A total of 10 East County teams qualified for this year’s San Diego Section 11-person football playoffs, another for the section’s eight-person field, and yet another four for the section’s four-divisional girls flag football playoffs.
That’s a total of 15 football teams no matter how one spins it.
The race is now on for those coveted CIF championship banners, some which rate to be the first in school history for their respective programs.
Nine of the 10 teams in the boys brackets are still in contention, including the No. 3 Granite Hills Eagles and No. 5 Mt. Miguel Matadors in Division I, No. 3 Helix and No. 8 Christian Patriots in Division II, No. 2 El Capitan Vaqueros and No. 3 Grossmont Foothillers in Division IV, No. 6 West Hills Wolf Pack, No. 7 Santana Sultans and No. 12 Monte Vista Monarchs in Division V, and No. 2 Foothills Christian in the Division VI (eight-person) field.
Mt. Miguel, Christian, West Hills, Santana and Monte Vista are already battle-tested after emerging with key victories in last Friday’s opening round while Granite Hills. Helix, El Capitan, Grossmont and Foothills Christian all have a week’s rest after receiving byes to the quarterfinals.
Steele Canyon (No. 11 in Division III) was the lone East County team to drop out of the playoff brackets following a hotly contested 57-53 loss last Friday at No. 6 Escondido.
Granite Hills (8-2) is set to host No. 6 Torrey Pines (5-6) on Friday with the winner meeting the winner between No. 2 Carlsbad (7-3) and No. 7 Rancho Bernardo (9-2) in the semifinals while Mt. Miguel (9-2) travels to No. 4 seed El Camino (5-5) with the winner to face the survivor between No. 1 San Marcos (9-1) and No. 9 Del Norte (7-4) in the next round.
Torrey Pines topped No. 11 Scripps Ranch, 26-15, in first-round action last Friday while Del Norte pulled off a 42-25 upset of No. 8 Oceanside (7-4).
Mt. Miguel has already snatched playoff momentum with a commanding 62-34 win over 12th-seeded Santa Fe Christian (9-2).
Helix (4-6) will host No. 6 La Jolla (7-4) in Friday’s quarterfinals. The winner advances to meet the winner between No. 2 Mater Dei Catholic (7-3) and No. 7 Bishop’s (7-3). La Jolla dis¬pensed with No. 11 Madison (4-7) by a score of 27-15 in last Friday’s division opener while Bishop’s eliminated No. 10 Mt. Carmel (6- 5) by a 49-20 score.
City League champion Christian (9-2) edged No. 9 Imperial (9- 2) by a score of 28-26 to advance to meet No. 1 University City (9- 1) in Friday’s quarterfinals. The winner gets the quarterfinal winner between No. 4 Poway (3-7) and No. 5 Point Loma (6-5).
Point Loma eliminated No. 12 Valley Center (7-4) by a score of 28-7 while Poway had a bye in the first round.
East County is well represented in the upper reaches of the Division IV bracket with No. 2 El Capitan (7-3) and No. 3 Grossmont (4- 6) both as possible finalists.
Grossmont Valley League champion El Capitan will host No. 7 Chula Vista (5-6) in Friday’s quarterfinals while Grossmont will host No. 6 Mira Mesa (1-10).
The El Capitan-Chula Vista winner gets the Grossmont-Mira Mesa winner in the semifinals.
Chula Vista upset host El Capitan, 35-21, in the third game of the season. Friday’s rematch will be the last game of the season for one of those teams.
Mira Mesa is coming off its first win of the season — 41-21 over No. 11 Sweetwater — after going 0-10 in regular season play.
West Hills (6-5) will travel to No. 3 Crawford (5-5) in a bid to remain in contention for the Division V title while Santana (7-4) will play at No. 2 Bonita Vista (5-5) in Friday’s quarterfinals. Monte Vista (6-5) will take its act to No. 4 Hoover (6-4).
Monte Vista may have scored the biggest upset in the first round by taking down No. 5 Fallbrook, 34-33, to hand the Warriors a rare 0-11 season.
The last time the Monarchs made the playoffs was in 2017 when they won the Division IV section championship.
“Hoover is very talented, and we have a tough one,” Monte Vista coach Ron Hamamoto said. “Two leading rushers in the county are going against each other (Monte Vista senior Alex Villanueva and Hoover senior Sir Autry). It should be fun to watch.”
Foothills Christian (6-3) will host No. 3 Calvin Christian (6-3) in Friday’s Division VI semifinals. The winner will face the winner between No. 1 St. Joseph Academy (8-1) and No. 4 Horizon Prep (6-2) in the championship game on Nov. 22 at Palomar College.
What to watch for
Granite Hills is unbeaten in its last three games, including a record-setting performance in its fi¬nal regular season contest against the visiting Grossmont Foothillers when the teams combined for 136 points — 90 points by the Gross¬mont Hills League champion Eagles (single game record).
Team leaders include sophomore quarterback Zac Benitez (1,765 passing yards, 22 touchdowns) and senior ball-carrier Max Turner (1,550 rushing yards, 23 touchdowns).
Mt. Miguel won last year’s Division IV championship but has moved all the way up to Division I under the new playoff seeding formula. It’s based on success on the field but the Matadors rate to see much tougher competition this year in postseason play.
“I’m not a fan of the new format but our goal is to win a championship,” Mt. Miguel head coach Verlain Betofe said frankly. “That has always been the goal no matter what format it is. We just need to continue starting fast and playing Matador football. We are jumping up three divisions from Division IV, but we are definitely ready for the challenge.
