SD Prep Sports:

2006 Grossmont Conference

Prep Football Playoff Round 3 Report & Finals

Patriots, Lancers to battle for final San Diego CIF title

Posted on Dec. 4, 2006
Friday’s San Diego Section Division V championship football game at Patrick Henry High School will feature a rematch of last year’s division title game: the Christian Patriots against the Francis Parker Lancers.

Francis Parker defeated Christian, 16-7, last year. The Lancers (9-3) enter Friday’s championship game rematch seeded first in the division; the Patriots (8-3-1) are seeded second.

The teams met once in Coastal League play this season, with Francis Parker scoring a 30-14 victory on Oct. 14.

Santa Fe Christian, which defeated top-seeded Mission Bay by a 34-21 score in Monday’s Division IV title game, finished on top of the Coastal League standings with a 5-0-0 league record, followed by Francis Parker (3-2-0) and Christian (2-1-1).

The Patriots look to give the Lancers a challenge for this year’s division championship if based on the team’s 31-21 semifinal victory against third-seeded Bishop’s Dec. 1 at Valhalla High School. Christian edged Bishop’s by two points, 28-26, in a key Coastal League matchup on Oct. 28. The Knights lost the game on two missed extra-point conversion attempts.

The teams’ rematch in the playoffs was not close as the Patriots bolted out to 17-0 half time lead and led 24-7 early in the final quarter.

Junior Lawrence Walker plowed ahead of 173 yards and one touchdown while ironman Kyler Dwyer contributed 88 rushing yards and 25 points on three touchdowns, one field goal and four extra points.

Dwyer scored all 17 of his team’s points in the opening half in a bravado performance. Dwyer pulled in a 23-yard scoring pass from quarterback Danny Mitchell to jump-start the scoring, then booted a career-long 42-yard field goal in the second quarter before making a return to the end zone on a 30-yard scoring run later in the same period.

Dwyer scored his third touchdown of the game in the fourth quarter to put Christian ahead once again by 17 points. Walker closed out scoring for the Patriots on a 31-yard run as the teams each racked up a pair of touchdowns in the final period.

Tommy Wornham (265 passing yards) threw two touchdown passes to Tim Costello to bring the Knights (7-5) within 10 points on the scoreboard.

But it was the Patriots’ first-half dominance, especially in ball-control offense, that sealed Christian’s trip to this year’s division championship game.

For the season, Walker keys the Patriots with 1,128 rushing yards (and 12 touchdowns) while Dwyer has rushed for 992 yards and caught 29 passes for 440 yards for a combined 19 touchdowns (to go with 48 extra points, one two-point conversion and six field goals).

Francis Parker defeated fourth-seeded Horizon Christian, 17-7, to meet the Patriots in Friday’s title game. The Lancers led 14-0 on a 21-yard field goal by Amani Walker and a 32-yard touchdown run by Deon Randall. Star running back Gino Gordon scored a key insurance touchdown on an 80-yard run in the fourth quarter.

Gordon enters Friday’s championship game with 1,879 rushing yards and 20 touchdowns.

Helix wins respect in CIF championship game loss

Posted on Dec. 4, 2006
The Oceanside Pirates and Helix Highlanders earned the honor of officially kicking off the 2006 San Diego Section high school football season on Aug. 30 as the then top-ranked Pirates shut out the host Highlanders, 27-0, on the inaugural telecast of Channel 4 San Diego's Thursday Night High School Football Game of the Week.

The same two teams played in Monday's Division II championship game at Qualcomm Stadium to provide adequate closure to the 2006 prep campaign. The second-seeded Scotties' 14-7 bittersweet loss against the top-seeded Pirates provided a measure of just how much Helix had grown over the course of the season.

After the season-opening loss to Oceanside, Helix proceeded to go undefeated on the field the rest of the way until Monday's rematch against the Pirates, excluding a forfeit win in the second week of the season against Logan, Utah. Officially, the Highlanders finished regular season play 8-2 and entered Monday's title game with a 10-game winning streak, inclusive of last Thursday's dramatic come-from-behind 13-12 semifinal victory against visiting Mission Hills.

