State football championship bowl games are scheduled this weekend, Friday-Saturday, Dec. 8-9, at three locations: El Camino College, Pasadena City College and Saddleback College.
Of the six San Diego Section qualifiers for last weekend’s Southern California regional championships, only one — Sweetwater High School in Division 6-A — pushed through to a state bowl game.
East County was represented in two regional championship games:
Open Division section champion Granite Hills in Division 1-AA and Division IV section champion Mt. Miguel in Division 3-A.
Granite Hills (12-1) built an early 14-0 lead but succumbed, 49-21, on the strength of 49 unanswered points by host Mission Viejo (12-3) last Friday while Mt. Miguel (12-2) scored early but fell short, 52-21, against the host Mayfair Monsoons on Saturday.
Both the league champion Eagles and Matadors came to play but were out-played by superior opponents. They weren’t the only ones.
Division I section champion St. Augustine (10-5) ended its season with a 21-20 loss to visiting St. Bonaventure (12-3) on Saturday in the Division 1-A SoCal final while Division II section champion Del Norte (11-3) was eclipsed on the final play by a score of 30-28 to Lake Balboa Birmingham (12-2) in last Friday’s Division 3-AA SoCal final.
Division III section champion La Jolla Country Day (11-4) lost 41-21 at Banning (9-6) in Saturday’s Division 5-A SoCal final.
Sweetwater, the Division V section champion, will meet undefeated Colusa (13-0) for the Division 6-A state title after topping visiting Santa Monica St. Monica (11-4) by a score of 47-27 in Saturday’s regional. The Red Devils are riding a current five-game winning streak and rank among the state rushing leaders with 375.2 yards per game (nearly triple the national average).
Colusa, the Sacramento Valley League champion, won the Nor-Cal regional championship with a 42-6 win over South San Francisco (12-2) on Saturday.
Saturday’s Division 6-A state bowl game kicks off at 11 a.m. at El Camino College in Torrance.
Eastern exposure
Granite Hills saw its 21-game winning streak end despite taking a two-touchdown lead on a five-yard scoring run by junior Max Turner and a one-yard wildcat run by junior Pablo Jackson. But the host Diablos did not buckle.
Instead, Mission Viejo reeled off seven unanswered touchdowns to advance to Friday’s state bowl championship game against Concord De La Salle (11-2) at 8 p.m. at Saddleback College.
Seven-time state champion De La Salle defeated Clovis North, 41-0, to win the Northern California regional.
Senior Josh Zander hauled in a 45-yard halfback pass from Jackson on the game’s first play and Eagles frosh quarterback Zachary Benitez later hit junior Brendan Lewis on a 32-yard pass to set up the game’s opening touchdown to finish off an 85-yard drive.
Jackson broke loose for a 35-yard gain to get Granite Hills’ second scoring drive started, a 62-yard field march.
Mission Viejo ended the first half with touchdowns on three consecutive drives to take a 21-14 halftime lead.
The hosts capped a 65-yard drive with a five-yard touchdown run by junior Hinnesward Lilomaiava.
Mission Viejo sophomore quarterback Luke Fahey connected with classmate Vance Spafford on a 32-yard touchdown pass before Lilomaiava finished off a 70-yard drive with a two-yard scoring run.
A 46-yard interception return by sophomore Jeron Jones and a fumble recovery deep in Granite Hills territory that led to a five-yard scoring run by sophomore Phillip Bell essentially put the game away as the Diablos took a 35-14 lead on the scoreboard.
Fahey later scored on a 15-yard run and tossed a three-yard score to junior Grant Nichols that was set up by an interception by senior Travis Anderson.
The visitors closed out scoring in the game on a four-yard TD pass from Benitez to Lewis.
Benitez passed for 146 yards, completing 13 of 28 attempts, with one touchdown and two interceptions while rushing for negative-seven yards for an uncharacteristic 32.7 quarterback efficiency rating.
Jackson rushed 12 times for 56 yards while Turner rushed 15 times for 43 yards and completed one pass for 45 yards to finish the game with 101 total yards.
Zander had seven catches for 79 yards while senor Nokoi Maddox had two catches for 48 yards, Lewis had two catches for 36 yards.
