OPEN DIVISION AT SNAPDRAGON
But that’s only prep football title game to be played there
Championship games should be special, and San Diego Section CIF Commissioners from Dennis Ackerman to Jerry Schniepp and now Joe Heinz have done their best to get those events on college campuses.
“We want to maximize the experience for the athletes and the fans,” Heinz said.
But Qualcomm Stadium, the long-time home of the football championships, has been torn down and the rubble is a now being recycled.
Qualcomm has been replaced by Snapdragon Stadium. A while back, San Diego State sent a notice to its football season ticketholders that all CIF championships on a field — football, field hockey, boys and girls, boys and girls lacrosse — would be at Snapdragon. That never materialized. However, Heinz announced that the Open Division football championships will be held at Snapdragon on Nov. 18.
The four-team Open Division championship will be played a week before Divisions I-V, which are 12-team playoffs.
“Scheduling for the playoffs has been a challenge,” Heinz said. “We want to return to college venues, but we’re only playing one game at Snapdragon because San Diego State has a game the next Saturday (against Air Force on Nov. 26).
“We reached out to Southwestern College. But it has conflicts on Saturday with a possible playoff game for its football team.
“So we’re going back to Escondido High, too.”
Snapdragon Stadium holds 35,000. Last year’s Open Division championship at Escondido High between Cathedral Catholic and Carlsbad drew nearly 8,000. The hope is a great matchup and the draw of seeing a game in Snapdragon could push the crowd over 10,000.
Southwestern College, like Escondido, seats around 8,000.
The championship schedule for football reads:
Friday, Nov. 18: Open Division, 7 p.m. at Snapdragon Stadium
Saturday, Nov. 19: 8man, 7:30 p.m. at Escondido HS
Friday, Nov. 25: Division III, 2 p.m. and Division I, 7:30 p.m. at Southwestern College
Friday, Nov. 25: Division IV, 7:30 p.m. at Escondido HS
Saturday, Nov. 26: Division V, 2 p.m. and Division II, 7:30 p.m. at Escondido HS
“Three venues and playing the bulk of our games over Thanksgiving weekend present some logistical problems and spreads our staff out,” Heinz said.
“In the past, we’ve played our 8-man and Division V championships at different sites. We felt it was important to have those games as the same sites as the other championships.”
Football isn’t the only concern for Heinz and his staff.
Girls volleyball, field hockey, girls golf, boys water polo and girls tennis will decide championships in the fall season. Tennis is a nobrainer at the Barnes Center. Likewise with water polo at Coggan Pool in La Jolla.
Golf will be played at Torrey Pines North and field hockey will be a tripleheader at La Costa Canyon High.
Girls volleyball, which could feature Cathedral Catholic — the No. 1 team in the nation, will be split among three venues.
Friday, Nov. 4: Division III, 5 p.m. and Open Division, 7:30 p.m. at Westview HS
Saturday, Nov. 5: Division
V, 5 p.m. and Division II, 7:30 p.m. at Montgomery HS
Saturday, Nov. 5" Division IV, 5 p.m. and Division I, 7:30 p.m. at San Marcos HS
Costs — rental fees mostly — will most certainly be a factor in securing college sites for championships.
“Absolutely, moving forward, we want to be back on college campuses for our championships,” Heinz said. “We’d like to get girls volleyball at San Diego State … maybe Peterson Gym.
“We’re working with San Diego State, USD and UCSD on basketball, baseball and softball.
“We know the colleges are busy and scheduling absolutely comes into play. Graduations — the high schools and colleges — have a bearing on our spring sports.
“But we think being on the college campuses is mutually beneficial. We’re giving our athletes a college experience and the colleges are able to showcase their venues. It’s a win-win situation if we can do it.”
Power rankings
Heading into the final two weeks of the football season, the Power Rankings for the playoffs are coming into focus.
Open Division: 4 teams — Carlsbad, Madison and Lincoln appear to have the top three spots locked up. Mission Hills has moved into the fourth spot and could lock that down with a win today at El Camino.
Division I: 12 teams — Poway could jump over Mission Hills and into the Open Division with a Mission Hills loss to El Camino and Poway wins over Mt. Carmel and Rancho Bernardo. Cathedral Catholic, El Camino and La Costa Canyon look like the other top-4 seeds with Helix knocking on the door.
Division II: 12 teams — Granite Hills, Mira Mesa and Ramona look like the top three seeds. San Marcos, Central Union and La Jolla have a chance at the final seed.
Division III: University City, Del Norte, Point Loma and Imperial are the four seeds with Bishop’s lurking at No. 5.
Division IV: Fallbrook, La Jolla Country Day, Palo Verde Valley and Montgomery are the seeds with Mission Bay a possibility to crack the top 4.
Division V: Crawford, Escondido Charter, Classical Academy and ArmyNavy look like top-4 locks. El Cajon Valley and Vincent Memorial have an outside chance to jump up.
8-man division: 6 teams — St. Joseph Academy, Victory Christian, Rock Academy, San Pasqual Academy and Coastal Academy appear to be locks. San Diego Jewish Academy, Foothills Christian, Horizon Prep and Borrego Springs are all in the running.
Win-loss records
Heading into the final two weeks of the season, there are only three unbeaten teams — Madison, Lincoln and Poway. There are five one-loss teams — Carlsbad, Santa Fe Christian, Palo Verde Valley, Crawford and Army-Navy.
There are seven winless teams: Grossmont, Oceanside, Vista, Orange Glen, Valhalla, Calipatria and O’Farrell Charter. There are six one-win teams: Canyon Hills, Steele Canyon, Westview, Southwest-El Centro, Tri-City Christian and Monte Vista.
Notable
Oceanside High is planning a reunion for the John Carroll era football teams — 1989-2014. It’s tentatively set for Feb. 4 with more details to come.
St. Augustine has forfeited three JV football games, including this week’s JV Holy Bowl against archrival Cathedral Catholic.