Monday’s game will be remembered as what-could-have-been after the Highlanders committed four costly turnovers in the loss to the Pirates. To a man, Highlanders coach Donnie Van Hook -- and the rest of the Scotties -- know in their hearts they could have captured this year’s championship game if they had played at their best — or, at least, a little better.

How close? Helix (10-3) was in the game until the last 25 seconds. That's a measure of gigantic proportion. There will be a lot of pride to be felt when looking back at this season. It’s important to note that the game ended with Helix players standing on the sideline in anticipation, not in dejection.

“It's what we said all along — we can’t have turnovers,” Van Hook said concisely.

Helix fumbled twice while driving into Oceanside territory and also had a pass intercepted in the end zone. Otherwise, the reigning Grossmont South League champions did themselves proud in holding the high-powered Pirates (9-3-1) to 14 points. Oceanside, which committed two turnovers in the game, led just 7-0 after three periods.

Tears and cheers for the Highlanders. Respect with a capital R.

“We shot ourselves in the foot but we got it done,” said Oceanside head coach John Carroll, whose team collected its third consecutive division championship and ninth CIF title overall.

The Scotties piled up a decisive edge in passing yards in the contest. Dorian Staton finished the game with more than 200 passing yards, hitting Chris Smith on a half-field aerial to position Helix at the Pirates eight-yard line after Oceanside had gone up 14-0 on a nine-yard run by Jordan Vaeena with 9:42 left in the game. Staton then led Matt Cobb to the one-yard line with another pass and Staton then called his own number on a fourth-down play with 4:13 left to finally crack the shutout being pitched by the two-time defending champions.

Kenny Ewert, who was the hero of the Scotties' 13-12 semifinal win with a game-winning field goal in the dying seconds, recovered his own onside kick at the Oceanside 46-yard line to give Helix a shot at tying the game. As it turned out, the Highlanders had two possessions in the game’s waning minutes but turned the ball over both times on downs.

Javier Nicholas scored the Pirates' first touchdown — a 25-yard run — on its opening drive and it appeared it might be a long night for the Highlanders. However, the Scotties matched Oceanside’s heavy-hitting defense thereafter to remain within striking distance.

Helix had a chance to tie the game early in the second half when Staton hit Derric Miller for a 93-yard reception to the Pirates’ three-yard line. But two plays later, Staton lofted a pass into the corner of the end zone and Oceanside’s Lamont Enyard came down with the jump ball to end the Highlanders’ threat.

The Scotties were limited to just 37 rushing yards, but did not give up despite the disappointing turn of events. It indeed turned out to be a long night, but not in the way Helix’s players and fans might have imagined.

Senior defensive back Ronald Brookins ended one Oceanside scoring threat with an interception while senior defensive back Desmond Jackson received recognition as the Highlanders’ sportsmanship award-winner.

Helix 13, Mission Hills 12
Ewert kicked a 32-yard field goal with 29 seconds to play to rescue the Highlanders from a 12-10 deficit and propel them into the championship game. The field goal was Ewert’s second in the semifinal matchup pitting the second- and third-seeded teams in the division. Earlier, Ewert booted another 32-yarder to cut into a 7-0 Grizzlies lead.

Third-seeded Mission Hills (9-3) trailed 10-7 after Kenslow Smith scored on a one-yard run for Helix in the second quarter but tied the game at 10-all on a 32-yard field goal by Austin Vernaci in the third quarter and took a 12-10 lead on a two-point safety with 2:35 left in the fourth quarter. The go-ahead points resulted when the Scotties held the Grizzlies on a fourth-and-goal situation, took over control of the ball at their own five-yard line but could not advance the ball. On the ensuing punt, the snap went awry, giving visiting Mission Hills two points and the lead.

The Highlanders held defensively on the ensuing kick and got the ball back with just under two minutes remaining. Staton proceeded to lead the hosts down field with no timeouts remaining, hitting Chris Smith for a 34-yard gain before Kenslow Smith tacked on 13 yards and Staton scrambled 14 more yards to move the ball closer to the Mission Hills goal line. When a pass into the end zone was broken up by a Grizzlies defender, Helix’s Van Hook elected to go for a field goal.

Ewert split the uprights to give the Scotties the lead. “I told Kenny before the game that he was the man and he turned out to be the man,” Van Hook said.

