Cathedral has been on a rampage and Oceanside may be losing some steam.

So Cathedral was No. 1 when I emailed my weekly Top 10 selections to John Maffei of UT-San Diego today.

The Dons ran away from St. Augustine, 57-22, in the battle of Catholic school titans last week and Oceanside gradually put away Carlsbad, 28-14.

The Pirates are still unbeaten, but have been a little off their game the last two weeks.

Oceanside is 8-0 through Week 8 and Cathedral is 8-1.  The Pirates were sixth in Cal-Hi Sports‘ most recent Top 25 and the Dons 23rd.  Helix (7-1) was 25th.

How bad were the Dons in their 55-10 loss to Folsom on the opening weekend?  Maybe not as bad as the score indicated, as preposterous as that would appear.

Folson is 8-0, the scourge of  the Sac-Joaquin Section, and has topped 55 points in five games since, including a 56-21 blowout of 24th-ranked Rocklin last week.

Maffei publishes the Top 10 poll each Tuesday.  The rest of my vote:  3, Helix. 4, El Capitan. 5, Mission Hills. 6, Eastlake. 7, Ramona. 8, Christian. 9, Point Loma. 10, tie, San Marcos and Sweetwater.

EASY NOW

Serra topped San Diego, 35-8, but the Cavers scored their first points under coach Knengi Martin, who took over after the third game.  Martin was encouraged.  “This was the kind of energy that will lead to winning,” said the coach.

UT-San-Diego correspondent Alex Riggins asked Martin what the Cavers could achieve in 2015. “The playoffs,” she said.

ATTENDANCE UP

Homecomings, rivalry games, and perfect weather had football fans in the mood.  Almost 7,000 packed Mesa College’s Merrill Douglas Stadium to watch Cathedral and St. Augustine.

Another 5,000 were on hand at Eastlake, where the host Titans kept possession of the bronze boot with a 45-20 victory over Bonita Vista.  Eastlake holds a 13-8-1 advantage in the series and hasn’t given up the boot since 2005.

NONE BETTER

“We’re the best 3-4 team in the county,” Torrey Pines coach Ron Gladnick said to Rick Hoff of UT-San Diego before the Falcons’ 14-0 win over El Camino.

A quick check showed nine other 11-man clubs with 3-4 records before Friday’s games: Mater Dei, Olympian, Santana, Valley Center, Del Norte, Bonita Vista, Francis Parker, Grossmont, and Carlsbad.

Let the discussion begin.

You win your last four games by combined points of 168-21  and lose votes?

That’s what happened to Oceanside (7-0) in this week’s  UT-San Diego poll.  The Pirates, who defeated Torrey Pines, 42-21,  remained on top,  but it wasn’t unanimous.

No. 3 Helix (6-1) claimed two first-place votes.

Cathedral, ranked second with a 7-1 record and a victory over Helix, must be scratching its head. The Dons won their sixth in a row, routing Lincoln, 48-0.

Helix has scored 167 points in the last month.  Oceanside has had four consecutive outings of 42 points each, while Helix has scored 42 in each of three games and 41 in the other.

Poll result after Week 8:

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

Others receiving votes:   Sweetwater, 19; Point Loma, 11; The Bishop’s, 2; West Hills, Rancho Bernardo, Vista, El Camino, 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).

U.S. citizens have elected 11 Presidents since 1946, but Point Loma hasn’t gotten with the program.

The Pointers have had three head coaches in the 69 seasons since World War II.

Count ‘em.

Don Giddings replaced Bill Maxwell in 1946 and guided fortunes on Chatsworth Blvd., through 1954, succeeded by Bennie Edens, who didn’t hang up his whistle  until after the 1997 campaign.

Mike Hastings, who grew up on Point Loma and whose father taught and coached there and whose older brothers played for Edens, is a University alum  and played on teams coached by Ron Hamamoto.

After playing defensive tackle at Cal Poly of San Luis Obispo, where his roommate was Pointers grad Steven Cota, who starred on Edens’ 13-0 team of 1987, Hastings began working his way  home.

After coaching at Morro Bay, Hastings joined his father, Bill Hastings, as an assistant under Edens in 1993.

Now in his 17th season as head coach, Mike Hastings had made his mark.

The Pointers defeated La Jolla, 35-31, in the battle for The Shoe this week and are 7-1, their best record at this juncture since 2006 and headed for the postseason.

Hastings’ clubs have made 13 consecutive playoff appearances, and the victory was his 120^th.  That tied Hastings for 28^th all-time in San Diego County with Gene Alim and John McFadden, who also earned 120 victories.  Christian’s Mike Oliver won his 121^st this week.

