The majority of San Diego Cathedral Catholic’s state championship cast of a year ago is gone, but the Dons well of talent hasn’t dried up.
Among the latest of new characters to find the limelight is junior Jonny (CQ) Martin.
The 5-foot-10, 175-pound Martin rushed for 172 yards and four touchdowns on 23 carries as Cathedral Catholic opened the season with a 27-7 romp over (Rancho San Diego) Steele Canyon.
It was the 22nd straight conquest for Cathedral Catholic, which won the state Division II State Bowl Championship with a 14-0 mark last season.
But the latest victory did not come easy as the Dons scored 21 points in the fourth quarter to deny the Cougars the upset.
More Football: Double trouble
Sloppy is a tag that accompanies most high school opening games. Of course the teams with the most talent seem to overcome turnovers better than teams with less skill.
Take Murrieta Valley for example. The Nighthawks looked to first-year starter Nathan Matlock, who, thanks to help from Brigham Young-bound A.J. Moore guided Murrieta Valley to an easy 38-7 romp over Fallbrook.
Moore accounted for three touchdowns and rushed for 128 yards on 19 carries, while Matlock passed for 243 yards and lent a hand in two scores. Matlock also passed six times to the versatile back for 72 yards, including 23 on the back end of a hook-and-lateral pass.
For the evening, Matlock completed 17 of his 26 passes to six different receivers.
Additional football: Grossmont deals payback
It wasn’t quite déjà vu… it was more like one of those DVD movies where the producer offers the audience several different endings. Most viewers will watch all the choices.
Grossmont didn’t like the choice it selected last year, but the Foothillers hit the jackpot in Friday night’s (Sept. 4) season opening 16-14 victory over visiting Otay Ranch.
The Foothillers left the South Bay two points short when a 40-yard field goal attempt on the final play missed the mark in last season’s opener at Otay Ranch.
No doubt, coach Ron Murphy was thinking about how his kicking game could leave him short again when Chase House’s first PAT kick struck the left upright and fell to the ground, leaving the Foothillers down 14-6 at halftime.
However, some nifty work by the Grossmont defense kept the Foothillers’ chance for a victory alive. With just under six minutes to play the Foothillers – trailing 14-13 – embarked on an 86-yard, 10-play clock-eating drive that positioned them with a 4th-and-goal at the 1-yard line with 7 seconds remaining.
House said he wasn’t nervous as he walked onto the field to boot what would be a game-winning 18-yard field goal in the final 5 seconds.
Extra football: Mr. Hann takes control
Built more like a linebacker with a headstrong attitude to match, 6-foot, 195-pound El Cajon Valley senior Alex Hann is becoming a master at quarterbacking the Braves 5-Wide offense.
In his debut under center, Hann completed 22 of 41 passes for 320 yards and four touchdowns as the Braves toppled Montgomery. Hann also made an impact running the ball as he rushed for 70 yards and one score on 15 carries.
His contributions didn’t stop there as he returned two punts for 15 yards and averaged 31 yards on two punts.
Historical football: Matadors wait 22 years to get even
In the first regular season game between these longtime Southeast San Diego neighborhood schools, the charged-up Mount Miguel Matadors raced to a 21-0 halftime lead and never looked back in a 35-14 romp over Morse.
Prior to this joust between these teams during their five decades of existence, their last meeting was in a semifinal postseason encounter in 1987. The Matadors were undefeated going into that game at 11-0 and fell to the Tigers 12-7 when a fake punt backfired. Ironically, that was the last time Mount Miguel won a Grossmont League championship.
Derall Hunter rushed for 217 yards on 21 carries, scoring on runs of 2, 3 and 79 yards to pace the Matadors in the latest meeting.
Other top performances
— Tustin’s Anthony Wilkerson, a senior running back who has committed to Stanford, rushed for 354 yards and six touchdowns in the Tillers’ 56-28 victory over Kennedy. Wilkerson had 27 carries before leaving the game with six minutes remaining, which denied him a shot at the school’s rushing record of 379 yards.
— Gahr quarterback Casey Nielsen threw for 425 yards and five touchdowns, completing 30 of 42 passes in a 35-34 loss to Long Beach Millikan.
— Carlsbad’s Michael Taele rushed for 214 yards and one touchdown on 25 carries as the Lancers fell to St. Augustine 15-14.
— Jose Escobar of Norwalk Glenn passed for 234 yards and three touchdowns and then ran for a fourth score as the Eagles edged Santa Valley 28-26.
— Charter Oak senior Robert Poage kicked three field goals, the final one with 5:07 left, as the defending CIF-Southeast Division champion Chargers snatched a 15-14 nod over Gardena for their 10th consecutive win dating back to last year.
Coming attractions
Three North San Diego County games have local bragging rights on the line on Friday (Sept. 11).
— La Costa Canyon vs. Carlsbad at El Camino; San Marcos at Mission Hills; and El Camino at Oceanside, 7: All three contests kick off at 7 p.m.
Dickens dealings
A drought has plagued San Diego County for the past few years. But finally something is being done about it, or at least as much as can be expected.
When natural grass covered football fields at the majority of high schools the past decade it has been pathetic at best. Long before the season had hosted its final snap most fields were little more than dirt runways.
That won’t happen anymore in the East San Diego County foothills where all 13 schools are blanketed in synthetic playing surface.
The final two Grossmont Conference schools to join the world of playing on a plastic turf – El Cajon Valley and West Hills – should enjoy ranking with the rest.
Better than that is West Hills has taken a page from Boise State University in laying down blue carpeting. West Hills’ blue and silver home uniforms make a nice blend into its newly installed rug.
That’s much like Boise State University, which claims its home colors are much like those of the NFL’s Denver Broncos. True Boise’s Broncos school colors are blue and orange, but there is not a stripe of orange on the playing floor.
Wonder if anybody in the NCAA or SDCIF is ever going to complain how the field tint and the uniform colors obviously give the home team an advantage because they are so similar.
So far so good for Boise State, which has rolled up 26 consecutive wins on its magic blue carpet.
Maybe that will help West Hills gain an edge.
El Cajon Valley, which is simply happy to be finally running with the elite with its spanking new Field Turf, sports the traditional green.
West Hills' blue and silver uniforms should mesh well with its new, Boise State-esque playing surface.
