What a difference 70 years makes.

Jerry Ralph’s speedy, competitive Hoover Cardinals took a 63-0 halftime lead and then called off the jam, activated the running clock, and ran out the game against former arch rival San Diego.

The 63-point victory gave Hoover the City League championship and its first outright league title since Roy Engle’s 1963 club won the Eastern League championship by defeating San Diego, 20-7, on the final Friday night of the regular season.

Hoover’s 8-2 record tied the Cardinals for the fourth most victories in school history, matched by the 1956 (8-2) and 1986 (8-4) teams, and bettered only by the 10-2 of Willie Matson’s 1999 squad, Mike Wright’s 9-3 team of 2006, and Ralph’s 9-3 in 2013.

San Diego  fell on hard times years ago, but this latest, mercy killing is payback for the dwindling few Cardinals faithful who were around when the Cavemen destroyed the Redbirds, 72-0, in 1944.

Over the decades Hoover was on the receiving end of other San Diego blowouts, such as 48-7 (1946), 53-13 (1959), 56-7 (1969), 50-13 (1980), and 66-6 (2002).

League championships have been few and far between in the 85 seasons of Hoover football.  For years the school was known for outstanding basketball and baseball programs.

Hoover opened in 1930 and won titles in an early incarnation of the City League in 1931 and ’32.

The 1935 team, with Engle as its star runner, was 7-1-1 and won the Bay League championship.  That team’s .833 winning percentage has been equaled once, by the 10-2 of Matson’s Harbor League runner-up 15 years ago.

Ralph is ascending among the career leaders.

With a 23-10 record since 20-12 at Hoover, Ralph’s overall mark in 16 seasons at Santana, St. Augustine, Del Norte, and Hoover  is 119-67-2 for a .638 percentage, eighth highest among active San Diego Section mentors.

Winning at Hoover:

YEAR	LEAGUE	RECORD	PLACE	OVERALL
1931	City	3-0	1	5-3
1932	City	3-0	1	6-3
1935	Bay	5-0-1	1	7-1-1
1943	Victory	5-0-1	1	5-0-1
1956	City Prep	3-0-1	1	8-2
1962	Eastern	4-0-1	1	7-2
1963	Eastern	4-0-1	1	7-2-1
1986	Central	4-1	1T	8-4
2006	Western	4-1	1T	9-3
2014	City	4-0	1	Still competing.

REACTION BENIGN TO PLAYOFF SEEDINGS 

The computer spoke.

There was no outrage, just a few raised eyebrows when San Diego Section commissioner Jerry Schniepp announced pairings for the five divisions of postseason playoffs.

Winning a league championship does not have the cachet of the past.

El Capitan won a head-to-head battle with Helix, 24-17, for the Grossmont League Hills title this week, but was consigned to the top seed in Division II, while the Highlanders were the third seed in the Open.

With top clubs getting Open Division berths, the D-I bracket is beyond weak.  Point Loma (8-2), Madison and Steele Canyon, each 7-3, are the only winning teams of 12.

Open Division teams get first-round byes this week, then the bracket of eight clubs will battle for the Section championship and a possible invitation to the state playoffs.

 

A panelist who voted for Helix as the No. 1 team in the UT-San Diego top 10 in the last two polls apparently was dissatisfied and cast his vote for Oceanside this week.

Helix’ 56-10 victory over Grossmont last week seemingly was not impressive enough when compared to Oceanside’s 35-6 win over La Costa Canyon.

Oceanside is 9-0 but had seen first-place votes dwindle from 19 to 16.

Oceanside received 17 of 19 first-place votes in today’s poll, the other two going to Cathedral and Helix.

The Pirates can earn their fourth undefeated regular season since 2004 with a win over crosstown rival El Camino this week.

Cathedral (9-1) is idle, but Helix (8-1) visits El Capitan (9-0) with the Grossmont Hills title on the line, not to mention seedings and division alignments in the playoffs.

The regular seasons ends Friday for most teams.  Saturday will be the biggest day , with announcement of postseason pairings and sites and selection of the top eight teams for the Open division.

The poll vote after Week 10:

#	Team (1st place votes)	W-L	Points*	Previous
1	Oceanside (17)	9-0	188	1
2	Cathedral (1)	9-1	164	2
3	Helix (1)	8-1	154	3
4	El Capitan	9-0	130	4
5	Mission Hills	7-2	122	5
6	San Marcos	9-0	83	6
7	Eastlake	6-3	65	7
8	Christian	9-0	41	8
9	Sweetwater	9-0	31	10
10	Rancho Bernardo	7-2	23	NR

*Awarded on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. NR–Not ranked.

