Monarchs show CIF committee who’s boss

By Nick Pellegrino
Updated: November 9, 2024

2024 EAST COUNTY PREP FOOTBALLCIF-San Diego Section Championships

ECS staff report

Monte Vista 34, Fallbrook 33

FALLBROOK – Grossmont Conference rushing champion Alex “The Sheriff” Villanueva carried the ball 21 times for 242 yards, helping Monte Vista out-last host Fallbrook, 34-33, in a battle of controversial No. 5 and 12 seeds inthe CIF-San Diego Section Division 5 playoff opener.

Monte Vista, which clinched a non-losing record with the triumph, wasn’t even supposed to be in the postseason, but two things happened.

Among the top 64 teams advancing, one side dropped out, elevating the Monarchs from No. 65 and out of the playoffs to the 64th and final berth.

In addition, Fallbrook was one of three schools to advance despite not wining a single game all season. Plus, with the Warriors higher computer power index, they gain the home-field advantage,

While the other winless ballclubs — Mira Mesa and St. Augustine — did make the coaches committee which designed the current playoff format look correct, they were not as far as Monte Vista was concerned.

While the Monte Vista ground game was in full gear, the passing attack only completed two passes — yet both were for touchdowns. Both times, quartreback Derrick Taylor connected with Rahshawn Florence for romps of 63 and 54 yards.

According to social media, withthe Monarchs leading 34-31, they took an intentional safety to maintain the lead and keep Fallbrook on its own side of the 50-yard line.

According to the San Diego Union-Tribue, Villaneua now leads the section with 2,104 rushing yards.

West Hills 33, Mar Vista 15

SANTEE – West Hills running back Junior Leon dashed for a 68-yard touchdown on the game-opening drive, leading the Wolf Pack past the visiting Mar Vista Mariners, 33-15, Friday (Nov. 8) at Wolf Pack Stadium in Division 5 play.

Joey Hamilton also added a rushing TD for a 14-7 lead, but the game turned from a see-saw affair to all-West Hills on an interception by the Pack’s Marshon Mitchell.

The theft tilted the field position battle to West Hills, which took a 20-7 lead on an 8-yard TD rush by Ryder Alexander just before the half.

However, the Pack got the ball back in the final seconds, with Hamilton piercing the Mariners line for a 25-yard score and a 26-7 lead at the break.

For Mar Vista (4-7), it was just the Mariners second-ever playoff game against the Grossmont Confernece since opening in 1960. They also lost to Santana, 23-6, in 2018.

Mount Miguel 62, Santa Fe Christian 34

SPRING VALLEY – For the second consecutive season, the Mount Miguel Matadors established a school playoff record for points scored, toppling visiting Santa Fe Christian, 62-34, in Friday’s (Nov, 8) CIFSDS contest at Matador Stadium.

It was another 300-yard passing performance for Matadors quarterback A.J. Stowers, featuring four touchdown passes.

The Matadors (9-2 overall) reported they reached the end zone on all nine of their possessions.

Two of the scoring strikes went to AJ. Logan, who later threw a 70-yard option pass for another score to Ezelle Buchanan.

Brandon Arrington, Jeremiah Holiday, K.J. Shields, and Kali Young also scored for Mount Miguel.

The 62 points was also one shy of the Matadors season-best total of 63 in a wipe-out of Grossmont.

Last season, Mount Miguel stuffed Escondido, 560-13, in a Division 4 contest. However, this year’s outing with the Eagles was a Division I battle.

The previous record came in 2009 when Mount Miguel shuffled the Hoover Cardinals, 45-14,

Mount Miguel (9-2 overall) raced toa quixk 14-0 ead in the first quarter and were never headed.

Santana 33, Kearny 18

SANTEE – Since Kearny High’s historic 7-7 tie in the 1977 CIF semifinals played at Aztec Bowl, the Komets have not fared well against the Grossmont Conference.

Since winning what was then called the “California Tiebreaker,” Kearny has dust two victories in a near half-century, including a recent loss to El Cajon Valley, 49-6, just last season.

The Sultans (7-4 overall) added to the Comets’ misery by waltzing to a 33-14 CIFSDS triumph on Friday (Nov. 8) in Division 5 action.

Leading 17-12 at the half, the Sultans posted a pair of third-period touchdowns to pull away.

More tham half of Santana’s offense went through running back Wyatt Williams, who rushed 26 times for 184 yards.

Quarterback Ethan Miller completed just 8 passes, but two went for scores.

Posting interceptions were senior Noah Qualin (23-yard runback) and sophomore Denton Goar (18 yards)
|

Patrick Henry 42, Otay Ranch 24

SAN CARLOS – In the first-ever meeting between the schools, Patrick Henry senior quarterback Eli Ruiz passed for 402 yards and five touchdowns, as thr Patriots broke open a close contest at the half to roll Otay Ranch, 42-24, in the CIFSDS Division 2 playoffs on Friday (Nov. 8).

