The final regular season standings are in the book and the San Diego Section football advisory committee has poured over analyses and recommendations from league representatives to select this year’s divisional playoff field.
A total of 64 teams were seeded in six 11-man divisions and four more teams in one 8-man division.
Ten of the 11 Grossmont Conference teams received entry into this year’s playoff field while two other East County-based schools also received berths.
First-round play kicks off Friday, Nov. 5. Quarterfinals follow Nov. 12 and semifinals on Nov. 19.
Division I
All four Grossmont Hills League teams will participate in the Division I playoffs. League champion Helix received the No. 1 seed and will open the playoffs in the quarterfinal round following a first-round bye.
As the No. 1 seed, the Highlanders (3-0 in league, 6-3 overall) will be at home as long as they remain in the playoffs.
The eighth-seeded Steele Canyon Cougars (2-1 in league, 3-7 overall) will host the ninth-seeded Grossmont Foothillers (1-2, 3-7) in a first-round elimination game on Friday, with the winner advancing to meet Helix in the quarterfinals.
Granite Hills (0-3, 4-6) received the No. 10 seed and will kick off postseason play with a road game Friday at seventh-seeded Oceanside (4-6 overall). The Granite Hills-Oceanside winner advances to play at second-seeded Madison (8-2) in the quarterfinals.
Helix wrapped up regular season play — and this year’s Grossmont Hills League championship — with a 49-35 win at Granite Hills last Friday as sophomore quarterback Ryland Jessee passed for 262 yards and three touchdowns and senior Christian Washington rushed for 256 yards and scored four touchdowns.
Washington also caught a 43-yard scoring pass to finish the league-clinching win with five touchdowns while senior Xavier Van (three catches, 137 yards) caught three scoring passes.
Washington has rushed for 1,388 yards and 19 touchdowns this season while Jessee has passed for 1,267 yards and 10 touchdowns.
“The first goal we set each year is to go undefeated and win the Grossmont Hills League title,” said Helix head coach Robbie Owens, whose team takes a three-game winning streak into the playoffs. “With a young football team, it is great to win the league title and be the No. 1 seed going into playoffs. To play at Helix, the expectation is to play for a CIF title every year. We have gotten better as the season has progressed and we are looking forward to a run for a CIF championship.”
Granite Hills, which has dropped five of its last seven games, including all three league matchups, received a pair of touchdown passes from quarterback Nico Tomasello and two rushing touchdowns from Joaquin Thomas in last Friday’s game.
Tomasello connected with teammate Josh Zander on a 67-yard scoring play.
Steele Canyon and Grossmont offered a preview of Friday’s playoff game after the host Cougars topped the Foothillers, 23-10, in last Friday’s league finale.
Junior Major Givens rushed for 158 yards and scored two touchdowns to lead Steele Canyon. Senior Jacob Manzo threw one touchdown pass to junior Quentin Stevens (two catches, 51 yards).
Junior Keanu Pettiford had one sack for the Cougars. Pettiford and senior Temo Rangel both keyed the hosts with eight tackles in the victory.
Grossmont’s lone touchdown in the loss came on a 14-yard pass from quarterback Trenton Giles to Ryan Rodieck.
Rounding out the Division I seeds are No. 3 Lincoln (6-3), No. 4 La Costa Canyon (5-5), No. 5 El Camino (5-5), No. 6 Eastlake (7-3), No. 11 San Marcos (1-9) and No. 12 St. Augustine (2-8).
The division championship game is scheduled Nov. 27 at 7 p.m. at Escondido High School.
Open Division qualifiers include No. 1-seeded Carlsbad (10-0), No. 2 Cathedral Catholic (8-2), No. 3 Mission Hills (8-2) and No. 4 Torrey Pines (6-3).
Open Division semifinals are scheduled Nov. 12, followed by the championship game Nov. 20 at 7 p.n. at Escondido High School.
Carlsbad’s undefeated 10-0 season is a first in school history.
Division II
The Christian Patriots (1-2 in City Eastern League, 5-4 overall) received the No. 9 seed and will open the playoffs with a first-round game at the No. 8-seeded San Diego Cavers (8-2). The winner gets top-seeded Mira Mesa (6-3) in the quarterfinals.
Christian wrapped up league play with a 35-9 loss at Point Loma (4-5), which received the No. 12 seed in the division.
Junior Jake Davila leads the Patriots with 1,438 passing yards and 12 touchdowns; he’s also rushed for 418 yards and seven touchdowns. Senior J.C. Gustin (31 catches, 403 yards) tops Christian with six touchdown catches while junior Joey Merritt (39 catches, 579 yards) has caught five TD passes.
Scripps Ranch (8-1) received the No. 2 seed in the division while Poway (7-3) is seeded third and La Jolla (3-7) is seeded fourth — all with first-round byes.
The division championship game is scheduled Nov. 26 at 7 p.m. at Escondido High School.
Division III
By virtue of its 27-21 victory against the visiting El Capitan Vaqueros in last Friday’s Grossmont Valley League championship game, the West Hills Wolf Pack (6-0 in league, 10-0 overall) earned the No. 5 seed and will host the 12th-seeded Bonita Vista Barons (4-5) on Friday.
El Capitan (5-1 in league, 8-2 overall) received the No. 7 seed in the division and will host 10th-seeded Orange Glen (5-4) on Friday while the Santana Sultans (3-2 in league, 7-2 overall) are seeded eighth and will host the ninth-seeded Imperial Tigers (6-4) in another first-round game.
The West Hills-Bonita Vista winner advances to play at fourth-seeded Ramona (7-3) while the El Capitan-Orange Glen winner will play at second-seeded Mater Dei Catholic (8-0). The Santana-Imperial winner advances to take on top-seeded Mt. Carmel (9-1) in the next round.
West Hills, which set school records for a 10-0 season and 12 consecutive wins (dating to last season), moved out to a 20-7 lead before the visiting Vaqueros challenged late in last Friday’s league championship game.
Wolf Pack quarterback Braden Oberg employed a ground offense to secure the history-making win with 14 rushes for 119 yards and three scores. Diego Calderon (nine carries, 75 yards) also scored a rushing touchdown to even the teams’ Tony Burner Cup rivalry series at 2-2.
Xavier Peace scored the Vaqueros’ opening touchdown and quarterback Savigon Yokley (228 passing yards) accounted for the next two El Capitan scores on a 16-yard touchdown run and a 20-yard scoring pass to Julian May.
Santa Fe Christian (9-0) received the No. 3 seed in the division — one of three undefeated teams in the division playoffs. The championship game is scheduled Nov. 27 at 1 p.m. at Escondido High School.
Division IV
Ninth-seeded Mount Miguel (3-2 in GVL, 4-4 overall) will kick off the playoffs at No. 8 La Jolla Country Day (6-4) on Friday while Valhalla (2-4 in GVL, 3-7) received the No. 11 seed and will play at No. 6 Sweetwater (5-3) in another first-round game.
City League champion Patrick Henry (7-2) is the No. 1 seed in Division IV. The division championship game is Nov. 26 at 1 p.m. at Escondido High School.
Division V
Mountain Empire (1-3 in Desert League, 4-6 overall) received the No. 9 seed while El Cajon Valley (1-5 in GVL, 2-8 overall) received the No. 10 seed. Mountain Empire will play at No. 8 Crawford on Friday while El Cajon Valley will play at No. 7 Army-Navy Academy.
Desert League champion Palo Verde Valley (8-2) is the No. 1 seed in Division V. The division championship game is Nov. 26 at 7 p.m. at Grossmont High School.
