East County Sports

CIF: Matadors pillage Santana in D-4 semi

2023 EAST COUNTY PREP FOOTBALL

ECS staff report

CIF Division 4 – Semifinals
Mount Miguel 37, Santana 6

SPRING VALLEY – When realignment came to Grossmont Conference football after the 2022 season, Santana was elevated over Mount Miguel to the elite Grossmont Hills League.

It seemed incentive enough for the Grossmont Valley League champion Mount Miguel Matadors.

In matching a s1987 chool record with their 1th victory of the season, the Matadors rolled up 37 unanswered points until a late cosmetic score in blasting the Sultans, 37-6, in Friday’s (Nov. 17) CIF San Diego Section Division 4 semifinals.

Mount Miguel (11-1 overall), the top seeds, will face seocnd-seeded Chula Vista in next weekend’s championship tilt. The Spartans (101-2) advanced by tripping No. 3 Westview, 11-8.

It was be the Matadors’ first appearance in a CIFSDS title contest since 1980, when they fell to Helox, 13-0, at old San Diego Stadium (Qualcomm). Brian Smith was the head coach for MMHS.

The lone championship came in Division 1A in the inaugural season of CIFSDS play, downing Vista, 40-13, under head coach Harry Johnston,

Game Recap

Mount Miguel kept increasing its lead margin every quarter, scoring 7, 10 and `3 points before calling off the dogs in the fourth quarter,

While the Matadors defense dominated, the offense made any scuting efforts difficult by not solely utilizing their passing attack.

The split split a pair of early TDs with scored both rushing and passing, then Marvin Jacobs booted a 25-yard field goal for a 17-0 halftime lead.

In the second half, two additional rushing scores made it a season-high 3 TDs on the ground to push the margin to 30-0.

Santana posted its lone score on a 63-yard TD pass from Alex Rico to Michael Valenzuela for his lone reception. Both are seniors.

For the contest, Mount Miguel limited Santana to 107 total yards (63 on a single play). A pair of Sultans QBs were each intercepted twice.

Mount Miguel statistics went unreported.

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