The San Diego Section’s new playoff format is creating some interesting scenarios.
Sixty-four of the section’s 11-person teams qualify for post-season play. What’s different this season is that there are no prede¬termined divisions.
Teams will be lined up from No. 1 to No. 64 (with allowances for automatic league champion qualifiers) and snipped off division by division. Top four teams, as per the final regular season CalPreps rankings, will comprise the Open Division. The next 12 teams will comprise Division I, followed by increments of 12 teams for Division II, Division III, Division IV and Division V.
Six of the eight teams entered in the Division V-AA tier qualify for postseason play. Similarly, the eight-person football bracket is separate from the 11-person bracket.
As the halfway point of the 2024 high school season approaches, something can already be said about what to expect the rest of the season.
Eight teams remain undefeated through Week 5: No. 2 La Costa Canyon (5-0), No. 10 Mt. Miguel (4-0), No. 16 Brawley (4-0), No. 17 Scripps Ranch (4-0), No. 27 University City (4-0), No. 29 Imperial (5-0), No. 33 Holtville (5-0) and No. 44 Army-Navy (4-0).
A glut of 24 teams have one loss, including No. 4 Granite Hills (3-1), No. 31 Steele Canyon (4-1) and No. 49 Santana (3-1).
Those teams would seem to step to the front of the line in terms of securing playoff positions wherever they may line up.
Teams that have played tough schedules and haven’t exceled in the win column have corresponding rankings that reflect that and also should be in good standing for postseason berths.
Mater Dei Catholic, for instance, entered last Friday’s game against Mira Mesa with a 0-3 record following setbacks to Granite Hills (56-28), Cathedral Catholic (56-28) and San Marcos (58-14).
The Crusaders picked up their first win of the season, 40-14, against the Marauders and enter this week at No. 18 in the latest CalPreps rankings. Such a ranking would place the defending Metro-Mesa League champions near the top of the Division II field if the playoffs started today.
In the middle of the Division II field would be longtime section powerhouse St. Augustine, which enters the week uncharacteristically at 0-5.
Granite Hills (3-1) would get a chance to defend its Open Division championship against either No. 1 Lincoln (2-2), No. 2 La Costa Canyon (4-0) and No. 3 Cathedral Catholic (3-1).
Mt. Miguel, last year’s Division IV champion, would get a chance to prove itself against Division I competition this season that could also include No. 15 Helix Charter (2-3).
Meanwhile, Steele Canyon, off to a strong 4-1 start, and No. 32 Christian (2-2) would be among the top-ranked Division III teams. Similarly, No. 42 El Capitan (2-3) would rank among the top Division IV teams while No. 49 Santana (3-1) and No. 50 West Hills (2-3) would sneak into the Division IV bracket to add more East County flavor.
Could East County teams win multiple CIF titles in 2024? The stars could line up for some interesting playoff football, indeed.
El Capitan snapped a three-game losing streak with a 14-6 non-league win at Montgomery last Friday. Vaqueros head coach Ron Burner is optimistic about what the rest of the season might hold for his team.
“The three games we lost were against Scripps Ranch (20-7), they’re undefeated at 4-0, Chula Vista (35-21), they were one win away from winning Division IV last year and Steele Canyon (19-13),” Burner assessed. “We were in the game against Steele Canyon. If things had gone our way, we could be 5-0 at this point.”
Presumably, teams ranked lower than 64th will not qualify for the playoffs (providing they are not league champions).
Those teams at present include three East County teams: No. 71 Monte Vista (2-2), No. 76 Valhal¬la (2-3) and No. 1 El Cajon Valley (0-5).
On the other hand, No. 83 Mountain Empire (1-3) would be in line to qualify for the Division V-AA playoffs with the fifth-best record. A crucial intra-divisional pairing looms when the Red Hawks visit No. 86 Victory Christian Academy for a non-league encounter on Friday at 7 p.m. at Bonita Vista High School.
VCA is currently seventh-best in the division, needing a win over Mountain Empire to move up in the division. A win by the Red Hawks might just be enough to hold onto a playoff berth.
Teams needing to move up in the rankings will need to do so with strong showings in league play.
Both the Grossmont Hills League champion and Grossmont Valley League champion are automatic playoff qualifiers.
League play kicks off Oct. 4.
Teams vying for the Grossmont Valley League title include El Capitan, Santana, West Hills, Monte Vista, Valhalla and El Cajon Valley.
Santana already has chalked up three non-league wins while El Capitan, West Hills, Monte Vista and Valhalla each have opened the season with a pair of wins each.
