The San Diego Section football playoffs are calling for a glut of teams, not just a few good ones, though they certainly will be present when the final cut is made.
A total of 64 tackle football teams will be admitted into the Open Division through Division V fields. An additional number of teams will compete for the Division V-AA championship as well as the eight-player Division VI banner.
A total of eight division championships will be awarded this year in a playoff field enumerating 70 or more teams.
The top four teams on the chopping block will compete in the elite Open Division. Lincoln had occupied the top spot for virtually all the season until being overtaken by Cathedral Catholic in the past week. Both teams are 7-2.
Three teams follow at 8-1: No. 3 Carlsbad, No. 4 Mission Hills and No. 5 La Costa Canyon.
Only four make the Open Division, so it appears either Mission Hills or La Costa Canyon could drop to be the No. 1 team in Division I. Granite Hills (6-3) currently occupies the No. 2 ranking among Division I teams while Mt. Miguel (6-3) is ranked No. 8 overall, fourth among Division I squads.
The Division I tier will include 12 playoff teams. San Marcos (6-3) is No. 7 in the section, third in the division, Oceanside (5-4) is No. 9 in the section, fifth in the section. Pt. Loma (9-0) is No. 10 in the section, sixth in the division. Rancho Bernardo (7-2) is No 11 in the section, seventh in the division. Poway (4-5) is No. 12 in the section, eighth in the division.
Torrey Pines is No. 13 in the section, ninth in the section. Del Norte (4-5) is No. 14 in the section, 10th in the division. Mater Dei Catholic (6-3) is No. 15 in the section, 11th in the division. Imperial (9-0) is No. 16 in the section, 12th in the division.
There are currently two 9-0 teams in the Division I tier.
The Division II break comes at the No. 17 ranking spot, currently occupied by El Camino with a 1-8 record. Holtville (8-1) follows at No. 18, second in the division. Steele Canyon (7-2) is ranked 19th in the section, third in the division, followed by No. 20 La Jolla (5-4), which is fourth in the division.
Helix Charter is ranked 21st, which would place the Scotties fifth in the division.
The top four teams in Division I through Division V receive first-round byes.
With one regular season game remaining, it’s still possible for some teams near the bottom of the Division I-Division II cutoff to drop and teams near the top of Division II to move up to the rear of Division I.
That could be a heart-breaker for teams moving up at the last minute and a possible godsend for teams moving down.
Suffice it to say, teams will be wanting to win to solidify their playoff positions — and a few with perfect records. Four teams enter this weekend with 9-0 records: Pt. Loma (sixth in Division I), Imperial (12th in Division I), Santa Fe Christian (sixth in Division II) and Mission Bay (seventh in Division II) all at 9-0.
If the current rankings hold true, Granite Hills could be battling for the Division I title and both Steele Canyon and Helix could be vying for the Division II crown.
A Helix-Steele Canyon playoff matchup could be a ratings breaker if the teams’ Grossmont Hills League matchup last Friday is any indicator.
Helix won 39-34 after taking an early 12-0 lead. Nico Jara scored Steele’s first touchdown late in the second quarter to trim the Highlander lead to 12-7.
After that, the teams kept scoring. Helix would extend its lead another touchdown, The Cougars would tack on a touchdown and before one knew it Steele Canyon had cut the deficit to 25-20. Up Helix went again 32-20 in the early moments of the fourth quarter.
The final period was full of fireworks as both teams scored twice with the Scotties able to maintain a five-point lead.
The teams combined for 843 offensive yards — 443 by Helix with six touchdowns and 400 by Steele Canyon with five touchdowns.
The quarterbacks had the biggest chunk of that — 300 by Steele junior Gavin Caha and 299 by Helix senior Lee Norman-Lester (128 rushing, 171 passing).
Caha dished out four touchdown passes — one each to senior Noah De Arcos (three catches, 63 yards), junior Nico Jara (three catches, 34 yards), senior Jacob Henton (one catch, 55 yards) and junior Josiah Stocker (six catches, 65 yards).
Junior Marcus Hunt (six carries, 87 yards) scored one rushing touchdown for the Cougars, who rushed nine times for 100 yards. Hunt broke loose on a 54-yard run.
Helix scored five rushing touchdowns in the victory, including three by junior Donte Wright (15 carries, 94 yards) and two by senior Jordan Lindley (10 carries, 52 yards). Overall, the Scotties amassed 272 yards on 35 attempts.
Junior Jeremy Davis had an 11-yard touchdown catch for the Highlanders.
Norman-Lester put together several big runs, including one 59-yard scamper while Wright broke off a 30-yard run.
Sophomore Jeremy Robinson had three catches for 79 yards while junior LaMarquis Sutton had three catches for 46 yards. Sophomore Jacob Andrew-Johnson had three catches for 35 yards.
