As soon as El Capitan High School football coach Ron Burner held up the San Diego Section Division IV championship trophy to cheers from his team and its supporters last Friday at Southwestern College’s DeVore Stadium, the first words out of his mouth were electric.
“How ’bout them Vaqueros?!”
Indeed.
The Lakeside team, seeded second in the 12-team draw, defeated the fifth-seeded Westview Wolverines, 17-14, to capture its first section title since the history-making 2014 season when the Vaqueros advanced all the way to the Division III state championship game.
The 2014 team finished 14-1 with a 14-7 win over Rancho Bernardo in the Division II section title game en route to a runner-up finish in the state playoffs following a 35-28 setback to Campolindo.
Brad Cagle rushed for one touchdown and passed for another to Isaiah Capoocia to push the Vaqs past Rancho Bernardo.
Interestingly, the 2014 El Capitan team was honored on its 10th anniversary during homecoming ceremonies this year. The gesture proved prophetic as the 2024 Vaqueros are now headed to the Southern California regional playoffs following last Friday’s victory.
Will the 2024 season end with another trip to the state championship game? The Vaqs, riding a nine-game winning streak, will put their Grossmont Valley League championship and 10-3 overall record to the test when they host Victorville Silverado Friday, Dec. 6, at 7:30 p.m.
Silverado enters the Division 5-AA regional clash with a 9-5 record after defeating Long Beach St. Anthony, 30-14, to claim the Southern Section Division 10 championship.
If El Capitan can play with the type of grit and determination it displayed while fielding an injury-plagued squad, anything is certainly possible.
“Unbelievable that we got it done,” Burner said. “Westview’s defense is well-coached and they came in on a roll. We had lost our running back (in the semifinals) and had a few more players dinged up to start the championship game. We were so far down in players we had left on offense that I was struggling for plays to call.
“It came down to our players on defense to make a stop.”
The Vaqueros never trailed in the game but relied on resilience to stave off defeat by the Wolverines, who twice erased touchdown deficits to knot the score, 14-14, entering the fourth quarter.
Two plays pushed the Lakeside squad over the edge.
Senior Brayden Ford split the uprights on a 26-yard field goal with 8:02 remaining in the game to nudge the Vaqueros in front, 17-14, on the scoreboard.
With the ball back in Westview’s hands and the Wolverines facing fourth-and-two, the game was on the line until El Capitan senior Tyler Easley stepped up to make a game-saving interception with 49.8 seconds left on the clock.
“I saw their guy going for a route,” said Easley, who received El Capitan’s sportsmanship award. “I thought he was going to catch it, so I knew I had to catch it.”
Throughout the game, the Vaqs managed to overcome self-inflicted miscues.
“The 2014 team was full of resilience, too,” Burner said.
El Capitan almost left too many points on the field to overcome.
The Vaqueros dropped a pitch-out on fourth-and-two to allow the Wolverines to take over inside El Capitan territory. In turn, the Vaqueros recovered a Westview fumble on the 16-yard line and advanced the ball to the one-yard line. But senior quarterback Brandt Barker was intercepted on the four-yard line on the next play.
Senior Braylen Ford had a chance to make it a two-score game with 1:18 to play in the first half but missed short and wide on a 29-yard field goal attempt.
The Vaqs took over on downs at the WV 31 but were forced to punt.
As the game entered the fourth quarter, it appeared the last touchdown would win the game for either team.
It turned out to be a field goal, and a redeeming one at that as Ford stepped up to deliver the game-winning points.
“Before the game I felt I might get a chance at a game-winning shot,” Ford said. “I think it motivated me. Having missed the first one, it was the best feeling (to hit the second). I felt I needed to get that back for me and my team.”
The game opened like it was going to be an Old West shootout. Barker (11-of-14, 136 passing yards) heaved a long pass down field that senior Ayden Banegas (seven catches, 85 yards) hauled in at the Westview five-yard line. Senior Garrett Luckinbill (15 carries, 54 yards) scored from there with 9:06 remaining in the first quarter.
The Wolverines (6-8) quickly counted with a 51-yard touchdown pass from senior Mason Walsh to sophomore Miles Miranda with 6:41 to play in the quarter.
Junior Brody Copp (six carries, 65 yards) put the Vaqueros back on top via a one-yard run with 3:50 to play in the second quarter.
Senior Mateo Bresenden leveled the score on a 10-yard sweep to the right with 29.6 seconds left in the third quarter.
El Capitan out-gained Westview 249-134 in total offensive yards. Defense definitely was the tipping point for the Vaqueros with five sacks and one interception.
Senior Evan Ortega had two sacks while seniors Marlon Ames and Lukas Garcia each had one sack. Junior Tod Carter also recorded one sack.
Easley returned his pick 24 yards to allow the Vaqueros to run out the clock deep in Westview territory.
Barker called the CIF championship a “once in a lifetime opportunity.”
“We had been playing together since we were 10 years old … It was our last opportunity to win it,” the six-foot-five El Capitan signal-caller said.
Mission accomplished.
Monarchs roar with 38-20 knockout punch over Barons
The second-seeded Bonita Vista Barons knew they had a challenge on their hands when facing the 12th-seeded Monte Vista Monarchs in Saturday’s Division V championship game. The Barons had lost their top running back, senior Kenneth Jordan, and a receiver, sophomore Nate Lindquist, in the run-up to the CIF final.
Jordan played a handful of plays (five carries for 15 yards) in Bonita Vista’s 14-0 quarterfinal win over seventh-seeded Santana and less than a half in a 27-12 semifinal win over third-seeded Crawford, scoring one touchdown while rushing for 80 yards.
Lindquist was injured in the quarterfinal win.
Both Jordan and Lindquist watched from the sideline on Saturday. Yes, the Barons were missing some much-needed offensive firepower. Even at full strength, however, it’s debatable whether a win over the Monarchs might have been in the cards.
Not so with senior Alex Villanueva exploding out of the Monte Vista backfield.
Villanueva entered the game as the section’s leading rusher. He added his name to the section record book with 297 yards and five touchdowns on 46 carries to set a new single-season county record with 3,006 yards from scrimmage.
It surpassed the record if 2,974 yards set by Mission Bay’s Dillon Baxter in 2009.
The Barons moved players around to compensate but it wasn’t enough against a punishing Monarch offensive line.
Villanueva was first to congratulate his offensive line for his success this season.
“I couldn’t have done it without my O-line,” he said graciously.
Monte Vista rolled up 310 rushing yards and 58 passing yards from junior quarterback Derrick Taylor.
Bonita Vista (7-6) finished with seven rushing yards on 18 carries while a trio of quarterbacks — senior Isayah Luna, junior Greyson Smith and sophomore Marshall Romo — combined for 118 passing yards. Each QB completed one touchdown pass.
Villanueva opened the Monarchs’ first series with a 29-yard run. Facing fourth-and-one, Villanueva was the team’s go-to man, rushing for a first down to the BV 26.
Villanueva scored his first touchdown of the game on a two-yard run for a 7-0 Monte Vista lead with 5:37 to play in the first quarter.
A short kick-off allowed Bonita Vista junior Aiden Cortes to rumble to the Monarch 30-yard line. On fourth-and-seven, Baron senior Hayden McMackin saw a pass go past his fingertips. However, a penalty on the Spring Valley team placed the ball at the 12-yard line with a first down.
McMackin did not miss the next pass offered his way, hauling it in at the back of the end zone.
Senior Richie Rojas nailed the ensuing extra-point conversion attempt, and the teams were suddenly tied 7-7.
That was as close as the Barons would get as Monte Vista reeled off 28 unanswered points to assume a 35-7 lead by the end of the third quarter.
After a pair of sacks on Luna, Rojas punted. The Monarchs started their next drive on the BV 33. Villanueva was back in the end zone on a one-yard run with 3:37 left in the first half for a 14-7 lead following the conversion point by sophomore Danny Baca.
Another Monte Vista sack forced a punt. This time, Villanueva took the ball and advanced it to the Baron 35. Taylor uncorked a long pass to Villanueva to the one-yard line, with BV senior Trevon Davis saving a touchdown.
But that didn’t matter to Vil¬lanueva, as he carried the ball into the endzone on the next play.
21-7 Monte Vista.
Luna was sacked to end the first half.
Bonita Vista lost a fumble on its first series of the second half, with Monarch junior Giovanni Lopez recovering the ball at the 45.
The Monarchs were quickly knocking on the door once again with first-and-goal from the 10-yard line. Guess who took the pitch?
Villanueva, of course, for this fourth TD of the game.
28-7.
Monte Vista junior Rahshawn Florence intercepted the ball at the BV 47. Facing fourth-and-three from the 41, Villanueva took a pitch and swept left to the BV 25. He scored his fifth touchdown of the game from 12 yards out.
35-7 with 5:16 to play in the third quarter.
Baca tacked on a 30-yard field goal with 10:14 to play in the fourth quarter for a 38-7 bulge on the scoreboard.
It was just a matter of time as the clocked ticked down on the Barons’ season.
Smith, the nephew of NFL Comeback Player of the Year Alex Smith (Bonita Vista Middle School/Helix High School), entered the game first in reserve duty. He tossed a fourth-down touchdown pass to senior Diego Luna as the Metro-South Bay League runners-up narrowed the score to 38-14 with six minutes to play in the game.
Romo completed a three-yard TD pass to senior Estevan Flores with 19.8 seconds left.
Final score: 38-20.
The Barons may have been out-gunned, but they didn’t give up.
Chula Vista Mayor John McCann watched the game from the BV sideline in support of alma mater.
Veteran Monte Vista head coach Ron Hamamoto was likely the highest-ranking dignitary on the field, however, with his third section championship title in 38 years patrolling the sidelines. He is the winningest active coach in the section while approaching 250 career victories
Monte Vista blasted the San Diego Cavers, 71-48, to win the 2017 Division IV championship at Southwestern College. His Monarch team came up just short, 7-0, to Sweetwater in the 2013 Division IV final at Mesa College.
Hamamoto won the Division III championship with USDHS in 1994. He’s coached at USDHS, Rancho Bernardo, Lincoln and Monte Vista, finding success at each stop.
“I can’t express this in words,” Hamamoto said respectfully in accepting the championship trophy. “It’s emotional. It’s the greatest thing in the world.”
It almost didn’t happen.
Monte Vista, the Grossmont Valley League runner-up team, was No. 13 in the division rankings. But when Rancho Buena Vista, the No. 12 team, elected not to participate in the playoffs, the Monarchs moved up one slot to No. 12. They weren’t satisfied to just get in. They hand a point to prove.
The rest, of course, is history.
“We weren’t supposed to be in the playoffs,” Hamamoto acknowledged. “(But) as soon as the playoffs started and we were winning by one point (34-33 at No. 5 Fallbrook in the first round and 47-46 over fourth-seeded Hoover in the quarterfinals), we knew we could win it.
“We just improved so much over the course of the season. We lost our first game 21-0 against Vincent Memorial in the desert, then we started averaging 35 points. We improved so much on both sides of the ball.”
“We were the underdogs, but we dominated the playoffs,” Villanueva said.
Bonita Vista won the Division III championship in 2015. But there were lean years following that.
“It was an amazing experience,” McMackin said. “We didn’t get it done, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
“It’s always the goal from the start of the season to play for a section championship,” BV first-year head coach Jay Hernandez said. “We wanted to make a run. It didn’t go our way. It was a great team effort. We didn’t get what we wanted but we ended the season with a bang.”
Monte Vista received a berth in the Division 6-A regional playoffs and will host the Pasadena Bulldogs (8-6) on Saturday at 6 p.m. The winner advances to the state bowl championship game.
Pasadena edged Gahr, 21-17, for this year’s Southern Section Division 13 championship.
Granite Hills scores three-peat with 42-25 upset win
The Granite Hills Eagles scored a rare championship three-peat by capturing this year’s Division I championship on Saturday night to cap the five divisional games at Southwestern College. In doing so, the second-seeded Eagles upset the top-seeded San Marcos Knights, 42-25, in nothing short of a thrilling contest.
As a reward, Granite Hills (11- 2) advances to meet Huntington Beach Edison (10-4) in Saturday’s Division 1-A Southern California regional playoff game. Edison, which defeated Simi Valley, 35-21, to claim the Southern Section Division III championship, will host at 7 p.m. The winner advances to the division championship game.
The high-flying Eagles, three-time defending Grossmont Hills League champions, carry a six-game winning streak into the regional playoff match.
It will be hard for any team to duplicate what has transpired over the past three seasons for the El Cajon ballclub.
Granite Hills began its three-peat with a 48-12 win over Ramona in the 2022 Division II championship game and followed that up with last year’s meteoric Open Division cliff-hanger over top-seeded Lincoln.
The Eagles never trailed in Saturday’s marquee clash against San Marcos, leading 21-0 midway through the second quarter, before the Palomar champion Knights responded with three unanswered scores of their own to narrow the score to 21-18 early in the third quarter.
The East County kingpins regained the momentum with a pair of touchdowns to up their lead to 35-18.
The margin proved to be enough after San Marcos made it 35-25 in the fourth quarter.
“All three championships are very exciting,” GHHS head coach Kellan Cobbs underscored. “All feel great.”
Though the Eagles did not qualify for this year’s Open Di¬vision playoffs, they certainly played like an Open Division caliber team with excellent showings on both offense and defense.
Senior Max Turner took care of the offense with 242 rushing yards and five touchdowns while his teammates recorded three interceptions (senior Parker Vance, junior Jayden Proctor and senior Kuba Polak), three sacks (two by senior Gavin Taylor and one by senior Jonathan Deleon) and one fumble recovery (Deleon) to stymie the high-powered Knights.
“The offense started fast,” Cobbs noted. “Zac (sophomore quarterback Zachary Benitez) made some great throws to set up a short field. They (the Knights) have a great team and made it interesting. They came back. It was a great team effort for us.
“I’m really proud of all my guys for representing. This is the goal every single year — the San Diego Section. I tell the team anything extra is icing on the cake. Heck of a job.”
Benitez completed nine of 16 passing attempts for 233 yards and one touchdown and no interceptions. San Marcos junior Kreet Makahele was up to the task with 228 passing yards and two scores. But the three picks proved detrimental.
Junior Kyler Oberg keyed the Eagles with two catches for 67 yards, including a surprise 60-yard bomb to set up the game’s opening score. Senior Lathan Fry had four catches for 62 yards. He helped set up another score with a 30-yard catch and run.
Senior Brenden Lewis had two catches for 37 yards, including a 30-yarder to preface a one-yard touchdown by Turner.
Sophomore Gage Spalding shocked the stadium with a 67-yard touchdown catch and run to extend the early lead to 14-0. Spalding also rushed seven times for 23 yards to finish a productive night with 90 all-purpose yards.
But the game revolved around Turner, who carried the ball 32 times. “It’s fun being out there,” he said. “The feeling of it feels so great being with the family and running the ball. My team, I owe it all to them.”
Turner’s season statistics now read 1,928 rushing yards with 29 rushing touchdowns. For his varisity career, he has logged 3,066 rushing yards and 52 total touch¬downs (46 rushing, six receiving).
But it almost went for naught.
“Once we got to 21-0, I was hoping we could coast on through,” Fry said. “Then they came back with 18 points and we had to run the ball up the gut and put a few passes on them.”
On his catch to set up Turner’s fourth TD of the game (and a 35- 18 lead) Fry initially bobbled the ball before controlling it. “That was scary when I fumbled it, but it was all good,” he said.
Senior Brady Pohl was a catalyst for the Knights with 134 yards on kick returns and 67 receiving yards. His weaving 99-yard kickoff return narrowed the score to 21-18 with just 15 seconds off the clock to start the second half.
Vance is up for defensive player of the year. The interception was his ninth of the season, a personal record.
“They had a fumble recovery on the 19 and the 99-yard kick-off return … Our defense held their offense really to 12 points,” Vance said.
Vance has been involved in each three-peat for Granite.
“It’s pretty cool being undefeated in championships,” he said. “I play my heart out every game. I’m not used to losing at Granite Hills.”
“We’re a fast-staring team, not maybe the last two games, but we did it this game,” Benitez said. “Once we were able to punch them in the mouth, we were able to keep going.”
Granite Hills won a state championship two seasons ago. Two more wins and history could repeat.
The Eagles are keeping their wings crossed.
Put a halo on it
The purpose for the section’s new playoff format was meant to create a level playing field for postseason play. Some might argue that winless teams shouldn’t be included in championship playoffs. But this is new territory and the St. Augustine Saints proved they did belong after shedding their winless 0-10 regular season record with a 4-0 playoff run.
The seventh-seeded Saints crowned themselves Division III champions with a 13-7 win over the fourth-seeded San Pasqual Golden Eagles Saturday evening at Southwestern College.
The Saints (4-10) completed a championship repeat after winning last year’s Division I title.
“A different way — it’s not how you start but how you finish,” St. Augustine head coach Ron Caragher said. “Our roster was so small. We were in the 20s during the season. For the playoffs, we were able to pull up players from the freshman and junior varsity teams. That helped us have more of a practice team to go against. It gave us a chance to run plays that we hadn’t before.”
The Saints never trailed in the game, opening up a 13-0 halftime advantage on a pair of field goals — 23 and 25 yards — off the foot of freshman Callan Moore and a one-yard run on a direct snap by sophomore safety/ running back Paisio Palomalu.
San Diego Section Football Championships
OPEN DIVISION
(1) Lincoln 31, (3) Cathedral Catholic 13. Records: Lincoln 10-2, Cathedral Catholic 9-3
DIVISION I
(3) Granite Hills 42, (1) San Marcos 25. Records: Granite Hills 11-2, San Marcos 11-2
DIVISION II
(4) Poway 62, (2) Mater Dei Catholic 24. Records: Poway 6-7, Mater Dei Catholic 9-4
DIVISION III
(7) St. Augustine 13, (4) San Pasqual 7. Records: St. Augustine 4-10, San Pasqual 7-6
DIVISION IV
(2) El Capitan 17, (5) Westview 14. Records: El Capitan 10-3, Westview 6-8
DIVISION V
(12) Monte Vista 38, (2) Bonita Vista 20. Records: Monte Vista 8-5, Bonita Vista 7-6
DIVISION V-AA
(1) Calipatria 44, (3) Coastal Academy 25. Records: Calipatria 9-2, Coastal Academy 10-3
DIVISION VI
(1) St. Joseph Academy 60, (3) Calvin Christain 22. Records: St. Joseph Academy 10-1, Calvin Christian 7-4