Mission Viejo out-gained Granite Hills 406-283 in total yards.
Fahey passed for 208 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Lilomaiava gained 81 yards on 17 carries with two touchdowns while Fahey rushed for 79 yards on seven attempts with one touchdown.
Spafford had three catches for 81 yards and one TD while Bell had eight catches for 68 yards.
Junior Dijon Lee Jr. had three catches for 46 yards. Lee keyed the Diablos with 116 all-purpose yards by tacking on 70 yards on kick returns.
Fahey led all players on the field with 287 total yards (79 rushing, 208 passing).
Defensively, the hosts recorded three sacks, two interceptions and one fumble recovery.
Granite Hills senior Robert Petrich closed out the game with three kicking points — all on extra-point tries.
The Diablos, who defeated Servite, 34-15, to win the CIF-Southern Section Division II championship, previously reached the state title game in 2015.
The Eagles’ 21-game winning streak was second-longest in the state.
Matador pride
Mt. Miguel scored first on a 45-yard run by senior Christian Lopez. But four turnovers proved costly as the Matadors were shut out in the second half.
Mayfair tied the game, 7-7, on a one-yard run by junior Louis “C.J.” Johnson. The Monsoons recovered a fumble on Mt. Miguel’s next series and capitalized when junior quarterback Jeremiah Calvin connected on a 26-yard scoring pass to sophomore Aidan Sullivan. Senior Ryan Heredia scored on an 11-yard run to extend the Mayfair lead to 21-7 to end the first quarter.
Calvin scored on a 15-yard run to place the Monsoons in front, 28-7, with nearly all of the second quarter remaining. The hosts led, 35-7, when Heredia scored on a 10-yard run with 5:12 to play in the first half.
The Matadors took advantage of the remaining time in the half as sophomore Parris Vernon scored on a one-yard run and added an 18-yard touchdown catch to narrow the halftime score to 35-21.
The Monsoons scored the only points of the second half – 17, to be exact.
Senior Rocco Mercado booted a 31-yard field goal to make the score 38-21 and Calvin completed a 25-yard scoring pass to senior Sean James Jonas for a 45-21 lead.
Johnson closed out the game with a two-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter.
Johnson (22 carries, 88 yards) and Heredia (11 carries, 71 yards) combined for 159 rushing yards on 33 carries with four touchdowns — two TD each — while Calvin passed for 208 yards with two touchdowns and also rushed for 37 yards and one touchdown.
Mayfair dished up seven touchdowns (five rushing, two receiving) and one field goal for its 52 points.
State Bowl Game Lineup
Open Division: San Mateo (12-0) vs. Mater Dei (12-1)
Division 1-AA: De La Salle (11-2) vs. Mission Viejo (12-3)
Division 1-A: Folsom (12-2) vs. St. Bonaventure (12-3)
Division 2-AA: Grant (12-2) vs. La Serna (12-3)
Division 2-A: Los Gatos (12-1) vs. Central Valley Christian (14-1)
Division 3-AA: Acalanes (10-4) vs. Birmingham (12-2)
Division 3-A: Marin Catholic (13-1) vs. Mayfair (11-3)
Division 4-AA: Soquel (12-2) vs. Jurupa Hills (9-6)
Division 4-A: Palma (10-4) vs. Mission Oak (10-5)
Division 5-AA: Pleasant Valley (10-3) vs. Riverside Ramona (10-5)
Division 5-A: Woodland Christian vs. Banning (9-6)
Division 6-AA: St. Vincent de Paul (12-2) vs. Wasco (9-5)
Division 6-A: Colusa (13-0) vs. Sweetwater (8-6)
Division 7-AA: Ferndale (10-4) vs. Fairfax (10-4)
Division 7-A: Strathmore (11-4) vs. Bell Gardens (10-5)
Notepad
•This year’s bowl lineup features 10 schools with state titles: De la Salle (7-8), Folsom (4-1), Mater Dei (3-0), Grant (2-0), Pleasant Valley (2-0), St. Bonaventure (2-0), Mission Viejo (1-0), Marin Catholic (1-2), Strathmore (1-2) and Serra (1-4).
•Two schools return in search of their first state crown: Birmingham (0-1) and Central Valley Christian (0-2)