VIKINGS SCARE

Jaylen Griffin gained 260 yards on eight carries and blew out touchdown runs of 78, 80, and 31 yards as Point Loma rushed for 332 in a 35-10 first half.

La Jolla’s second half surge had the Pointers perspiring.

“We persevered,” Hastings told Jim Lindgren of UT-San Diego.  “We really had to suck it up at the end.”

HAMAMOTO CLOSING IN

Hastings’s high school coach, Ron Hamamoto, now in his third season at Monte Vista after winning at University, Rancho Bernardo, and Lincoln, has guided the Monarchs to a 4-3 record and the 45-10 win over Santana this week  was the 199th victory of Hamamoto’s career.

Hamamoto’s 200th will place the Long Beach Poly graduate with seven others who have crossed that threshold: Herb Meyer (339), John Carroll (241), Bennie Edens (239), John Shacklett (229), Gill Warren (217), Ed Burke (215), and Jim Arnaiz (213).

SHOES, CUPS, BEARS

Point Loma’s victory was for the Shoe Trophy that has been in play most years since 1948.

Mt. Carmel and Poway reinstated the Kiwanis Cup challenge, which started in 1975 but was on hiatus since 2012. The Sundevils won, 24-14, and for the first time since 2006.

Carlsbad took an 11-10 series lead over La Costa Canyon with a 27-26, overtime vistory and possession of the Rotary Cup.

San Pasqual knocked off undefeated Orange Glen, 21-6, in the battle of Bear Valley Parkway and for the hand-carved wooden “Bear” trophy.

Both schools are located on Bear Valley Parkway in Escondido, four miles apart.

CARDS DEALING

It was Homecoming Week throughout the San Diego Section and Hoover had one of the nicest presentations.

The Cardinals began with NFL-style player introductions, followed with the national anthem sung by the school choir, and a blazing opening quarter.

Serra’s ponderous Conquistadors could not keep up with the Jerry Ralph’s small, cat-quick Redbirds, who bolted to a 27-0, first-quarter lead and a romped, 50-0.

The tone was set when Hoover’s George Jones bolted 44 yards for a touchdown on the Cardinals’ first play from scrimmage.

Can anyone topple No. 1 Oceanside?

We’ll just stick with the regular season for now.

The Pirates’ last 4 opponents have a combined 16-8 won-loss record.

On paper, no  other team in the UT-San Diego weekly top 10 (see below) has a  more difficult month ahead except No. 9 El Camino and No. 4 El Capitan, whose final 4 opponents also are 16-8.

No. 2 Cathedral would appear to have the best opportunity to move up, with a final three that has posted a combined 8-6 mark.

Not so quick.  Two of Cathedral’s last three are Lincoln (4-2) and Catholic rival St. Augustine, which seems better than its 2-4 record.

Of course, it’s all on paper.  Anything can happen now that league play is on in earnest.

Oceanside begins its stretch run this week with an Avocado West opener against 4-2 Torrey Pines.

These are not the Falcons of the Ed Burke era, but  Torrey won its last 3 games by an average score of 33-12, and they played it close in losses to Mission Hills (17-21) and Cathedral (7-8).

The table lists the remaining opponents for this week’s Top 10:

=League. @Away.

Poll result after Week 7:

*Awarded on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.

Others receiving votes:   Sweetwater, 18;  Steele Canyon, 12; La Costa Canyon, 8; Point Loma, 5; Granite Hills, St. Augustine,  The Bishop’s, 2, each. Rancho Bernardo, 1.

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).

“We couldn’t convince ourselves that this team was as good as the Sweetwater and Oceanside teams we defeated.”

Such was the lament of Chula Vista coach Chet DeVore, whose Spartans’ season ended with a 19-0 loss to Laguna Beach in a CIF lower division, Southern Group semifinal playoff.

The small crowd of about 2,500 at Coronado’s Cutler Field was deflating enough, but the weary Spartans also lost 6 fumbles and their edge.

Chula Vista’s first blush with success since the school opened five years before had resulted in a Metropolitan League championship.

But Laguna Beach was the third consecutive opponent in a pressure-packed trilogy.

The Spartans didn’t have much left after a dramatic victory against Sweetwater and game-of-the-year win over Oceanside.

TWO TEAMS A COMBINED 16-0

C.R. Roberts, a 180-pound Oceanside running back, had scored 181 points, led the Pirates to an 8-0 record, and created a loud buzz around Southern California prep circles.

Years later Chet DeVore would clear the dinner table and gather his sons John and James.  DeVore would place a bottle of catsup here, a salt shaker there, until he had 11 “players” in a defensive alignment.

DeVore would use the items to show his sons how Chula Vista defensed Roberts and Oceanside on a rainy night in the North County community before an estimated 6,500 fans.