With all the offense on the gridiron, there were some key defensive plays. Senior Tyree Zarkarayn led Steele with 10 tackles, including eight unassisted stops, while Davis had seven tackles for Helix, including two for losses and one sack. Junior Dean Niumata had one fumble recovery for the hosts.
Cougar senior Ace Woolf logged four kicking points while senior Marco DiGiammarino had three kicking points for the victors.
Helix (2-2 in league) finishes 4-6 in regular season play, awaiting a playoff seed. Steele Canyon was set up to conclude regular season play with a Thursday contest against visiting Granite Hills that stands as the league championshp game for the visitors.
The loss was the second consecutive for the Cougars (1-2 in league) following a 7-0 start.
Soaring Eagles
Granite Hills, with last Friday’s 42-6 win at El Capitan, has clinched no worse than a league co-championship. The Eagles needed a win at Steele Canyon to hold sole rights to this year’s title, which would make it four in a row for the El Cajon team.
The Eagles scored six touchdowns — three passing, one rushing, one on a punt return and one of a kickoff return — against the Vaqueros (0-3 in league, 4-5 overall).
Junior Zachary Benitez passed for 235 yards with touchdown strikes to senior Noah Walker (six catches, 140 yards), senior Rocket Demery (three catches, 13 yards) and senior Isaiah Rodriguez (one catch, 23 yards). Walker hauled in a 60-yard score.
Junior Seth Rodriguez (three carries 18 yards) scored one rushing touchdown.
Senior Parker Johnson piled up 203 all-purpose yards (15 rush, 76 kickoff returns and 112 punt returns). Johnson had one kickoff return for 76 yards and added a 61-yard punt return.
Additionally, junior Zhedan Smith had four carries for 30 yards while senior Tristan Diaz had five catches for 22 yards. Junior Gage Spalding had five carries for 24 yards.
On defense, senior Hudson Daniels recorded two sacks while Johnson and Demery each had interceptions.
The Eagles limited the Vaqueros to 51 total offensive yards — 38 rushing and 13 passing. Sophomore Michael Castillo had 14 carries for 28 yards while senior Brody Copp had five carries for 16 yards. Copp also had one catch for seven yards.
El Capitan Spencer Chastang had four kickoff returns for 114 yards and scored on a 22-yard fumble return.
Senior Brewin Ford and Tod Carter each recorded one sack.
El Capitan closes out regular season play on Halloween night by hosting the Mt. Miguel Matadors, currently in second place in the league standings.
Red hot
So, where does this leave the Grossmont Foothillers? At 8-1 following last Friday’s 60-14 conquest at El Cajon Valley, the La Mesa team has cemented no worse than atGrossmotnt Valley League championship but still needs a win in Friday’s contest against Monte Vista or a loss by West Hills, which remains one game back in the league standings.
The Foothillers are currently riding a six-game winning streak.
Grossmont head coach Anthony Lawrence said his team is not looking past its last regular season opponent to the playoffs
“We definitely want a true league championship, so this is our biggest game of the year,” he said.
Junior Tyler Holmes passed for 164 yards and three touchdowns — one each to senior Kenny Krauss (four catches, 56 yards), senior Dallin Mackey (one catch, 10 yards) and junior Max Bewley (two catches, 44 yards) — while sophomore Corbin Dow (eight carries, 108 yards) and Holmes (three carries, 34 yards) each scored rushing touchdowns.
The Foothillers, who racked up 358 offensive yards, scored eight touchdowns in the game —two rushing, three passing, one on an interception return (senior Colton Burke) and two on kickoff returns (junior Jonah Martinez and senior Gage Weichelt).
Five players each scored on two-point conversions: senior Randy Ballard (pass), seniors Jay Smith (run), Jamarcus Portlock (run), Maximus Tufagafale (run) and Maddox Yeargan (run).
Senior Hudson Hager also had an interception while senior Jaylen Williams had a fumble recovery.
The Foothillers are likely to be positioned in the middle of the Division II seeding. They are a safe bet to make the playoffs, as are the following East County squads: El Capitan (high Division IV), Santana (Division IV-Division V) and West Hills (Division V).
Monte Vista is ranked 60th entering its last regular season game and needs a win to solidify its playoff hopes. With league champions receiving automatic playoff berths, anything at or below 60th might be precarious footing.
For instance, Valhalla is ranked 68th while El Cajon Valley is ranked 76th.
The Norsemen were scheduled to close out the regular season at Santana on Thursday while the Braves will host West Hills on Friday.
Mountain Empire looks to be among the top qualifiers for the Division V-AA playoffs.
Playoff seeding will be conducted on Sunday, Nov. 2.
The playoff schedule for Division I through Division V is as follows: first round on Nov. 7, quarterfinals on Nov. 14, semifinals on Nov. 21.
Open Division semifinals are Nov. 14.
Finals dates and venues are to be determined.
An eight-player division (Division VI) will also be seeded.
Quarterfinals in Division V-AA and Division VI are scheduled Nov. 7, followed by semifinals on Nov. 14.
Finals are to be determined.
