After eight weeks of play, the San Diego Section power rankings for football are finally starting to fall into place with some reasonable sense. While some movement up or down seems likely over the remaining three weeks of regular season play, the top teams in each division appear to now be known.
There are a few surprises – particularly pleasant ones for East County teams.
After eight weeks of play, the San Diego Section power rankings for football are finally starting to fall into place with some reasonable sense. While some movement up or down seems likely over the remaining three weeks of regular season play, the top teams in each division appear to now be known.
There are a few surprises – particularly pleasant ones for East County teams.
The Helix Highlanders, after hovering at No. 2 in the weekly rankings for much of the year, finally took over the No. 1 position in the power rankings following last Friday’s 59-14 Grossmont Hills League victory against visiting Mount Miguel in the teams’ annual Battle for the Claymore Sword.
The Highlanders (2-0 in league play, 5-1 overall) dropped their season opening game of the season, 23-19, to Chaparral from Scottsdale, Ariz. on Aug. 29. Since then, the Scotties have reeled off a five-game winning streak, and appear to be gaining momentum each week.
Helix crushed South County power Eastlake, 56-7, to record its first win on Sept. 11 and followed with high profile non-league victories against Cathedral Catholic (37-7 on Sept. 18) and Bonita Vista (38-7 on Oct. 2).
Helix kicked off league play with a 41-6 win at Steele Canyon on Oct. 9.
The Highlanders next play at Valhalla (2-0 in league, 6-1 overall) on Friday, Oct. 23. Kick-off is 7 p.m.
Playoff bound
The San Diego Section has tweaked its playoff qualification process for the top 20 teams this season. The grouping includes eight teams that will advance to the Open Division playoffs; the remaining 12 teams will compete in the Division I bracket.
Helix leads Mission Hills (7-0 overall) by 0.03 points in the section power rankings. Barring a loss by either squad, the two powerhouse teams look to battle for the top seed down to the final game.
St. Augustine (5-2) is third in the Open Division rankings, followed in a tie for fourth place by Cathedral Catholic (4-3) and Grossmont (6-1). Rounding out the section’s top eight teams are No. 6 La Costa Canyon (5-2), No. 7 El Camino (5-2) and No. 8 Poway (4-3).
Teams vying to slip into the top eight with strong finishes to end the season include Madison (5-2), Oceanside (4-3) and Steele Canyon (4-3).
Steele Canyon improved its chances to securing either a potential Open Division playoff berth, or the in least, a high seeded in the upcoming Division I playoffs after recording a wild 39-36 upset win at Grossmont last Friday.
Sophomore quarterback Thomas Fishburne tossed a 13-yard touchdown pass to Pierre Alexander with 7.2 seconds to play to erase a 36-31 Grossmont lead and, in the process, engineer Steele Canyon’s upset victory. There were seven lead changes and 12 total touchdowns in the game.
El Capitan, last year’s Division II champion, is assured of making the Division I playoffs despite possessing a 2-5 record this season. The Vaqueros sit 17th among the top 20 teams in the power rankings — ninth overall among prospective Division I teams.
Valhalla defeated visiting El Capitan, 24-0, last Friday.
Claymore Sword
The battle for the Claymore Sword trophy dates to 1988. Helix has won every game in the rivalry series with the exception of 2009. The Highlanders left little doubt as to whether they would retain the trophy this yer after building a 45-7 halftime lead.
Carson Baker was selected as Helix’s overall player of the game in the win over the Matadors (0-2 in league, 3-4 overall) while Mekhi Stevenson earned honors as the team’s offensive player of the game and Jihad Woods was named the team’s defensive player of the game.
Baker, a sophomore, completed 10 of 15 passes for 167 yards and four touchdowns without an interception for an outstanding 143.6 quarterback rating.
Stevenson caught three touchdown passes while Isaiah Wooden grabbed Baker’s other TD strike. Stevenson finished the game with four catches for 115 yards while Wooden had three receptions for 31 yards.
Jaylon Arnold (seven carries, 57 yards) and Nathen Stinson (four carries, six yards) each scored rushing touchdowns.
Woods registered five total tackles in the game to go with 1.5 sacks and a fumble recovery.
The Scotties finished the game with three sacks and four interceptions (one each by Joey Lucero, Scott Young, Derrick Atkins and Nicholas Soliz).
Benny Valadez threw two scoring passes for Mount Miguel in the loss.
Stinson has rushed for 695 yards and 16 rushing touchdowns on the season to lead the Scotties. He was a featured guest on last Friday’s “Prep Pigskin Report” on KUSI-TV, calling it “a blessing” to play for top-ranked Helix.
“There are a lot of great players, a lot of great coaches (on the team),” Stinson told the television audience.
