Steele Canyon stuns top-ranked Cathedral Catholic

One of the best kept secrets when it comes to San Diego Section football this season might be the Steele Canyon (Spring Valley) Cougars.

Facing off against visiting Cathedral Catholic (San Diego) – ranked No. 1 by The North County Times sportswriters' poll – the Cougars played masterfully in Friday's 35-12 victory over the visiting Dons.

"This was a blast," said Steele Canyon quarterback Brad Boehmke, who completed 15 of 29 passes for 215 yards and three touchdowns in a game that was decided by the third quarter. "You can't ask for a better start to the season than this."

Steele Canyon led wire-to-wire after Boehmke connected with Jake Wragg for a 26-yard passing strike with 5:55 left in the first quarter. A versatile 6-foot-1, 182-pound senior, Wragg finished with 213 total yards including 17 rushes for 96 yards.

"Jake was awesome – all night," said Boehmke of Wragg, who also scored on a pair of 1-yard plunges and a 12-yard aerial.

The Dons came in boasting of having "the best lineman in the county" in senior Mustafa Jalil (6-5, 290). But the Cougars found a way to neutralize Jalil, who finished with only three tackles.

Boehmke gave credit to a front line trio of Mario Yakoo (6-4, 296), Sean Boozel (6-1, 227) and Blake Busby (6-0, 222).

"Those guys basically just took their big guy out of the game," Boehmke said.

Cathedral Catholic finished with 237 total yards, but 105 of those yards came on two rushing dashes by Jonny Martin, who accounted for both of the Dons' touchdowns.

FALLBROOK'S WARRIORS HOPE TO BE INCLUDED IN SDCIF PICTURE
Things are gradually getting better for the Fallbrook Warriors, who won their first season opener in five seasons by clipping Clairemont (San Diego) 42-14.

In recent years the Warriors were dismissed as contenders no matter what their league affiliation. They finished winless in 10 starts just four years ago. But Fallbrook, despite finishing the regular season 2-8 a year ago, won a playoff game for the second straight season last year.

They are expecting bigger things this time around.

Guy Roman, a junior slotback making his first varsity start, produced 257 all-purpose yards — rushing for 147 yards, catching two passes for 42 yards and returning two kickoffs for 68 yards – against Clairemont.

"We really like him," coach Joe Silvey told The North County Times. "He's got a big heart. He's a fighter."

EL CAMINO LINEBACKER GRILLS GARDENA
Sophomore linebacker Justin Williams of El Camino (Oceanside) was a menace in the Wildcats' 37-6 romp over Gardena. Williams notched half of El Camino's six sacks and returned a 36-yard fumble return for a touchdown. For good measure, he was also credited with a safety when he caused a Gardena fumble that the ball carrier recovered in his own end zone.

MORSE MISSES MIRACLE FINISH AGAINST MOUNT MIGUEL
Down 21-6, the visiting Morse (San Diego) Tigers erupted for a pair of touchdowns in the final 23.4 seconds, including a score following an onside kickoff with 3 seconds left. However, Morse failed to convert a 2-point conversion to squeeze out a win as Mount Miguel (Spring Valley) held onto a 21-20 victory. The deciding play featured cornerback Abdilatif Ugas chasing Morse quarterback Travis Johnson toward the sidelines, with outside linebacker Diante Lee making the sack as Ugas assisted, to save the Matadors' victory.

SON TRACKING FATHER IN SAN DIEGO SECTION COACHING DERBY
Scripps Ranch (San Diego) coach Joe Meyer won his head coaching debut as the Falcons defeated Poway 17-14. According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, that puts Joe 337 wins behind father Herb Meyer, the section's all-time leader at 338-150-13.

OTHER TOP PERFORMANCES
— Senior running back Tyler Jackson scored four touchdowns for Ramona and rushed for 241 yards on 25 carries in a 34-17 victory over Serra (San Diego). The 6-foot, 210-pound Jackson logged eight rushes for first-down yardage in the second half.

— Versatile Valley Center senior running back Travis Bernard, who is also a standout baseball player, shifted into workhorse mode as he rushed for 219 yards and two touchdowns in a 29-14 victory over San Pasqual (Escondido).

— Senior quarterback Garrett Krstich (6-foot-4, 200) of La Costa Canyon (Carlsbad) clicked on 12 of 15 passing for 132 yards and four TDs in a 40-0 nonleague win over Chula Vista.

— Jarrod Watson-Lewis, a junior running back out of Santa Fe Christian (Solana Beach), scored two touchdowns and averaged 16 yards in 10 rushes as the Eagles flew past Mater Dei (Chula Vista) 38-7.

— Junior Isaiah Irby of Tri-City Christian (Vista) registered three sacks in a 35-8 nonleague victory over Borrego Springs.

— Senior quarterback Hunter Moore of Mission Hills (San Marcos) clicked on 16 of 32 passes for 180 yards and one touchdown as the Grizzlies fell to St. John Bosco (Bellflower) 47-21.

— Andrew Fargo rushed for 103 yards on 11 carries as Torrey Pines (San Diego) scored three touchdowns in the first quarter in a 35-0 triumph over Paloma Valley (Menifee).

COMING ATTRACTIONS
Topping the second week of the football docket in the San Diego Section are a pair of Top 10 matchups. No. 4 Eastlake (Chula Vista) (1-0) visits No. 10 Lincoln (San Diego) (1-0) at 6:30, and No. 7 Cathedral Catholic (0-1) hosts No. 8 Torrey Pines (1-0) at 7 on Friday.

DICKENS' DEALINGS
I feel like Andy Rooney when I complain about things that non-players do or don't do. Granted, some of these gripes are less biting than others. . .

Why is it when a game is scheduled to start at 7 p.m., it often doesn’t begin until 7:30? This happens more than half the time. Oh sure, the first thing is to point the finger of blame on a late-ending junior varsity contest. Sometimes that's true, but more often than not it shouldn't be a factor.

Case in point was Cathedral Catholic's visit to Steele Canyon. The JV contest concluded at 6:30, but the varsity tilt did not kick off until 50 minutes later. What's the reasoning for the lengthy delay here? Why does it take varsity players nearly an hour to go through pregame warmups when JV and freshman players are allotted hardly half that long to stretch?

Do the referees need a breather? Does the home team hope to sell more hot dogs and popcorn?

Bottom line is … if the varsity teams prefer to stage a 7:30 kickoff why don't they do so and not advertise an early start?