Mission Hills got the ball back with 23 seconds to play but a Hail Mary pass went into the hands of a Helix defender instead and time expired, setting off a celebratory roar both on the field and in the stands.

Anthony Larceval keyed the Highlanders’ defense with 13 tackles while Derrick Perrault added one sack and one interception.

#1 Vaqs’ perfect season ends in tears

Posted on Dec. 4, 2006
Cheerleaders cried after the game was over. Such is not an unusual occurrence, especially deep into the playoffs. But the cheerleaders wore El Capitan High School uniforms and the occurrence seemed definitely out of place.

After a school-record 11 consecutive wins, members of the El Capitan football team would liked to have written a much happier ending to the season rather than end it in tears of disappointment.

The final score of last Thursday’s San Diego Section Division III playoff game between the top-seeded Vaqueros and the fourth-seeded St. Augustine Saints — St. Augustine 51, El Capitan 43 — spoke volumes for the drama played out on Wendell Cutting Field

And off the field as well.

The 94 points scored by the two teams set a new section playoff record. Vaquero receiver A.J. Conti established a new section record with 326 yards on 14 catches — four of which went for touchdowns.

SDSU-bound quarterback Ryan Lindley passed for a prolific 417 yards and four touchdowns to lead the El Capitan offense.

As a team, the Vaqueros threatened the 500-yard mark in total offensive yards.

Despite the spectacular numbers— including the magic number of 11-0 — it still wasn’t enough to boost El Capitan into Monday’s division championship game.

The Vaqueros’ season ended with a word that few players and supporters had even dared to think to utter this season: a loss.

Instead, the Saints advanced to defend their title against second-seeded Point Loma, defeating the Pointers, 17-7, in a replay of last year’s division championship game. Both teams finished 10-3 on the season.

In the semifinals, St. Augustine was just a bit better — a touchdown, as it turned out — than the Vaqueros (11-1) on that chilly Nov. 30 evening in front of a packed stadium and regional television audience.

El Capitan coach Ron Burner lamented officials’ calls in at least one post-game television interview and admitted to special teams breakdowns, but some credit has to be given to the Saints, who recovered from a 14-10 halftime deficit by altering their game plan to focus more on the run and possession of the clock to keep the high powered Vaquero offense on the sideline.

The strategy worked but required St. Augustine — a notoriously strong second-half team all season — to score on every possession in the second half (41 points on six touchdowns).

No easy task.

No ordinary ball game.

Many observers tabbed the Saints-Vaqs semifinals as the division’s unofficial championship game.

The game pitted two of the section’s top signal-callers in Lindley (with 3,104 passing yards and 31 touchdowns) and UCLA-bound Chris Forcier, who had thrown for 2,172 yards and 21 touchdowns

El Capitan, as accustomed this season, scored first as Lindley lit up the notoriously stingy Saints defense with a 56-yard touchdown strike to Conti that started out as a screen pass. Forcier was not to be outdone in the early going after hooking up with Larry Parker on an eight-yard scoring pass to tie the game at 7-7.

The Saints took a surprising 10-7 lead on a 30-yard field goal by Brynmor Hughes but the hosts looked like the better team just before intermission after taking a 14-10 lead on a five-yard run by Adam Denick.

El Capitan, appearing confident in the saddle, was just two quarters away from a 12-0 season and a trip to Qualcomm Stadium. But the second half was something that turned out to be more of a nightmare than a dream for Vaquero fans.

St. Augustine struck first, going up 17-14 on a 14-yard run by Leitch James. After the Saints forced El Capitan to punt, James was back in the end zone on the strength of a 71-yard sideline run. With the suddenness of James’ second score, the previously festive Vaquero fans were stunned into silence. It was an eerie feeling for anyone present in the stadium, regardless for which team one was rooting

24-14 Saints.

The El Capitan fans, however, had little time to bemoan the circumstances as Lindley promptly led his team down the field, taking the ball in himself on the final play of the drive on a two-yard plunge to reduce the Vaqueros’ deficit on the scoreboard to 24-21.

At this point, it was still anyone’s game.

But the speedy James took a reverse from Tim McGarry on the ensuing kickoff and raced 92 yards down the sideline for a touchdown.

