The San Diego Section’s new playoff format is creating some interesting scenarios.
Sixty-four of the section’s 11-person teams qualify for post-season play. What’s different this season is that there are no predetermined divisions.
Teams will be lined up from No. 1 to No. 64 (with allowances for automatic league champion qualifiers) and snipped off division by division. Top four teams, as per the final regular season CalPreps rankings, will comprise the Open Division. The next 12 teams will comprise Division I, followed by increments of 12 teams for Division II, Division III, Division IV and Division V.
Six of the eight teams entered in the Division V-AA tier qualify for postseason play. Similarly, the eight-person football bracket is separate from the 11-person bracket.
As the halfway point of the 2024 high school season approaches, something can already be said about what to expect the rest of the season.
Eight teams remain undefeated through Week 5: No. 2 La Costa Canyon (5-0), No. 10 Mt. Miguel (4-0), No. 16 Brawley (4-0), No. 17 Scripps Ranch (4-0), No. 27 University City (4-0), No. 29 Imperial (5-0), No. 33 Holtville (5-0), No. 44 Army- Navy (4-0),
A glut of 24 teams have one loss, including No. 4 Granite Hills (3-1), No. 31 Steele Canyon (4-1) and No. 49 Santana (3-1).
Teams that have played tough schedules and haven’t excelled in the win column have corresponding rankings that reflect that and should be in good standing for postseason berths.
That being said, if the playoffs were to start today, East County teams could have some very favorable seedings.
Granite Hills (3-1) would get a chance to defend its Open Division championship against either No. 1 Lincoln (2-2), No. 2 La Costa Canyon (4-0) and No. 3 Cathedral Catholic (3-1).
Mt. Miguel, last year’s Division IV champion, would get a chance to prove itself against Division I competition this season that could also include No. 15 Helix Charter (2-3).
Meanwhile, Steele Canyon, off to a strong 4-1 start, and No. 32 Christian (2-2) would be among the top-ranked Division III teams. Similarly, No. 42 El Capitan (2-3) would rank among the top Division IV teams.
Could East County teams win multiple CIF titles in 2024? The stars could line up for some interesting playoff football, indeed.
El Capitan snapped a three-game losing streak with a 14-6 non-league win at Montgomery last Friday. Vaqueros head coach Ron Burner is optimistic about what the rest of the season might hold for his team.
“Look at the teams we played,” Burner noted. “The three games we lost were against Scripps Ranch (20-7), they’re undefeated at 4-0, Chula Vista (35-21), they were one win away from winning Division IV last year and Steele Canyon (19-13), and we were in the game against Steele Canyon. If things had gone our way, we could be 5-0 at this point.”
Senior Brandt Barker completed 16 of 27 passes for 197 yards with one touchdown and one interception as the visiting Vaqueros ended their three-game losing streak. El Capitan built a 14-0 lead in the non-league contest against the Aztecs (2-3) on a touchdown pass from Barker to junior Logan Dulyea (three catches, 60 yards) and a 10-yard TD run by senior Ayden Banegas, who rushed twice for 27 yards and had seven catches for 75 yards to help power the offense.
Meanwhile, sophomore Gavin Caha passed for 267 yards and five touchdowns to lead the Cougars to their third consecutive win. Caha connected passes to 10 receivers. On defense, Junior Tyree Zarkaryan registered four tackles for losses.
Presumably, teams ranked lower than 64th will not qualify for the playoffs (providing they are not league champions).
Those teams at present include three East County teams: No. 71 Monte Vista (2-2), No. 76 Valhalla (2-3) and No. 1 El Cajon Valley (0-5).
On the other hand, No. 83 Mountain Empire (1-3) would be in line to qualify for the Division V-AA playoffs with the fifth-best record. A crucial intra-divisional pairing looms when the Red Hawks visit No. 86 Victory Christian Academy for a non-league encounter on Friday at 7 p.m. at Bonita Vista High School.
VCA is currently seventh-best in the division, needing a win over Mountain Empire to move up in the division. A win by the Red Hawks might just be enough to hold onto a playoff berth.
Teams needing to move up in the rankings will need to do so with strong showings in league play.
Both the Grossmont Hills League champion and Grossmont Valley League champion are automatic playoff qualifiers.
League play kicks off Oct. 4.
Teams vying for the Grossmont Valley League title include El Capitan, Santana, West Hills, Monte Vista, Valhalla and El Cajon Valley.
Santana already has chalked up three non-league wins while El Capitan, West Hills, Monte Vista snd Valhalla each have opened the season with a pair of wins each.
Each GVL team will play five league games.
There are five teams in the Grossmont Hills League with each team playing four league games to determine the league champion.