(The home-team Pirates were averaging 403 yards offense.  Roberts was gaining 11.8 yards a carry and had rushed for 1,508 yards in 127 carries and scored 29 touchdowns.  Quarterback Dick Oxley had completed 53×99 passes for 1,137 yards and 12 touchdowns).

C.R. DRAWS CROWD

Roberts scored once on a 17-yard run, but was met by a flock of defenders wherever he went.  Chula Vista won, 28-7.

DeVore figured the best way to stop Roberts’ sweeps would be to overload the weakside on defense, short-circuit Roberts’ blockers, and stack Oceanside’s run game.

Defensive end Bruce Cornwall was a hero in this defense, as Cornwall was left to almost singlehandedly patrol the strongside should the Pirates come in his direction.

Junior Bob Neely was the offensive and defensive star for the Spartans, scoring on runs of 18 and 2 yards, and intercepting 4 passes.

“Make no mistake, that boy is great,” DeVore said of Roberts.  “Neither myself nor my boys were disappointed.  He was all he was said to be.”

Chula Vista’s season would end with its own disappointment, but many Spartans would be back for another run in 1953.

So would Roberts, joined this year by Spartans defender Don Cameron on the all-Southern California small schools first team.

Roberts also was player of the year.

SWEETWATER DENIED

Coach Barney Newlee’s Red Devils, scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to take a 13-7 lead into the last play of the game at Chula Vista.

Spartans quarterback Lavon Baker was tackled for a loss at the Red Devils’ 39-yard line and Sweetwater players and fans began celebrating as the final gun sounded.

Penalty flag.

The game could not end on a defensive foul.

SPARTANS GET LIFE

Sweetwater was penalized 15 yards for roughing the passer.  Chula Vista was given another play and DeVore dug into his mental playbook.

Ray Speitel took a handoff from Baker on an end around play, then lofted a lefthanded 24-yard pass, to Baker no less.

Baker caught the wobbly spiral in the end zone for a game-tying touchdown.  Bob Wilson toed an extra point and Chula Vista escaped, 14-13.

The opponents and the milestones continue to pass for John Carroll and his Oceanside Pirates.

The 42-16 victory over Mission Hills left the Pirates with a 6-0 record and within shouting distance of an unbeaten, 10-0 regular season.

Herb Meyer doesn’t hear shouts or footsteps, but Carroll’s 240th career victory moved the Oceanside coach past Point Loma’s Bennie Edens for No. 2 all-time in San Diego County.

Meyer, who coached 45 seasons at Oceanside and El Camino (1959-2003), will continue to hold sway for at least more several years with 339 wins.

Carroll, in his 26^th season, became head coach at Oceanside in 1989, thirteen years after Meyer left to begin the El Camino program.

Meanwhile, Cathedral’s Sean Doyle solidified his No. 14 position with the 151^st victory of his career and Christian’s Matt Oliver went by Eastlake’s John McFadden into 28^th with Oliver’s 121^st win.

11 OR 8?

I saw the Mountain Empire-Army-Navy  score and did a double take, so I emailed Redhawks coach  Bill Dobson.

I asked Dobson if the Redhawks and Army-Navy had a personnel shortage and  were forced to drop  from 11-man to an 8-man game last week.

There were 11 on each side, Dobson emailed me back this morning.

“The points were being scored about as fast as the wind blows during a Santa Ana out here,” said Dobson.  “Both teams were banging their heads on the scoreboard.”

Mountain Empire’s 66-58 victory represents the second highest combined point total for any 11-man game involving San Diego County teams.

The highest combined score is 137.  San Diego had 130 of those points against Army-Navy in 1920.

Mountain Empire went with its running game, rushing 62 times for 619 yards and a 10-yard average.  The Redhawks were 0-2 passing.

Senior Josh Lee earned a day off, rushing 32 times for 381 yards, 6 touchdowns, and three, two-point conversions. Lee’s running mate, senior Jacob Wilson had 217 yards rushing, two touchdowns and  two, two-point conversions.

Even in eight-man games, the point total has been bettered only 12 times:

WEIRD GAME, STRANGE SCORE

A field goal and length of the field interception for a touchdown gave El Camino a 9-5 victory over La Costa Canyon, which scored on a safety and field goal.

There had been one other 9-5 game involving a San Diego County team.  San Diego defeated Pasadena by that score in 1906.

The 9-5 score of 1906 was representative of the era.  From 1897-1912 touchdowns counted as five points.  From 1904-09, field goals counted as four points.

It seems safe to say the Hilltoppers scored a touchdown and field goal and Pasadena scored a touchdown.

UNDEFEATEDS, MINUS ONE

Steele Canyon crashed in a 42-0 loss to Helix, leaving nine teams with spotless records: