It’s said that the cream always rises to the top in sporting endeavors. That includes this year’s San Diego Section football playoffs where five East County teams still remain in contention to end their seasons with divisional championships.
It’s been a very competitive field with upsets dotting each division thus far.
Of the 12 East County teams that started this year’s postseason tournament, the surivors include second-seeded Granite Hills (8-3) and third-seeded Mt. Miguel (8-3) in this Friday’s Division I semifinals, No. 2 Steele Canyon (8-3) in the Division II semifinals, No. 6 Christian (5-7) in the Division III semifinals and No. 3 Monte Vista (6-5) in the Division V semifinals.
The parings tell some interesting stories.
The Granite Hills-Mt. Miguel semifinal matchup guarantees at least one Grossmont Conference team in the championship round. Should Granite Hills come out victories the Eagles would be vying for their fourth consecutive CIF championship.
The teams met earlier this season in Grossmont Hills League play with Granite Hills winning 29-16 on Oct. 17.
The Matadors won the Division IV championship in 2023 with a 35-14 win over Chula Vista before moving up to Division I last season while advancing to the quarterfinals.
Granite Hills defeated San Marcos, 42-25, in last year’s Division I final after stopping top-seeded Lincoln, 27-26, in the Open Division championship game in 2023. The Eagles defeated Ramona, 48-12, to win the Division title in 2022.
Meanwhile, Monte Vista has the opportunity to contend for a second consecutive Division V championship with one more win. The Monarchs defeated Bonita Vista, 38-21, behind five rushing touchdowns by Alexander Villanueva in last year’s division final.
Tale of the tape
Grossmont Hills League champion Granite Hills eliminated seventh-seeded Rancho Bernardo (9-3) by a decisive score of 56-7. The Eagles bested former Chargers’ fan favorite Eric Weddle, the Broncos’ coach, and his son Gaige, a star tow-way player at quarterback and linebacker.
“The defense did a great job on Friday night creating turnovers,” Granite Hills head coach Kellan Cobbs said. “We had five total and scored two defensive touchdowns. Any time we’re able to do that, we’re gonna be very successful. Zak (junior quarterback Zachary Benitez) did a good job, not turning the football over and creating some explosive plays on offense.”
The El Cajon team set the tone on the first play of the game as senior Parker Johnson bolted 82 yards for a touchdown. The younger Weddle (173 total yards— 105 passing, 68 rushing) did score on a running play to tie the game, 7-7, but the hosts quickly seized back the momentum en route to scoring 49 unanswered points.
Junior Jesse Wilhite took the defense to heart with an 83-yard tinterception return for a score and a 34-yard fumble return.
Benitez, the section’s passing yards leader, fired three touchdown passes in the victory. Junior Gage Spalding scored on an 83-yard run.
In 10 games, Benitez had logged 2,969 passing yards and 30 TD.
The upcoming semifinal pairing looks on paper to be a great matchup after the Matadors avenged an early season non-league loss (26-25) to the Pirates (7-5). The Spring Valley team has won four of its last five games while Granite Hills is on a five-game winning streak.
“For Mount Miguel, we have to play disciplined football, we know they have multiple Division I football players, so it will be a great challenge for our boys,” Cobbs said.
“It was a dog fight between two great teams,” Mt. Miguel head coach Verlain Betofe assessed of the win over Oceanside. “Our boys have played one of the toughest schedules in San Diego, so we are battle tested. We are excited to get a rematch with Granite Hills. We just have to play Matador football and with max effort. We are looking forward to the rematch.”
Junior quarterback Jeremiah Loper passed for 180 yards with two touchdowns and one interception while also rushing seven times for 56 yards and a score. Junior Jayden Hunter rushed 17 times for 128 yards and one touchdown while touchdown grabs went to freshman Tmarrion Williams (two catches, 47 yards) and sophomore Jayden Stewart (three catches, 27 yards).
Additionally, senior A.J. Logan had four catches for 58 yards while junior Delontay Williams had two catches for 48 yards. Loper lead the group with 236 total offensive yards.
The Matadors out-grained Oceanside 378-186 in total yards.
Junior Dominic Lopez keyed Mt Miguel defensively with 10 tackles.
Through 11 games, Loper has passed for 2,278 yards and 24 touchdowns and rushed for 365 yards and four touchdowns. Hunter (three touchdowns) leads the team on the ground with 671 yards while Logan tops the team with 809 receiving yards and 12 TD.
The Granite-Mt. Miguel winner will advance to the Division I championship game Saturday, Nov. 29, at 7:30 p.m. at Southwestern College.
Steele Canyon will host 11th-seeded San Diego in Friday’s semis after the Cavers posted a shocking 33-19 upset win over previously undefeated Mission Bay (10-1).
The host Cougars trailed 13-7 entering the fourth quarter before out-scoring the Highlanders 15-6 to pull out the comeback victory.
Junior Gavin Caha passed for 231 yards with two touchdowns and one interception to help Steele Canyon snap a nagging three-game losing streak. Senior Abel Lopez (14 carries, 58 yards) scored one rushing touchdown while senior Nico Jara caught six passes for 144 yards and one touchdown.
Jara also scored on a two-point conversion while finishing the game with 161 total yards. Senior Jacob Henton had two catches for 49 yards and one touchdown.
Defensively, junior Jamieson Sablan had one interception while senior teammate Tyree Zarkaryan had one sack.
Helix senior Lee Norman-Lester passed for 151 yards with two touchdowns and one interception in the loss. Sophomore Jacob Andrew-Johnson (five catches, 76 yards) had both TD grabs.
The Cougars out-gained the Highlanders 332-287 (with Norman-Lester accumulating 196 total yards by tacking on 45 rushing yards). Caha had 252 total yards with 21 extra rushing yards.
Junior Donte Wright and sophomore Cason Iapala each recorded sacks for Helix (5-7) while junior LaMarquis Sutton had one interception
Christian defeated third-seeded Ramona (5-6) by a score of 31-28, in overtime to move on.
The Patriots saw the Bulldogs play catch up from a 21-13 deficit with 15 fourth-quarter points to force the OT tiebreaker.
But senior Steven Benson notched the only points in overtime on a game-winning field goal as he finished the game with seven kicking points.
Junior Kaleb Runkle passed for 306 yards and four touchdowns, including two each to senior Ronnie Scott (two catches, 107 yards) and junior Soren Lucey (four catches, 68 yards).
The Pats racked up 403 total yards in the victory.
Christian logged three sacks on defense — one each by senior Hank Houston and Hayden Jeremiah and one by freshman Julian Morones.
The Patriots will take on No. 2 Army-Navy Academy (10-1) in Friday’s semifinal. The winner advances to the Division III title game Saturday, Nov. 29, at 3:30 p.m. at Southwestern College.
Monte Vista held sixth-seeded Fallbrook (4-8) to 66 total yards in a defensive battle to prevail on rushing scores by senior Derrick Taylor and junior Deon Hunter and a 50-yard interception return by senior Rahshawn Florence.
The Monarchs, who received interceptions from Hunter, Florence and sophomore Braden Silie, amassed 161 total yards in offense (75 by Taylor).
End of the road
Four East County teams ended their seasons in last Friday’s quarterfinals: No. 7 Helix to Steele Canyon in Division II, No. 2 El Capitan (4-7) 22-7 to No. 10 La Jolla Country Day (6-6) in Division IV, No. 7 Santana (6-6) 38-0 to No. 2 Morse (7-4) in Division V and No. 3 Mountain Empire (9-3) 46-7 to No. 2 Palo Verde Valley (8-4) in Division V-AA.
Mountain Empire concluded one of its most successful seasons in recent years with a runner-up finish in Sunset League play.
“The players bought in and played selfless football,” head coach Cameron Keller said.
“Excited for next season, we have our top quarterback Chance Ross and top running back Elisha Lashone Robinson returning. We also have our whole offensive line returning, including first team all-league tackle Spencer Alvarez. We will miss the seniors and they had a pivotal impact on this year’s success.”
Upsets seemed to rule the day in the quarterfinals with eight higher-seeded teams meeting their end in untimely fashion.
•The Open Division semifinals featured two upsets as No. 4 Cathedral Catholic (9-2)pended top-seeded Mission Hills (9-2) by a score of 42-35 while No. 3 Carlsbad (10-1) sent No. 2 La Costa Canyon (9-2) to the sideline with a 27-23 victory.
Both games were closely contested. Cathedral Catholic’s game-winning score came with 50 seconds left in the game as junior Honor Fa’alave Johnson scored on a 43-yard breakaway run.
Carlsbad took down its North County rival with 13 unanswered second-half points.
The Dons and Lancers will now meet in the division championship game on Tuesday, Nov. 25, at Southwestern College at 7 p.m.
•The Division II semifinals will feature No. 11 San Diego at No. 2 Steele Canyon and No. 12 Scripps Ranch at No. 1 Santa Fe Christian, the section’s lone remaining undefeated team at 11-0.
•Two lower-seeded teams prevailed in Division IV: No. 5 Eastlake (45-27 over No. 4 Mt. Carmel) and No. 10 La Jolla Country Day.
•Top-seeded Sweetwater (4-7) coughed up a seemingly safe 21-7 lead on No. 4 Hoover (6-6) in a marathon 52-49 setback that took three hours, 32 minutes to unfold.
No. 5 Point Loma (24-14 loss to No. 4 San Marcos in Division I) ended its season 11-1 after starting 11-0.