31-21 St. Augustine.

More prolonged silence on the El Capitan sideline.

And even more after Saints DerekHolsapple blocked a Vaquero punt in the shadow of the hosts’ endzone to set up a short one-yard keeper by Forcier.

38-21 St. Augustine.

Still, one had the feeling that El Capitan had yet to be put away and, in a grand display of resiliency, the Vaqueros did not buckle but simply went back to work doing what they had done so well this season — score, score and score some more.

Lindley, who completed 24 of 47 passes in the game without an interception, passed 45 yards to Conti to quickly enliven the hometown fans and reduce the team’s deficit on the scoreboard to 38-28.

But the Saints once again answered the Vaqueros’ challenge with a score of their own to go up 44-28 as Forcier hit Parker on a seven-yard pass after the visitors had apparently stalled in the red zone.

However, the pass-happy El Capitan offense remained just a bomb away from reducing any deficit and the Vaqueros did just that with a deep strike setting up a 10-yard touchdown pass to Conti. Lindley then tossed a two-point conversion pass to Michael Holz to trim the Saints lead to 44-36.

Suddenly, El Capitan was within a touchdown and two-point conversion. And hope remained to complete a stirring comeback, especially with James flat on his back on the sideline with a leg injury. But St. Augustine had an answer. Enter Daniel Butler, who took the lion’s share of handoffs from Forcier thereafter and scored on a short run to put the Saints up 51-36 with 1:57 to play.

But Lindley and Conti connected once again as the game neared the 3:30 mark and the temperatures continued to plummet, sending some fans to their cars for warmth despite the game still hanging in the balance. Conti hauled in a 30-yard touchdown this time and booted the extra point (his 29th point of the game on four touchdown catches and five extra-point conversions) to narrow the visitors’ lead once more to eight points.

However, with only 58.5 seconds left in the game, an onside kick was on order and the Saints lined up for it, with Bobby Erskine receiving credit for the recovery to end El Capitan’s otherwise amazing, record-setting season.

The Vaqueros were making their first trip to the CIF semifinals since 1991 and will have to wait another season to match the school’s last title game appearance since 1963 (when El Capitan finished runner-up by a 20-6 score to Kearny).

The fourth quarter was frantically played by both sides, with each team scoring three touchdowns and combining for 42 points. St. Augustine outscored El Capitan 41-29 in the second half of play.

El Cap’s unsung (and nicked up) defense for the most part rose to the occasion in a battle pitting two essentially unstoppable offensive forces. The Vaqueros registered two early sacks by Tommie Draheim and Cody Furr. In fact, it was the defensive pressure applied by the Vaqueros, particularly on the pass rush, that forced the Saints to reevaluate their game plan. Forcier completed just seven of 21 aerials for a season-low 109 yards. The vaunted St. Augustine signal-caller rarely dropped back in the second half, instead handing off the ball.

Bryce Burkleo made a first-half interception for the Vaqs.

That the Saints were not down by more than four points at halftime was due to dropped passes and overthrown passes on the part of the Vaqueros, who in their 11-0 march had steadily put teams away early. In a 52-28 quarterfinal-round win against Cathedral Catholic on Nov. 24, El Capitan scored on seven of its first eight possessions in the game while adding an interception return on defense.

The Saints’ final touchdown — the one that ultimately proved too much — came after a lengthy series of penalty infractions had apparently forced St. Augustine from at least field goal range (if not more) to punting formation on fourth down. However, two consecutive 15-yard penalties moved the Saints into the red zone.

Lindley finished the season with 3,521 and 35 touchdowns — both school records and third all-time in Grossmont Conference history.

James rushed for 173 yards in the game for St. Augustine, which rolled up 304 rushing yards and 413 total offensive yards.

For the Vaqueros, it will be a season to be remembered and, for all those present at Wendell Cutting Field, a game not to be forgotten any time soon.

Point Loma 28, Steele Canyon 21
The sixth-seeded Cougars (9-4) played catch-up all game long and just when it appeared visiting Steele Canyon was poised to send the Division III semifinal game into overtime, the Point Loma defense rose to the occasion. After trailing 21-0 at halftime, the Cougars erupted with 21 second-half points to close to within a touchdown and regain possession of the ball for one last drive in the contest’s closing seconds at Cathedral Catholic High School.