Each GVL team will play five league games.
There are five teams in the Grossmont Hills League with each team playing four league games to determine the league champion.
It’s a hotly contested bunch with Granite Hills and Mt. Miguel ranked among the top 10 teams in the section and Helix not far behind with a Steele Canyon team hungry to prove itself.
EL CAPITAN 14, MONTGOMERY 6
Senior Brandt Barker completed 16 of 27 passes for 197 yards with one touchdown and one interception as the visiting Vaqueros snapped a three-game loss skein. El Capitan built a 14-0 lead in the non-league contest on a touchdown pass from Barker to junior Logan Dulyea (three catches, 60 yards) and a 10-yard TD run by senior Ayden Banegas, who rushed twice for 27 yards and had seven catches for 75 yards to help power the offense.
The host Aztecs scored on a fourth-quarter pass play from freshman signal-caller Isaiah Mena-Malijan to senior Zantez Thomas. However, the two-point conversion was broken up, leaving the Lakeside visitors ahead by eight points.
El Capitan out-gained Montgomery (2-3) 291-156 in total yards. Senior Brady Joralemon led the Vaqs on the ground with 16 carries for 69 yards. Senior Brayden Ford had two kicking points.
Seniors Aaron Altamirano and Lukas Garcia co-led El Capitan with 10 tackles each while junior Brewin Ford logged eight stops. Garcia had 2.5 tackles for losses while Altamirano and Ford each had two tackles for losses.
The Vaqueros recorded four sacks (shared by six players) and one interception (senior Evan Ortega), limiting the Aztecs to 49 rushing yards and 107 passing yards. Senior Amio Fox had 11 carries for 70 yards but Mena-Malijan was sacked for negative-29 yards.
Barker has passed for 890 yards and seven touchdowns in five games while Altamirano has racked up 60 tackles and Garcia 8.5 tackles for losses.
STEELE CANYON 45, VALHALLA 14
Sophomore Gavin Caha passed for 267 yards and five touchdowns to lead the Cougars to their third consecutive win. Caha connected passes to 10 receivers.
Junior Nico Jara had two catches for 66 yards, including one 37-yard catch, while senior Austin Haisch had four catches for 56 yards. Senior John Weaver IV rushed for 132 yards and one touchdown.
Junior Tyree Zarkaryan registered four tackles for losses.
East County Football Log
Friday, Sept. 19
El Capitan 14, Montgomery 6
Steele Canyon 45, Valhalla 14
Cathedral Catholic 28, Helix 0
Patrick Henry 45, West Hills 14
Otay Ranch 56, Grossmont 20
Clairemont 34, El Cajon Valley 8
CalPreps Top 50 Rankings
SAN DIEGO SECTION/WEEK 5
1. Lincoln (2-2), 2. La Costa Canyon (5-0), 3. Cathedral Catholic (4-1), 4. Granite Hills (3-1), 5. Mission Hills (3-1), 6. Carlsbad (4-1), 7. San Marcos (4-1), 8. El Camino (3-1), 9. Rancho Bernardo (4-1), 10. Mt. Miguel (4-0), 11. Del Norte (3-2), 12. La Jolla (4-1), 13. Torrey Pines (2-3), 14. Oceanside (3-2), 15. Helix (2-3), 16. Brawley (4-0), 17. Scripps Ranch (4-0), 18. Mater Dei Catholic (1-3), 19. Poway (3-2), 20. Mt. Carmel (4-1), 21. Central Union (4-1), 22. Santa Fe Christian (3-1), 23. Pt. Loma (2-2), 24. Bishop’s (1-2), 25. La Jolla Country Day (3-2), 26. Madison (1-3), 27, University City (4-0), 28. Patrick Henry (4-1), 29. Imperial (5-0), 30. Valley Center (4-1), 31. Steele Canyon (4-1), 32. Christian (2-2), 33. Holtville (5-0), 34. Otay Ranch (2-3), 35. Eastlake (1-4), 36. St. Augustine (0-5), 37. San Diego (4-1), 38. Chula Vista (4-1), 39. Escondido (2-2), 40. Ramona (1-4) ), 41. San Pasqual (1-4), 42. El Capitan (2-3), 43. Westview (2-3), 44. Army-Navy Academy (4-0), 45. Grossmont (2-2), 46. Sweetwater (4-1), 47. Vincent Memorial (4-1), 48. Mira Mesa (0-4), 49. Santana (3-1), 50. West Hills (2-3)
