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Question: Did Granite set scoring record?

2024 EAST COUNTY PREP FOOTBALL

 

By Nick Pellegrino
ECS Senior writer

EL CAJON – It is quite fortunate that ValleyStadium saw a new scoreboard installed because it is questionable if the old scoreboard could’ve handled Friday’s (Nov. 1) recoird-setting performance by Granite Hills.

The Eagles scored an astounding 90 points in defeating Grossmont, SCORE, in the regulart season finale.

Ninety? Wow! And congratulations!

However, moments after the GHHS public address announcer declared that the 90 points was a “new record,” emails and text message to East County Sports wanted to know if this wasa true.

Well, yes and no — it depends on what you consider to be a record, and also, who defines what is a record.

QUESTION ONE: Who defines what is a recordf?

Even though the CIF-San Diego Section has an internet-posted record book the information is often updatede on a timely
basis.

A few years ago, KUSI television decl;ared one laeticular record was set, but there were two problems.

1) The station’s computer link was connected to an old page, thus was three years older than the current page. This has since been corrected.

2) What KUSI said was a new record had actually been set the previous week — the statiomn’s institutional memory was lacking.

3) Yet, they did lookat the record book and it wasn’t uopdated.

QUESTION TWO: When is the record book updated?

For many years this century, the local officials with the CIFSDS did not update anything in the record book.

This includes simple things like the names of championship winning schools from the previous season — at one point, the book was three years behinf.

More recently, the new CIFSDS administration realizes the importance f the record book and even has a stringer from East County Sports (not me) creating updates and revising earlier (minor) mistakes.

QUESTION THREE: Is th eCIFSDS office officially responsible for its own records?

Generally speaking, yes, yet also no.

As long as the book is maintained, most everyone agrees the CIFSDS list of achievements is accurate.

However, the CIF state office possesses its own set of records. Plus, Cal Hi Sports (not MaxPreps) has been keeping its own record book for decades, often sharing with the media on historic moments.

Most often, all of these sources agree… but not always.

QUESTION FOUR: What is a record?

For years, CIFSDS has listed all football games in one charter of its record book, with no regard to whether it’s 11-man or 8-man tackle football.

(What they will do with girls flag football is unknown, as only a list of champions and award- winners are currently posted, but not a records
section for statistics.)

If Granite Hills states that 90 points is an “11-man record,” that would be correct.

However, according to the CIFSDS, four other teams have scored more because they combined the two styles of football.

QUESTION FOUR: Time.

The CIFSDS was created in 1960, but the state office goes back to the turn of the previous century.

Thus, any achievements by  an Diego County schools prior to 1960 are not listed.

Fortunately, former San Diego Union-Tribune writer Rock Smith maintains a San Diego Prep Sports History website, giving detailed information from the very first season of high school sports in the area.

Most of the accounts are actual newspaper clippings from the original San Diego Union (before the merger with The Evening Tribune in 1993).

The Evening Tribunr even published its pwn record books on football and boys basketball (there was no state-sanctioned girls sports until four years later) in 1970, listing marks set from World War II to 1969.

According to Cal Hi Sports and Rick Smith, the most points in a San Diego County high school football game came in 1920.

San Diego High, then a state power, was upset when visiting Army & Navy Academy of Pacific Beach (now Army-Navy Academy of Carlsbad) scored the first touchdown, giving the Cadets a 7-0 lead over the Hilltoppers (now Cavers).

So San Diego forced a turnover and scorede the next — get this — 130 straight points.

There was no mercy rule back then. And according to the “old school” rules, if you scored a touchdown, the other team needed yo kick-off to you sndf they stayed on defense until they could stop you.

Worse, the game came in the first round of the CIF Southern California playoffs. Then the following week, San Diego whipped CVan Nuys High, 81-0, before finally losing in the title game to Los Angeles Poly, 7-3.

Two years later in a rematch, San Diego again downed Army-Navy, 106-6.

Earlier, San Diego first reached triple-figures in a 100-0 shutout of Venice in 1913.

Others “blasts from the past” show Coronado twice bombing Sweetwater, 105-0 in 1917 (when the Red Devils were known as National City High), and 108-0 in 1929

W\QUESTION FIVE: School size.

Some have suggested thst the CIFSDS keep separate records for each division, since schools are now grouped by power ratings and not enrollment or location.

Entering the weekend, the modern-day CIFSDS scoring record for 11-man football was 82, set by Lincoln (then known as Lincoln Prep) in 1986

However, the CIFSDS claims the mark is — by its standards — is 96 (set three times). The mark was first achieved in a neutral site game held at Grossmont College in 2008 when St. Joseph of San Marcos downed Lutheran (now Victory Christian), 96 -74, in a contest that ended just moments before sunset.

The combined 170 points is also the section record.

The East County mark was 78 by Christian in a 2010 playoff game with Tri-City Christian. The Eagles demanded to be the home team because of their 9-1 record, but the higher-seeded Patriots easily won, 78-7 at Valley Stadium.

However, What does “East County” mean?

Borrego Springs can claim the record after pasting San Diego Jewish, 92-52 in 2004. Mountain Empire once scored 75 against San Diego Military in 1966, which was the”East County” record until Foothills
Christian tallied 96 points on Calvin Christian earlier this season.

Of course, what does “Esast County” mean. Is it just the Grossmont Conference? Is it simply the local, metropolitan area?

In local news media (television and newspapers), Ramona is technically in East County, yet in sports they are classified as North County.

There are speed bumps, like covering Patrick Henry, and the movement of Liberty Charter from Spring Valley to Alpine, and others.

Entering the weekend, the Grossmont Conference record was 76, when Santana took down La Jolla Country Day, 76=55, in the 2018 playoffs.

On the flip side, Grossmont allowed the most points when Patrick Henry hit them for 75 earlier this season in August, but noe hold the revised mark against Granite Hills.

Still, that may not be totally true. Borrego Springs one allowed 86 to Midway Baptist (now Ocean View Christian) in 1994.

Among scoring by two teams combined in a single contest, the “large school” mark was 135, as Santa Fe Christian swamped Orange Glen, 81-54. However, that game was held in March 2020 during the Covid-
19 season, so some people say it shouldn’t count.

That’s for another article to discuss.

Flag

The current single-game scoring record in girls flag football is 75, set by Classicalin its season-opening victory. The Caimans downed Santa Ana-Mater Dei, 75-6.

The East County record is 51 by Steele Canyon over Orange Glen.

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