By Bill Dickens
MaxPreps.com
Call it a form of bonding – a moniker for team unity.
Football teams are accustomed to designing or adopting nicknames that fit their composite personalities.
One of the better name tags in the CIF San Diego Section this season is the defensive unit at La Costa Canyon High, which dubs itself “Gang Green.”
The Mavericks defenders lived up to that handle when they shut down Escondido’s hard-charging running offense that entered the Oct. 31 Avocado League duel for first place producing 453 yards per game.
Although trailing by 10 points at intermission, No. 5 La Costa Canyon pulled out a 21-17 victory over the Ricky Seale-led Cougars (6-2).
As a team, Escondido was rationed to a season-low 206 yards.
No question, LCC’s Gang Green won this one.
The key was Gang Green constricted Seale, limiting the CIF-SDS rushing leader – who came in averaging 212.3 yards per game – to a season-low 101 yards on 24 carries. It was the first time in eight games that Seale failed to find the end zone. For the season, Seale has scored 19 touchdowns.
Talk about Seale the deal . . . The junior running back had run wild in his previous two games, piling up 578 yards and eight touchdowns on 60 carries over his previous two outings.
This Gang Green bunch is laden with standouts, including lineman Ian Seau, linebacker Jacob Driver and safety Connor Garrett.
Thomas gets his kicks:
Known more for his passing Valhalla junior Pete Thomas has proven he can do more than throw and run. The 6-foot-5, 207-pound junior can also kick, as he showed by booting four field goals in the Norsemen’s 28-3 Grossmont South League romp over Steele Canyon. He missed a fifth attempt, which if successful, would have tied him with Helix Parade All-American Scott Webb (1982) and Ramona’s Tim Valencia (2001) for the San Diego Section record.
Hipp hop hammer:
Quarterback Parker Hipp, director of Cathedral Catholic’s run-oriented offense, passed for 171 yards and two touchdowns on 9-of-15 accuracy as the Dons drilled Patrick Henry 66-10 for their 15th consecutive win on Oct. 31.
Two straight for Titans
In a rematch of last year's Division I championship game won by the Titans 21-7 win over Rancho Buena Vista, Poway senior Nick Ricciardulli rushed for 243 yards and four TDs in the Titans' conquest over the Mustangs.
Paws for action
Vista senior David Fisher was an economic quarterback, hitting 9-of-10 passes for 183 yards and two touchdowns in the Panthers 35-13 victory over El Camino.
More Top Performances
— Cathedral Catholic boys water polo standout Bernie Rogers scored nine goals in a 12-11 overtime win against Campolindo in the semifinals and had a goal and an assist in a 15-12 loss to Bishop's in the finals of the Greater San Diego Invitational.
— Valley Center boys water scoring machine Chase Sessions knocked down 24 goals and three assists in two Valley League games and three Greater San Diego Invitational open games.
— Escondido softball player Mariel Sena, who carries a 4.13 grade-point average and is ranked in the top 5 percent of her class, will continue her career at Harvard.
— Freshman golfer Courtney Hooton of The Bishop’s School fired a school-record 33 on the front nine at Encinitas Ranch last week to help the Knights capture the Coastal League title.
— Scott Siegel of the Bishop’s School earned MVP of the Greater San Diego Water Polo Invitational. The senior had four goals, two assists and three steals in the Knights 15-12 win over Cathedral Catholic in the championship bout.
Coming attractions
— Oceanside will dominate the eye of the Channel 4-San Diego television cameras for the final two weeks of the regular season. The top-ranked Pirates (8-0) will shoot for their 20th straight victory when they host Valley Center (7-1) in a Valley League showdown on Nov. 7. A week later, Oceanside travels to Ramona (7-1) in the regular season finale.
Dickens Dealings
Coaches, fans and players like to believe those who officiate are under-skilled and overpaid. Be that as it may, they do a job that most thin-skinned folks would never attempt.
Now, in the CIF-SDS, city officials are stinging referees by suddenly enforcing a law which requires independent contractors to obtain a business license.
The folks in stripes are considered independent contractors and as such are obligated to purchase a work permit to operate in the county’s 18 incorporated areas. Fees for licenses vary by city, ranging from $15 to $100 annually.
Ridiculous! Are local governments hurting that bad? Officials’ fees are normally paid from funds that are raised by the students.
No doubt officials will view this as an unnecessary hassle, considering they already pay taxes on their earnings.
Pay day for officials in the CIF-SDS range from $46 (girls water polo) to $74 (for boys lacrosse).
To think that officials who referee non-revenue sports receive a larger paycheck than those who toil under the Friday night lights is a joke. Then, to charge them a fee just to step out on the field is even more absurd.
Bureaucracy such as this will no doubt cause a bunch of officials to turn in their whistles. Given the skill level at the present, the CIF-SDS can ill afford to lose any veteran officials.