16 at Bonita Vista, including a 12-3 and state DV-AA championship game appearance in which the Barons came up short against Hanford, 33-21, in ’15.

–Troy Starr was 83-18-1 from 2008-16 at Helix, meting out punishment every year to Grossmont Hills opponents, and then suddenly stepped down, although Starr remains in the Helix physical education department.  He moves over a neighborhood to Spring Valley and Mount Miguel.

—Gene Rheam was 39-21-1 from 2010-15 at Calvary Christian San Diego, which isn’t in San Diego but Chula Vista.  Rheam was on hiatus in 2016 and the Royal Knights did not field a team in 2017.

Moving treadmill:

HAPPY TRAILS

To Blythe Palo Verde Valley’s George Dagnino, who stepped down after 17 seasons of long and longer bus rides for half of every season as the Yellowjackets competed in the Imperial Valley League and western Arizona from the most distant outpost in the San Diego Section.

Dagnino had the second longest run of consecutive seasons in the San Diego Section, behind Cathedral’s Sean Doyle, who is beginning his 23^rd season.  Matt Oliver of Christian has coached the Crusaders since 1999 but gave way in 2003 to ex-NFL quarterback Jay Schraeder, who was boss for one season.

MOVING UP

Grossmont’s Tom Karlo could become the 44^th coach to win 100 games.  Karlo is 91-53-2, posting 44-31 from 2005-11 at Mount Miguel and 47-22 since at Grossmont.  With 12 wins, The Bishop’s Joel Allen, 88-29-1 since 2008, also could receive Century Club status.

POSSIBLE

Monte Vista’s Ron Hamamoto would tie John Shacklett for fourth all-time at 229 victories with an 11-win season.  Hamamoto, with 218, is being shadowed by Valley Center’s Rob Gilster, who has 216.

A 12-win season by Cathedral would give Sean Doyle a 10^th-place tie with Dick Haines at 194. Matt Oliver needs 9 wins and Chris Hauser 11 to tie Mike Dolan’s 165 for 14^th.  Mike Hastings could tie John Morrison’s 146 victories if Point Loma wins 7.  Madison’s Rick Jackson needs 8 wins to advance from 29^th to 23^rd and tie Gene Edwards at 136.

(For additional information, click Football on our Home page, and choose “Coach 100 Win Club”. Choose “Scores / By Year / 2018“;  or “Teams / School” for a complete listing of coaches and schedules of the 97 schools playing this season).

HELLO

Mabel O’Farrell charter school, located halfway between Lincoln and Morse on Skyline Drive in Encanto, and with a published number of almost 1,350 students, is fielding its first football team and will begin as an independent with a game at Castle Park this week.  O’Farrell opened as a junior high in 1957 and later became known as a school of performing arts.

Mabel E. O’Farrell was an early 20^th century member of the County board of supervisors and was known to have served on a committee charged with creating a detention home for wayward youth.

I’m an O’Farrell fan already.  One of its alumni was the late Rosie Hamlin, lead singer of “Rosie and the Originals”, who recorded a ‘sixties favorite, “Angel Baby.”  Rosie attended Sweetwater and also had a cup of coffee at Mission Bay.

It officially was a down year in San Diego Section basketball.  Every team in the final Union-Tribune Top 10  poll was eliminated by the quarterfinals round of the Southern California regional tournament.

Three of the six from the original 32 in five divisions made it past the semifinals into a championship game, but all were beaten on the road.

The Christian boys (24-10), Division IV No. 13 seed who eliminated No. 1 Riverside Hillcrest, 43-42, in the semifinals, were 1 for 14 from three-point range and bowed to View Point of the Los Angeles City Section, 57-43, in the finals.

San Marcos, the 3 seed in girls D-II, was 6 for 25 from the arc and completed a 22-8 season with a 56-43 loss to top-ranked Redondo Beach Redondo Union.

Mater Dei (22-14), a No. 9 seed which battled uphill through the rounds, defeating No. 8 La Canada Flintridge Prep, 78-55; No. 1 Bonita Vista, 75-67, and No. 5 Tulare Mission Oak, 71-50, could not finish in girls’ D-III, dropping a 53-50 decision to No. 6 Fullerton Sunny Hills after leading, 24-14, at halftime.

The season marked the third consecutive  in which there will be no state champion from the San Diego Section. The La Jolla Country Day girls were the last to achieve the feat when they defeated Palo Alto Eastside Prep, 40-36, in 2014-15.

The three remaining San Diego teams,  eliminated in the semifinals, were No. 5 San Diego, 67-48, by No. 1 Santa Clarita Christian in boys D-IV; No. 13 San Diego Southwest, 72-52, by No. 7 Van Nuys in boys’ D-IV, and the Cathedral girls, 15 seed who were pushed out by neighboring San Marcos, 71-55, in D-II.

SINGER LEADS

Helix’ John Singer, who did not coach this season due to illness, still leads active San Diego Section coaches with 668 victories, all-time No. 2 behind El Camino’s Ray Johnson, who won 763.

Mission Bay, by virtue of late-season wins over Torrey Pines and Foothills Christian, emerged as the No. 1 team in the final Union-Tribune poll.

The Buccaneers defeated favored Torrey Pines on the Falcons’  floor, 64-62, in the semifinals of the San Diego Section Open Division playoffs and then beat Foothills Christian, 52-45, in the finals after splitting with the Knights during the season, winning, 72-56. and losing in overtime, 61-58.