“On offense it starts with our quarterback A.J. Stowers. He is the key to our offense. We have been doing a great job running the ball with Jayden Hunter and K.J. Shields. Our offensive line has been playing really well. On defense our two corners Brandon Arrington and Braylon Cardwell need to continue playing like the best tandem in the state. Dominic Lopez is our leader at linebacker; he is another key piece. We are just excited for the challenge.”
Stowers, a junior, passed for 356 yards and four touchdowns in last Friday’s opener while sophomore Hunter (10 carries, 49 yards), Shields (eight carries, 33 yards), freshman Jeremiah Holiday (two carries, seven yards) and junior D.J. Wilkins (one carry, four yards) each scored on touchdown runs.
Junior A.J. Logan (six catches, 150 yards) caught two scoring passes while senior Ezelle Buchanan (seven catches, 120 yards), Arrington (five catches, 76 yards) and junior Kali Young (one catch, 49 yards) each had one touchdown grab.
Logan passed for the score to Young while Buchanan had a 70-yard catch in the game.
Shields and Arrington are both juniors.
The Matadors tallied 549 yards in total offense. Senior Clint Ettleman was successful on eight PAT conversions while senior Easton Sanchez had two sacks on defense.
Christian head coach Patrick Bugg said the new format should make for some interesting first round matchups but has created some issues in the lower divisions with teams dropping multiple levels and making the playoffs.
“We will see how that plays out,” he said.
So far, so good for the Patriots.
“We are entering the Division II playoffs with some momentum after winning league and finding a rhythm on offense to match how well our defense has played all year,” Bugg said. “We will need to continue to tackle well, create turnovers, and stop the big play on defense. We need to create a few more explosive plays and continue to take care of the ball of¬fensively. If we can stay healthy and do those things I like our chances in the playoffs.”
Bugg noted that sophomore quarterback Kaleb Runkle, senior tight end/linebacker Brady Eads, senior lineman Tavin Zawacki, senior running back/linebacker Jacob Morones and sophomore re¬ceiver/defensive back Kai Rosier are some of the players who will need to play well for the team to have a chance to keep advancing.
Runkle passed for 290 yards and three touchdowns, including two to Eads (six catches, 59 yards) and another to Rosier (12 catches, 214 yards). Junior Roman Gustin tossed a 12-yard scoring pass to senior Rylan Fishwick.
Quarterbacks will be on display in the guise of El Capitan senior Brandt Barker (1,733 yards, 18 TD) and Grossmont senior Thomas Donovan (3,596 yards, 47 TD).
Top receivers include Grossmont junior Noah Walker (1,237 yards, 22 TD) and Grossmont senior Parker Vanderbergh (1,141 yards, 13 TD).
West Hills, Santana and Monte Vista will all look to continue to make an impact in the Division V field.
Senior Joey Hamilton (14 carries, 100 yards) scored three rushing touchdowns in West Hills’ 33-15 win over 11th-seeded Mar Vista (4-7) last Friday while seniors Edgard Leon (five carries, 78 yards) and Ryder Alexander (six carries, 34 yards) each scored one rushing TD.
Santana sophomore Ethan Miller tossed a pair of scoring passes and senior Wyatt Williams rushed for 184 yards in last Friday’s 33-18 playoff win over No. 10 Kearny (7-4). Senior Noah Qualin scored on an interception return while sophomore Kolton Thornton scored on a 59-yard punt return for the victorious Sultans.
Monte Vista received 242 rushing yards and one touchdown from Villanueva and two touchdown passes and one rushing touchdown from junior quarter¬back Derrick Taylor. Junior Rahshawn Florence had touchdown catches of 63 and 54 yards.
Villanueva leads the section with 2,104 rushing yards (191.3 yards per game) while Autry has rushed for 1,621 yards with 23 touchdowns.
San Diego Section
Playoff Schedule
OPEN DIVISION
Semifinals
Friday, Nov. 15
(4) Mission Hills (8-2) at (1) Lincoln (8-2) at Patrick Henry, 7 p.m.
(3) Cathedral Catholic (8-2) at (2) La Costa Canyon (10-0), 7 p.m.
Championship
Friday, Nov. 23 at Snapdragon Stadium, semifinal winners
DIVISION I
First Round
Friday, Nov. 8
(5) Mt. Miguel (9-2) 62, (12) Santa Fe Christian (9-2) 34
Quarterfinals
Friday, Nov. 15
(6) Torrey Pines (5-6) at (3) Granite Hills (8-2), 7 p.m.
(5) Mt. Miguel (9-2) at (4) El Camino (5-5), 7 p.m.
DIVISION II
First Round
Friday, Nov. 8
(8) Christian (9-2) 28, (9) Imperial (9-2) 26
Quarterfinals
Friday, Nov. 15
(6) La Jolla (7-4) at (3) Helix (4-6), 7 p.m.
(8) Christian (9-2) at (1) University City (9-1), 7 p.m.
DIVISION III
First Round
Friday, Nov. 8
(6) Escondido (7-4) 57, (11) Steele Canyon (4-7) 53
DIVISION IV
Quarterfinals
Friday, Nov. 15
(7) Chula Vista (5-6) at (2) El Capitan (7-3), 7 p.m.
(6) Mira Mesa (1-10) at (3) Grossmont (4-6), 7 p.m.
DIVISION V
First Round
Friday, Nov. 8
(6) West Hills (6-5) 33, (11) Mar Vista (4-7) 15
(7) Santana (7-4) 33, (10) Kearny (7-4) 18
(12) Monte Vista (6-5) 34, (5) Fallbrook (0-11) 33
Quarterfinals
Friday, Nov. 15
(6) West Hills (6-5) at (3) Crawford (5-5), 7 p.m.
(7) Santana (7-4) at (2) Bonita Vista (5-5), 7 p.m.
(12) Monte Vista (6-5) at (4) Hoover (6-4), 7 p.m.
