The number of unbeaten tackle football teams in the San Diego Section has dropped once again following last weekend’s latest spate of games.
The list now stands at five teams — it’s a rather elite group: No. 3 Carlsbad (8-0), No. 9 Pt. Loma (8-0), No. 17 Imperial (8-0), No 22 Santa Fe Christian (9-0) and No. 23 Mission Bay (8-0).
There are no longer any undefeated East County teams following last Friday’s 28-21 win by the host Mt. Miguel Matadors over the previously undefeated Steele Canyon Cougars.
The Cougars had raced to a 7-0 start before running into a Matador team also contending for the Grossmont Hills League title and elite playoff berth.
The game was close, but No. 8 Mt. Miguel (6-3) came out on top with some late defensive heroics.
The Cougars struck first as junior quarterback Gavin Caha hit senior Nico Jara on a play that morphed into a 60-yard catch-and-score. The point-after touchdown kick went wide, however, leaving the visitors with a 6-0 lead.
It quickly became 7-6 Matadors on a one-yard scoring run by sophomore Jeremiah Holliday and a successful PAT conversion by senior Clint Ettleman.
The defenses of both teams took over from there and the first half ended on a Hail Mary pass from Mt. Miguel sophomore Andre Jackson that bounced fortuitously to junior Delontay Williams.
14-6 Matadors amid a frenzy.
Momentum swung the other way to start the second half as Steele Canyon recovered a fumble in the endzone and Jara tacked on a two-point conversion run to tie the game at 14 all.
Holliday gave the hosts a 21-14 lead on a short but bruising run into the endzone in the final minute of the third quarter. Junior Jeremiah Loper doubled the Matador lead to 28-14 when he connected on a 19-yard scoring pass to freshman Tmarrion Williams early in the fourth quarter.
But the game wasn’t over.
Caha hit senior Jacob Henton for a 33-yard touchdown with 4:12 to play to narrow the score to 21-14. Steele Canyon got the ball back with one minute to play and Caha directed the team to the Mt. Miguel 36-yard line before a deep pass was intercepted by junior Gianni Porfillio.
The undefeated season was finally over.
Steele Canyon (7-1) enters Friday’s game at Helix ranked 19th among the section’s 87 teams. That would place the Cougars among the top teams in the Division II tier. Helix (3-6) is ranked 24th, residing in the middle of Division II teams along with the Grossmont Valley League-leading Grossmont Foothillers (7-1)