Others receiving votes:  Point Loma, 15; Ramona, 12; Steele Canyon, 3;  La Costa Canyon, The Bishop’s, Hoover, West Hills, Torrey Pines,  2 each; Madison, Fallbrook, Brawley, 1 each.

Nineteen sportswriters, sportscasters, and CIF representatives from throughout San Diego County vote in the weekly poll: John Maffei, Kirk Kenney, UT-San Diego; Terry Monahan, Tom Saxe, Rick Hoff (UT-San Diego correspondents); Bill Dickens (eastcountysports.com); Steve Brand (San Diego Hall of Champions); John Kentera, Ted Mendenhall, Bob Petinak, (The Mighty 1090); Jerry Schniepp (CIF San Diego Section); Rick Willis, Brandon Stone, (KUSI-TV); Bruce Ward (San Diego City Schools); Rick Smith (partletonsports.com); Steve (Biff) Dolan, Rick (Red) Hill (Mountain Country 107.9 FM); Bodie DeSilva (Sandiegopreps.com); Drew Smith (sdcoastalsports.com).

Bennie Edens was pissed.

“I don’t appreciate being embarrassed,” Edens heatedly responded to a question from Paula Mascari-Bott of the Union-Tribune.

“Playing your starters in the fourth quarter, it’s poor sportsmanship,” steamed Edens. “I’ve been coaching forty-one years and I’ve never embarrassed anyone when they’re that far behind.  That’s wrong.”

The Pointers had just finished on the wrong end of a 52-0 score in their season opener, a drubbing administered by the visiting, ambitious Monte Vista Monarchs.

The response of visiting coach Ed Carberry was tepid.

“We don’t have a lot of guys to sub in,” Carberry said.  “We only have thirty-one varsity players.  We played our second string defense the entire second half.  Everybody played in the game.”

BIGGEST BLOWOUT

The loss was the worst in Edens’ career and represented the most points allowed since Rancho Buena Vista outscored the Pointers, 56-36, in the San Diego Section playoffs in 1989.

The Pointers had suffered only one shutout more decisive. Coronado beat them, 55-0, in 1929.

That the season opener was a home game made this one more galling for Edens.  Point Loma had been the visiting team or the game was at a neutral site in those other losses.

Edens rallied his team from a 0-4 start and was 6-5 before dropping a 36-0 decision to Escondido in the playoff quarterfinals.

Bennie was in the sunset of his career.

The decade of the ‘eighties and its 94 Point Loma victories were a memory. Bennie would retire after a 0-10 season in 1997, a sad ending to Edens’ remarkable, 43-season run at the same school.

WEARING THE CROWN

The opener at Point Loma was a precursor to the finest season in Monte Vista history.

Behind Michael Wiley and Ian Miller, one of the best1-2 rushing punches in San Diego Section history, the Monarch rolled to a 12-1 record.

The 13-12, Division II championship win over Escondido almost was secondary to two victories over Helix, for years Monte Vista’s neighborhood bully.

The Monarchs roused a roaring crowd of a reported 6,800 by winning the Grossmont League South championship and defeating visiting Helix, 17-12, in the final game of the regular season.

“We’re going to run the football, run the football, run the football,” Ed Carberry told Paula Mascari-Bott.

Michael Wiley had 159 yards in 22 attempts and Ian Miller, 127 in 25 as the Monarchs ran behind the blocks of Will Goodloe, James Vargas, Silas Hess, Corey Schneider, Ronnie Williams, and Devlin Olsen.

The Spring Valley team had not beaten the Highlanders in 11 years and trailed in the series, 17-6.

The rematch three weeks later in the D-II playoffs was much easier.

Monte Vista eliminated Helix, 28-0, as Wiley and Miller each rushed for more than 100 yards and the voluble Will Goodloe made eight tackles and batted down four passes.

Goodloe saw a young fan waving to him on the sideline.

“That’s the thing that makes me play hard every down, having kids look up to me, ”Goodloe said, smiling to writer Mascari-Bott.  “Find that kid and invite him to the Murph for me.”

Jack Murphy Stadium was the site for the Section championships.

Monarchs quarterback Josh Schmidt, noted for handoffs to Wiley and Miller and for shouting huddle up, made the season’s biggest play in the victory over Escondido the following week.

