Seeding for the San Diego Section tackle football playoffs has been completed. There are the usual surprises and usual suspects.
The four Open Division qualifiers include the top-seeded Carlsbad Lancers (9-1), second-seeded Cathedral Catholic Dons (7-3), third-seeded Mission Hills Grizzles (8-2) and fourth-seeded Santa Fe Christian Eagles (10- 0).
Overall, the section will award team championships in eight divisions: Open Division, Division I, Division II, Division III, Division IV, Division V, Division V-AA and Division VI (eight player).
A hefty field of 13 East County teams are seeded: Helix Charter (No. 1 in Division I), Granite Hills (No. 4 in Division I), Grossmont (No. 11 in Division II), Steele Canyon (No. 1 in Division III), Mount Miguel (No. 12 in Division II), Christian (No. 8 in Division III), Valhalla (No. 9 in Division III), West Hills (No. 7 in Division IV), El Capitan (No. 8 in Division IV) and Santana (No. 9 in Division IV), Monte Vista (No. 16 in Division V), Mountain Empire (No. 4 in Division V-AA) and Foothills Christian (No. 8 in Division V-AA).
The Division I seeding features No. 1 Helix Charter (8- 2), No. 2 La Costa Canyon (6- 4), No. 3 Oceanside (6-4), No. 4 Granite Hills (7-3), No. 5 San Marcos (5-5), No. 6 Lincoln (4- 6), No. 7 Rancho Bernardo (8-2) and No. 8 (Torrey Pines (6-4).
Quarterfinals are scheduled Nov. 13. Helix will host Torrey Pines, LCC will host Rancho Bernardo, Granite Hills will host San Marcos and Oceanside will host Lincoln.
All look to be highly competitive matchups. Granite Hills defeated Lincoln, 41-29, for last year’s Division I banner. The Eagles are four-time defending CIF champions.
Semifinals are scheduled Nov. 20. The championship game is Nov. 27 at 7 p.m. at Southwestern College.
A potential semifinal pairing would be a rematch of last Friday’s climactic Grossmont Hills League championship game between Helix and Granite Hills, a game won in come-from-behind fashion, 42-31, by the host Highlanders.
Looking ahead, the D-I final would not feature both Helix and Granite Hills. It’s a shame because last Friday’s league final left high school football fans awestruck.
The Highlanders (8-2 overall) are league champions for the first time sine the 2021 season. Helix finished 4-0 in league play while the Eagles (7-3 overall) finished 3-1.
The game took multiple turns. Granite Hills led early by scores of 7-0 and 14-7 before the Highlanders countered to take a 21-14 lead. The Eagles reeled off 17 unanswered points to drop in front 31-18. The Scotties closed out the contest with the final 14 points.
Granite Hills, the four-time defending league champion, was challenged by turnovers all game long. The Eagles’ misery included three lost fumbles, one interception in the end zone and a blocked punt that went for a touchdown recovery in the end zone.
GH senior quarterback Zac Benitez passed for 192 yards with two touchdowns and one interception while tacking on 27 rushing yards and one score for a three-touchdown night. Senior Gage Spalding had 11 carries for 75 yards and one TD.
Senior Courtney Miller- Thompson had seven catches for 84 yards and two touchdowns. Senior Davion Williams had 13 carries for 77 yards while sophomore Manny Walker had two catches for 55 yards.
On the other side of the field, Helix senior signal-caller Cade Thompson finished the night with 284 passing yards and four touchdowns — two each to juniors Andrew-Johnson (three catches 134 yards) and Jeremy Robinson (three catches, 100 yards).
Steele Canyon, the runner-up in last year’s Division II championship game, is the top seed in this year’s Division III playoff bracket. The Cougars (5-5) enter the playoffs with a first-round by along with No. 2 San Diego (5-5), No. 3 San Pasqual (7-3) and No. 4 University City (5-5).
First-round games are Friday, Nov. 6. The winner between No. 8 Christian (6-4) and No. 9 Valhalla (6-4) will play No. 1 Steele Canyon in the quarterfinals on Nov. 13.
El Capitan defeated Valhalla, 38-27, in last Friday’s Grossmont Valley League championship game. Santana, Valhalla and West Hills all finished 3-2 in league in a tie for the runner-up spot to the Vaqueros (5-0 in league).
Quarterfinals are scheduled Nov. 13, followed by semifinals on Nov. 20. The championship game is scheduled Nov. 27 at 3 p.m. at Southwestern College.
El Cap scored 14 points in the final quarter to reverse a 27-24 deficit to eclipse Valhalla for the league title. The host Norsemen had led 21-7 after the first quarter and 27-7 midway through the second quarter.
“The boys never quit and fought hard to win,” said Vaquero head coach Ron Burner, whose team enters postseason play riding a five-game winning streak. “Our defense didn’t give up a single point after the 27 and our offense rolled big time. Michael Castillo (108 rushing yards) was a key cog as was Daniel Montijo who came in off the bench and was 11-for-12 passing with 142 passing yards and three touchdowns. His first play off the bench was a 64-yard TD to Elijah Arzu (three catches, 71 yards, two TD).
“We are an No. 8 seed and face Santana at home on Friday. We beat them 19-7 at the start of league but a lot has changed and it is going to be quite a battle at the Ranch. They have really improved since then and they also beat Valhalla.”
The Division V-AA playoffs include eight teams: No. 1 Escondido Charter (9-1), No. 2 Palo Verde Valley (8-2), No. 3 Vincent Memorial (8-2), No. 4 Mountain Empire (5-4), No. 5 Clairemont (5-5), No. 6 O’Farrell Charter (5-5), No. 7 Caliptaria (3-7) and No. 8 Foothills Christian (5-4).
Quarterfinals are Friday, followed by semifinals on Nov. 13 and the championship game Nov. 20 at 7 p.m. at Escondido High School.
Quarterfinal pairings feature Foothills Christian at Escondido Charter, Clairemont at Mountain Empire, Vincent Memorial at O’Farrell Charter and Calipatia at Palo Verde Valley.
Palo Verde Valley finished as last year’s Division V-AA runner-up.
Mountain Empire wrapped up Desert League play last Friday with a 32-12 setback at league champion Palo Verde Valley. The Redhawks finished 1-2 in league play, 5-4 overall.
“We’re excited to compete in the playoffs again,” Mountain Empire head coach Cameron Keller said. “Clairemont is a good team and we gotta come out and practice hard this week. Our team is a much better team than the 5-4 record we have. We have to come out Friday with energy as well as being able to execute our assignments.”
Senior Chance Ross completed a touchdown pass to senior Amar Mahasin (three catches, 47 yards) while junior Elisha Robinson (14 carries, 131 yards) scored one rushing touchdown in the loss to Palo Verde.
Ross passed for 1,015 yards and 13 touchdowns in nine games while Robinson rushed for 1,670 yards and eight touchdowns. Mahasin was the receiving leader with 31 catches for 653 yards and 10 touchdowns.