Ruiz, who completed 18-of-25 passes, topped his previous season-best by nearly 100 yards; he threw for 309 yards against Grossmont in the season opener, good for 6 of his 29 TD so far this season.

The main target was junior receiver Ian Brooke, who caught four balls for 1243 yards for two touchdowns. Also hauling in TD passes were seniors Damien Carmichael and and Cody Cappelletti, and junior Calvin Glenn.

.Cappelletti also rushed for 82 yards and another TD.

Note: other websites list Otay Ranch’s score as 14 and 20, so we gave them the highest of the possible scores to avoid confrontation.

Christian 28, Imperial 26

CAJON – At Valley Stadium, Christian quarterback Kaleb Runkle threw for 290 yards on 23-of-32 passing and three TDs the City League champion Christian Patriots stopped the Imperial Tigers in CIFSDS Division 2 action.

The chief recipient was Kai Rosier, who caught 12 passes for a season-high 214 yards and a TD.

Brady Eads caught six passes for 45 yards and two TDs, plus had a game-clinching interception in the closing minutes when Imperial (9-2) was driving for the potential game-winning score.

The Patriots (9-2) will meet top-seeded University City next Friday.
|

Escondido 57, Steele Canyon 53

ESCONDIDO — In the highest-scoring game — playoff or regular season — in Steele Canyon history the Cougars fell to host Escondido Cougars in a CIFSDS Division 3 first-round contest at Wilson Stadium.

The previos benchmark for Steele Canyon came in a 61-52 road victory at The Bishop’s in 2017.

The ballgame was an ordinary 21-16 for Escondido at the half, but the real fireworks came in the third quarter when both sides scored three touchdowns.

In the fourth quarter, it was two TDs each, but Steele Canyon could match Escondido instead of pulling ahead for keeps.

A late Steele Canyon score gave them a 53-49 lead, vut Escondido’s Josh Gonzales caught the game-winning pass in the final minute of regulation time to win it.

Escondido quarterback Zeke McIntyre completed 23 of 31 passes for 469 yards and six TDs to move his side’s record to 7-4,McIntyre also rushed for a pair of scores.

Steele Canyon (5-7) has now dropped seven straight postseason ballgames.

8-Man: Horizon Prep 50, Borrego Springs 42

SANTA FE – Two weeks ago, Borrego Springs travel to this conclave of weajjrh and prestige, gerring waxed by HorizonPrep by 32 points.

However, in Friday’s (Nov 8) quarterfinals of the CIF San Diego Sectgion 8-man football championships, the Rams were all so close to forcing an overtime.

However, the Lions kept Borrego Springs out of the end zone in the closing minutes, preserving a narrow 8-point victory.

The Rams finished the season by posting a winning record at 5-4 overall, giving the improving Rams conseutive winning seasons for the first time since 2005-2006.

Next Friday’s Schedule

All games at 7 p.m.

Open Division – Semifinals
(4) Mission Hills vs. (1) Lincoln, at Southwestern College
(3) Cathedral Catholic at (2) La Costa Canyon

Championship: Nov. 23 at Snapdragon Stadium, 7 p.m.

Division 1 – Quarterfinals
(9) Del Norte at (1) San Marcos
(5) Monte Vista at (4) El Camino
(6) Torrey Pines at (3) Granite Hills
(7) Rancho Bernardo at (2) Carlsbad

Division 2- Quarterfinals
(9) Imperial at (1) University City
(5) Point Loma at (4) Poway
(6) La Jolla at (3) Helix
(7) The Bishop’s at (2) Mater Dei Catholic

Division 3 – Quarterfinals
(8) Patrick Henry at (1) Cental Union
(5) Eastlake at (4) San Pasqual
(6) Escondido at (3) San Diego
(7) St. Augustine at (2) Holtville

Division 4 – Quarterfinals
(8) Montgomery at (1) Ramona
(5) Westview at (4) Mission Bay
(6) Mira Mesa at (3) Grossmont
(7) Chula Vista at (2) El Capitan

Dision 5 – Quarterfinals
(8) Coronado at (1) Vista
(12) Monte Vista at (4) Hoover
(6) West Hills at (3) Crawford
(7) Santana at (2) Bonita Vista

Division 5-AA – Semifinals
(4) Maranatha Christian at (1) Calipatria
(3) Coastal Academy at (2) Tri-City Christian

8-man – Semifinals
(4) Horizon Prep vs. (1) St. Joseph’s Academy
(3) Calvin Christian vs. (2) Foothills Christian