Schmidt lofted a 34-yard pass to Goodloe for the game-winning touchdown.

Goodloe had practically begged Carberry to call his number.  “Just once, coach.  Just throw me one pass.”

GO FIGURE

Rancho Bernardo’s Nate Tandberg bombed a record, 58-yard field goal in a 24-0 victory over Mt. Carmel, but missed from 27, 25, and 34 yards, and had a 37-yard attempt blocked.

In the same game RB’s John Thompson set a school rushing record with 216 yards and Chris Garnier had four quarterback sacks.

“I can make the long stuff,” Tandberg told writer Steve (Biff) Dolan.  “The short stuff gave me trouble.  I was thinking too much….”

CONFIDENCE

Scripps Ranch’s Morris Jackson had 153 yards in 20 carries in a 24-15 victory over Mission Bay, and then announced, “I hope I’m making a statement.  I see every other running back in the top twenty, but I don’t see my name up there, because I don ‘t get the carries they do.”

POOR TIMING

Twelve Ramona players, including six starters, were suspended for participating in a dustup on the Bulldogs’ campus.

What was left of coach Rick Foley’s squad took almost all of the punches in a 55-6 loss to Oceanside.

PASSING FANCY

Mike Van Raaphorst of Helix, Daniel Jeremiah of Christian, and  Bryan Halsey of West Hills lit up the East County skies.

Jeremiah threw for 31 touchdowns, including 6 in a 42-0 playoff rout of Horizon, and for a career total of 7,550.

Jeremiah followed his brother David and led the Patriots to a 14-0 win over The Bishop’s in the Division IV championship.

Halsey passed for 27 touchdowns and for a career total of 6,886.

Van Raaphorst passed for 19 touchdowns after transferring from Grossmont and had more than 4,200 career passing yards.

TO HELIX AND BACK

Van Raaphorst no sooner had removed his shoulder pads following the season’s final game and was on the move again.

After a 28-0 loss to Monte Vista in the D-II semifinals, the quarterback packed up, headed home, and turned out for the basketball team at Grossmont the following Monday.

The family had moved into an apartment in La Mesa during the summer so Mike could be eligible for football at the more prestigious Helix program.

SURGERY SIDELINES MOM

The 6-foot, 5-inch Van Raaphorst had played football, basketball, and volleyball for three years at Grossmont. The move back to the family residence in the Grossmont enrollment area was necessary after Van Raaphorst’s mother underwent foot surgery.

It was explained that recovery was easier in a more familiar setting for Mrs. Van Raaphorst.  The family’s apartment in La Mesa was two-story.   Stairs would be a problem.

Hurting most was Helix basketball coach John Singer.

FRIDAY OF REST

Scott Worley is a Seventh Day Adventist and his religion became a focal point as Christian sought a third consecutive championship in Division IV.

Worley and his brother, Mike, had not participated in the 38-28 championship victory over Mountain Empire in 1993 because of their church’s requirement of rest from sunset Friday until sunset Saturday, the time of the Adventists’ Sabbath.

The 1994 game, a 28-7 win over La Jolla Country Day,  was on Saturday night and Worley played.  The 1995 game would be on a Friday.  Worley would have to sit.

San Diego Section commissioner Kendall (Spider) Webb initially thought the game should proceed on Friday.  “That’s the night for the high schools,” said Webb.

The Bishop’s also did not want to change.

PERSISTENCE PAYS

Christian pressed the issue and, to his credit, Webb was a positive presence, working with both schools.  After a “day of appeals and counter proposals,” the game was rescheduled for Saturday evening.

“We’re very pleased,” said Webb.  “I want to thank Bishop’s for going the extra mile.”

It turned out to be a hard road for the Knights.  Christian won, 14-0, and Worley gained 117 yards in 26 carries, scored the Patriots’ two touchdowns and made eight tackles.

“I gave it everything I had,” said Worley.  “This was the best game I’ve ever played.”

IT COSTS TO GO TO THE ISLANDS

Preparations for Morse’s 11^th trip to Hawaii began almost immediately after the last visit.

Tigers coach John Shacklett noted that cost per person was $650, with money coming from a variety of fund-raising events.

Each year, as part of the itinerary, the team visited the battleship Arizona Memorial.

Morse tied Oahu Kahuku, 36-36.

PENN STATE WEST?