Without any timeouts remaining and with less than 30 seconds remaining in the game, Steele Canyon advanced to the Point Loma 23-yard line. However, the Cougars were stopped on a rushing play up the middle and then had their season end when quarterback Nick Stathas was sacked as time finally expired.

Jamie Dale led all rushers in the game with 133 yards and scored Steele Canyon’s first touchdown on a 12-yard run. Stathas completed the Cougars’ scoring with a pair of touchdown passes, including an acrobatic 15-yard grab by Brandon Hughes to trim the team’s initial whopping deficit on the scoreboard to 21-14.

Dale finished the season with 1,595 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns.

Section standout Lester Arnold once again proved pivotal in a Pointers’ victory by rushing for nearly 100 yards, scoring on a one-yard run and later throwing a 46-yard halfback option pass to Drew Callejon for a touchdown. Josh Wade gave the Pointers a 14-0 lead on a two-yard scoring run while Luis Villavicencio scored what proved to be the game-winning touchdown on a 36-yard run in the fourth quarter.

Mission Bay 21, Santana 0
The Sultans were bidding to their first trip to the division championship game in San Diego Section history but could not advance past a talented top-seeded Mission Bay Buccaneers team in a Division IV semifinal game played Nov. 30 at Mesa College.

Sultans quarterback Collin Taylor was credited with 261 passing yards. However, he was intercepted twice by Mission Bay’s Victor Jackson and sacked five times. Mission Bay, while hampered by Santana’s defense, managed to find the end zone three times. Freshman Dylan Baxter cut several times across the field to score the Bucs’ opening touchdown in the second quarter on a 21-yard run. Mission Bay quarterback Evan Taylor scored the team’s final two touchdowns on runs of four and six yards.

The Sultans, whose success on the field belied the team’s numbers on the sideline, finished an otherwise remarkable season 6-5.

The Bucs finished 10-2 after their championship game loss to Santa Fe Christian.

Measuring up
Grossmont Conference
Final Regular Season
El Capitan 10-0-0
Helix 8-2-0
Steele Canyon 7-3-0
Granite Hills 6-4-0
West Hills 6-4-0
Mt. Miguel 5-5-0
Santana 5-4-0
Valhalla 5-5-0
Grossmont 4-5-1
El Cajon Valley 3-7-0
Monte Vista 1-8-1

Coastal League
Final Regular Season
Christian 6-3-1

Thursday Night Game of the Week
All games 7:05 p.m.
Channel 4 San Diego
Regular Season Schedule
August
31: Oceanside 27, Helix 0
September
7: Bogalusa (Louisiana) 19, Bonita Vista 14
14: El Capitan 46, Poway 28
21: West Hill 31, Monte Vista 3
28: Mission Hills 21, Valley Center 7
October
5: Escondido 38, Ramona 19
12: Steele Canyon 31, Valhalla 7
19: Chula Vista 42, Sweetwater 0
26: Hilltop 29, Mar Vista 22
November
2: Carlsbad 7, Rancho Buena Vista 7
9: St. Augustine 31, Cathedral Catholic 23

San Diego Section Rankings
SD Sportscasters/Broadcasters Poll
Final Regular Season
(Records throiugh Nov. 10)
1. El Capitan (10-0-0)
2. Carlsbad (7-0-2)
3. La Costa Canyon (8-2-0)
4. Torry Pines (9-1-0)
5. Oceanside (6-3-1)
6. Helix (8-2-0)
7. Escondido (7-2-1)
8. Mission Bay (8-1-0)
9. El Camino (7-3-0)
10. Mission Hills (8-2-0)

Others (in order of votes): Santa Fe Chrisitan (8-2), Hoover (8-2), 9. Point Loma (8-2), St. Augustine (7-3), Mira Mesa (6-4), Central Union (9-1), Eastlake (7-3)

San Diego Section: The Undefeated
(Through Nov. 10)

Division I
Carlsbad (7-0-2)

Division III
El Capitan (10-0-0)

Eight-Man
San Pasqual Academy (9-0-0)