DIVISION MOVES ANNOUNCED FOR FOOTBALL
State championships have their rewards.
In the case of Scripps Ranch High and Mater Dei Catholic, onfield success means moving up.
The San Diego Section released its football divisions for the 2022 season with Scripps Ranch going from Division II to Division I and Mater Dei moving from Division III to Division II.
The two schools won two of the section’s three state football championships in 2021.
Scripps Ranch, San Diego’s Division II champion, won the State 2-A title. Mater Dei Catholic, San Diego’s Division III champion, won the State 2-AA championship.
Cathedral Catholic, the San Diego Section Open Division champion, won the State 1-AA title.
The San Diego Section bases its divisions on the last three years of competition.
“Mater Dei Catholic has a better rating than some of our Division I teams, but by rule our schools can only move up or down one division,” said San Diego Section Commissioner Joe Heinz. “So Mater Dei will be the top team in Division II.”
Last season’s Open Division teams — Cathedral Catholic, Carlsbad, Mission Hills and Torrey Pines — all stay in Division I. (The four Open Division teams come from Division I.)
Poway, Rancho Bernardo, and Scripps Ranch move up to Division
I from Division II while San Marcos, Oceanside and Granite Hills go down to Division II.
Mission Hills, with 2,873 students, is the largest school in Division I; Madison (911) is the smallest.
Brawley, Santa Fe Christian, Ramona and Mater Dei Catholic move up from Division III to Division II. Christian, Bishop’s, West Hills and Olympian move down to Division III.
San Marcos (3,535) is the largest school in Division II; Santa Fe Christian (447) is the smallest.
Patrick Henry, Del Norte, El Capitan, Westview and Sweetwater transition from Division IV to Division III. Kearny, Hilltop, Mount Miguel and Orange Glen fall from Division III to Division IV.
Sweetwater (2,809) is the largest school in division III; Christian (454) is the smallest.
Fallbrook, Chula Vista, Southwest-El Centro and Monte Vista move up from Division V to Division IV.
Calexico (2,921) is the largest school in Division IV; La Jolla Country Day (488) is the smallest.
Francis Parker, San Ysidro, Escondido Charter, Classical Academy and Castle Park drop from Division IV to Division V.
Hoover (2,366) is the largest school in division V; Tri-City Christian (173) is the smallest.
Sutton an All-American
Cathedral Catholic running back Lucky Sutton has been named a second-team All-American by MaxPreps.
He is the only player from San Diego among the 52 players chosen and one of only eight from California.
Sutton, who has signed with San Diego State, rushed 232 times for a state-leading 2,628 yards and 35 TDs, averaging 11.3 yards a carry. He rushed for at least 115 yards in 13 of Cathedral Catholic’s 14 games and had five games of at least 200 yards, with a career high 442 yards and six TDs against Orange Lutheran.
He rushed 31 times for 241 yards with a 73-yard TD in a 33-21 win over against Folsom in the State 1-AA championship game.
The first-team running backs are Raleek Brown from Santa Ana Mater Dei and Nicholas Singleton from Governor Mifflin in Pennsylvania.
Brown, who has signed with USC, rushed 143 times for 1,123 yards and 15 TDs, averaging 7.8 yards a carry in 11 games, as Mater Dei finished 12-0 and won the California Open Division championship.
Singleton, who has signed with Penn State, rushed for 2,049 yards on 165 carries and 41 TDs, averaging 12.4 yards a carry on a team that went 10-1.
O’Sullivan resigns
Patrick Henry head football coach JT O’Sullivan has resigned after three seasons.
The Patriots finished 10-3 last season, won the City League championship and the San Diego Section Division IV title before losing to Lake Balboa Birmingham 42-35 in the Southern California 3-A championship game.
In his three seasons at Patrick Henry, the Patriots were 19-10.
O’Sullivan said he going to concentrate on creating digital content.
Patrick Henry officials expect to close applications on Jan. 21 and hope to start the interview process the week of Jan. 24.
State to allow Sunday play
With COVID-19 numbers spiking, the State CIF has temporarily suspended CIF Bylaw 504.M and will allow winter sports teams to play Sunday games the remainder of the 2022 season.
In a press release, the CIF State said, “If a CIF competition is postponed directly due to documented COVID-19 cases (or the quarantine resulting from such a case), the schools involved in those competitions may mutually agree to use Sunday as a possible playing day to reschedule those competitions.”
Teams will still not be allowed to practice on Sundays.
“We don’t want to see indoor games canceled,” Heinz said. “That’s the challenge. Playing on Sunday gives schools a little scheduling f lexibility.”