Mar Vista’s game pants and home, dark jerseys were stolen  from the equipment room days before the Mariners’ game at Hoover.

Wearing dull, white practice pants and light-colored jerseys, the Mariners defeated Hoover, 25-6.

“We’re starting to like them, senior Carlos Ibarra said of the Penn State-like uniforms. “They look good on us.”

RANCHO CAN’T HANG

Concord De La Salle slammed Rancho Buena Vista, 35-12, although Brian Marquardt recovered a fumble on the first play from scrimmage and two plays later Matt Thorne ran eight yards to give Rancho a 6-0 lead.

The Spartans rushed for 295 yards and made it 40 victories in a row and 74 out of 75 with their second consecutive win over Craig Bell’s Longhorns.

EDENS ENDORSES

“Ian Loper might be the best defensive end in the United States.  I’m not kidding.  He’s as good as we’ve ever had, or better,” said Bennie Edens of Point Loma.

Loper, 6-5, 235, had four tackles for loss and intercepted a pass in Point Loma’s 24-8, first-round win over Mount Miguel.

QUIET, THEN EXPLOSION

After a 6-0 first half, Torrey Pines and Los Angeles Dorsey exchanged 65 points and eight lead changes in the final 24 minutes.

Torrey Pines won, 37-35, as Marty Graham, who ran like this in 1994 for Helix, rushed for 274 yards in 29 carries and scored two touchdowns.

Dorsey missed a 38-yard field goal attempt as time expired, the ball just short of clearing the crossbar.

NEW ADDRESSES

Torrey Pines moved from D-II to D-I and El Camino dropped from D-II to D-III.

“Not taking anything away from Torrey Pines, El Camino will have more impact on D-III than Torrey on D-I,” said John Shacklett of D-I giant Morse.

In accompanying moves, Scripps Ranch and Kearny sauntered over to the Western League from the Harbor and Eastern, respectively.

Crawford left the Western for the Harbor, joining Madison, which bolted the Western for the Harbor in 1994.

OUT AND IN

The Grossmont School District’s 3-A and 2-A designations for its two leagues was voted out and Grossmont North and Grossmont South were voted in.

Monte Vista athletic director Phil Poist suggested the idea.

“When we went to leagues based on enrollment, we noticed some of the old neighborhood rivalries disappeared,” said Poist, who added that “there was a stigma attached to the 3-A and 2-A leagues.  The bigger league somehow meant the better league.”

Changing leagues for more competitive balance was the usual criteria.

The changes sometimes are just cosmetic. Three of the five teams in the table below experienced improvement, but only one made a leap.

Team	Year	League	W-L	Year	League	W-L
Crawford	1994	Western	2-8	1995	Harbor	2-8
El Camino	1994	D-III*	10-3	1995	D-II	7-6
Kearny	1994	Eastern	1-8	1995	Western	7-6
Scripps Ranch	1994	Harbor	7-5	1995	Western	8-4
Torrey Pines	1994	D-II*	9-5	1995	D-I	9-2

QUICK KICKS

The high schools’ National Federation passed a rule allowing quarterbacks to spike the ball to stop the clock…the rule had been a five-yard penalty…  Helix’s 19-14 victory over Patrick Henry gave the Highlanders a 13-0-1 record on opening day, dating to 1982…Rancho Bernardo boasted triplets in its starting lineup: running back Brian, guard Brett, and free safety Garret Heintz…Valhalla defeated San Marcos for its first playoff victory in four tries…the Hustead family came close…father Dan was the star of the 1969 Escondido squad that tied San Diego, 21-21, for the San Diego Section title, but son Chad was on Escondido’s 13-12 loss to Monte Vista in the II championship…Dan was an assistant coach on this year’s team….

Give it up for Fallbrook!

The Warriors claimed their first league title since 2003 this week with a 31-6 victory over Orange Glen.

The Valley League championship  might also get the Warriors more than a cursory look from area observers.

Quietly, almost surreptiously, Fallbrook has crept to  a 7-2 record but hasn’t received one vote of a possible 190 (19 voters each week) in the first 10 weeks of the UT-San Diego Top 10 poll.

One of Fallbrook’s losses was a 47-7 zinger to El Camino, after which the Wildcats’ season  went South.  The other was 13-8 to San Marcos, which will take a 9-0 record into its  “Discovery Bowl” city rivalry game with Mission Hills in the regular-season finale.