Foothills, dealing with the drama of star Taeschon Cherry’s, expulsion from the school days before the game with Mission Bay, dropped to third, behind Torrey Pines.

The Bucs, who had dropped out of the Cal-Hi Sports top 20 after a 54-51, regular-season-ending decision to La Jolla, are back in at number 18.  Torrey Pines is 19th. Mount Miguel girls are 18th.

Union-Tribune Boys’ final poll Monday, March 5:

NR–Not ranked.

Others receiving votes: Francis Parker (14-12, 9 points), El Camino (18-13, 4), Christian (21-9, 2), San Diego (22-7, 2).

Poll participants:  John Maffei, San Diego Union-Tribune; Terry Monahan, freelancer; Steve Brand, San Diego Hall of Champions;  Adam Paul,  Ramon Scott, EastCountySports.com; John Kentera, Prep Talent Evaluator; Rick Smith, partletonsports.com; Bodie DeSilva, sandiegopreps.com; Steve (Biff) Dolan, Mountain Country 107.9 FM; Christian Pedersen, S.D. Preps Insider; Aaron Burgin, Fulltime Hoops; Brad Enright, L.A. Court Report.

Mission Bay has not been a “brand” name in San Diego Section basketball, but the Buccaneers continue to hold sway in the Union-Tribune weekly poll.  They’re now 15-3 after Tuesday night’s 71-63 victory over Patrick Henry.

The Bucs have beaten so-called brands No. 3 Foothills Christian and No. 8 St. Augustine and lost to No. 5 La Jolla Country Day.

It’s been that kind of year.  A dominant team has not surfaced.

The West Hills Wolfpack don’t travel in the above circles, but Cam Barry, a 6-foot, 1-inch senior guard is developing his own brand.  Barry is the state leader with a 36.6 scoring average through 10 reported games and ranks fifth in the country, according to Max Preps.

Foothills’ ballyhooed Taeshon Cherry  is one of the San Diego Section leaders with a 20.6 average in 10 reported games.  Max Preps did not have any stats for Mission Bay’s catalyst, Rejean (Boogie) Ellis, whom the school listed as 7-foot, 2-inch point guard, along with several other “seven-footers”.

Union-Tribune Boys’ poll through Monday, Jan. 8:

NR–Not rated.

Others receiving votes: Poway (10-5, 7 points), Helix (11-8, 3).

Poll participants:  John Maffei, San Diego Union-Tribune; Terry Monahan, freelancer; Steve Brand, San Diego Hall of Champions;  Adam Paul,  Ramon Scott, EastCountySports.com; John Kentera, Prep Talent Evaluator; Rick Smith, partletonsports.com; Bodie DeSilva, sandiegopreps.com; Steve (Biff) Dolan, Mountain Country 107.9 FM; Christian Pedersen, S.D. Preps Insider; Aaron Burgin, Fulltime Hoops; Brad Enright, L.A. Court Report.

Like the automobiles that are continually jarred by San Diego’s city streets, the supposed top teams in the San Diego Section negotiated a December full of potholes.

Which is the best, as the season enters  league play and the weekend shootouts or the so-called”classics”?

I cast my vote for Torrey Pines, followed by Mission Bay, Foothills Christian, St. Augustine, La Jolla Country Day, Vista, Mater Dei, Montgomery, Santa Fe Christian, and San Marcos.

Don’t press me.  I can’t explain why.

There were so many surprising results, some stunning. Perhaps it was the grind of the four-day Torrey Pines Holiday Tournament, one of the country’s premier events, or coaches just trying to find the right combinations and still evaluating personnel.

–But Torrey, 10-0 and an early championship favorite, fell behind by 15 points and was beaten in the Falcons’ annual Holiday Classic, 69-68, by St. Augustine, despite the Saints featuring an all-underclass lineup and missing two expected starters who transferred.

–St. Augustine followed its inspired win over Torrey Pines with a 78-52 loss to state-ranked Los Angeles Fairfax, which was beaten by Foothills Christian.

–Mission Bay beat Foothills Christian, 72-56, but lost to La Jolla Country Day, 62-50.

–Foothills Christian not only lost to Mission Bay, but also to 7-7 Westview, 73-71, in overtime and then beat two Los Angeles City Section powers, Westchester, 73-49, and Fairfax, 74-73.

Mission Bay (12-3) is Cal-Hi Sports‘ No. 12 team in the state and Foothills is 14th.  Torrey Pines surprisingly was not even at least on the newsletter’s “bubble” .

Union-Tribune Boys’ poll through Tuesday, Jan. 2:

NR–Not rated.

Others receiving votes: Poway (9-5, 5 points), Rancho Bernardo (6-4, 4), Santa Fe Christian (8-5, 3), Mount Miguel (14-2, 2), Helix (8-6, 1), Westview (8-7, 1).

Poll participants:  John Maffei, San Diego Union-Tribune; Terry Monahan, freelancer; Steve Brand, San Diego Hall of Champions;  Adam Paul,  Ramon Scott, EastCountySports.com; John Kentera, Prep Talent Evaluator; Rick Smith, partletonsports.com; Bodie DeSilva, sandiegopreps.com; Steve (Biff) Dolan, Mountain Country 107.9 FM; Christian Pedersen, S.D. Preps Insider; Aaron Burgin, Fulltime Hoops; Brad Enright, L.A. Court Report.