SHARED WITH TWO OTHERS

Fallbrook tied for first with Oceanside and La Costa Canyon in 2003 but advanced to the Divsion I final, losing to Torrey Pines, 7-3.

The Warriors were comatose from 2004-13, posting an overall record of 21-82-2 under 4 different coaches. First-year coach Kyle Williams was 2-8 in 2013, but laid the groundwork for this season’s recovery.

LIKE FATHER, LIKE…

Zack Podraza works Friday nights.  His father works Sundays.

Quarterbacking Scripps Ranch, the younger Podraza threw for 308 yards and 3 touchdowns in a 62-37 loss to St. Augustine. Dad Tim Podraza has been a game official in the NFL since 2008, working as a line judge.

QUICK KICKS

Valhalla won the “Jamacha Helmet for its 25-24 victory over Steele Canyon…Jamacha Road runs through San Diego and El Cajon and is near the schools…Grossmont coach Tom Karlo was on the short end of a 56-10 score against Helix, but he was the Foothillers’ starting quarterback in their last victory over Helix,  28-14  in 1991…Grossmont is 0-17 against Helix since…rampaging Christian was so far ahead of University City that the Patriots were involved in a running clock in the second half for the eighth time this season…Christian’s Adrian Petty led the way in the 42-6 victory, rushing for 174 yards and 4 touchdowns, then sitting out the last two quarters….

 

Oceanside dropped from sixth to seventh in Cal-Hi Sports‘ weekly State Top 25.

The 8-0 Pirates, driving toward their first undefeated regular season since 2009, are joined among the state’s elite by Cathedral, which moved up to 22nd from 23rd, and Helix, which gained to 24th from 25th.

It’s been noted that Oceanside has not been as dominating in its last two games, which were Avocado West League victories over Torrey Pines, 42-21, and over Carlsbad, 28-14.

Not perfect, but still formidable.

El Capitan remained No. 1 in Division III South and Christian is No. 1 in Division  IV South.  Oceanside is fifth in D-I South.

 

 

There’s no room at the top in the UT-San Diego weekly poll.  Some points adjustments were noted, but the same eight teams remained in place from the previous week.

While there were no changes, Cathedral took one of Oceanside’s first-place votes.  Helix had swiped two first-place votes two weeks ago.

The Dons gained as result of eight straight wins and a 57-22 rout of St. Augustine, while Oceanside, still undefeated, had to grind out a 28-14 victory over Carlsbad.

Christian inched up from 10th to ninth and Sweetwater was admitted to the group at 10th.

The Red Devils of coach Brian Hay, who have won 16 games in a row since 2013, actually had one less point, 18,  than last week, when they were among the “others receiving votes”.

The regular seaason ends in two weeks followed by four weeks of playoffs and possible Southern California playoff berths.

According to the San Diego Section’s intricate ratings system it appears that Cathedral and Oceanside could be on a collision course to meet in the Open Division semifinals.

Poll results after Week 9:

#	Team (1st place votes)	W-L	Points*	Previous
1	Oceanside (16)	8-0	187	1
2	Cathedral (1)	8-1	163	2
3	Helix (2)	7-1	155	3
4	El Capitan	8-0	131	4
5	Mission Hills	6-2	114	5
6	San Marcos	8-0	81	6
7	Ramona	7-1	78	7
8	Eastlake	5-3	58	8
9	Christian	8-0	27	10
10	Sweetwater	8-0	18	NR

*Awarded on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. NR–Not ranked.

Others receiving votes:  Point Loma, 16; Steele Canyon, 10; Rancho Bernardo, La Costa Canyon, 2 each; The Bishop’s, Hoover, Madison, 1 each.

Nineteen sportswriters, sportscasters, and CIF representatives from throughout San Diego County vote in the weekly poll: John Maffei, Kirk Kenney, UT-San Diego; Terry Monahan, Tom Saxe, Rick Hoff (UT-San Diego correspondents); Bill Dickens (eastcountysports.com); Steve Brand (San Diego Hall of Champions); John Kentera, Ted Mendenhall, Bob Petinak, (The Mighty 1090); Jerry Schniepp (CIF San Diego Section); Rick Willis, Brandon Stone, (KUSI-TV); Bruce Ward (San Diego City Schools); Rick Smith (partletonsports.com); Steve (Biff) Dolan, Rick (Red) Hill (Mountain Country 107.9 FM); Bodie DeSilva (Sandiegopreps.com); Drew Smith (sdcoastalsports.com).