SD Prep Sports

SD Prep Sports: Football

North County dominance? It's a fact, not fiction

By Phillip Brents
Posted Dec. 10, 2005

South County football teams can whine all they want about a perceived North County bias when it comes to weekly rankings and playoff seeding positions. But when all was said and done at Tuesday’s San Diego Section championships at Qualcomm Stadium, the North County had seemintly spoken with three championship performances and another one heavily-aided.

After watching the outcome of the section’s four largest enrollment playoff divisions, North County teams can boast about being the best because they are the best.

Carlsbad topped two-time defending champion Torrey Pines, 17-6, in nothing short of a bruising Division I title game while Oceanside repeated its Division II crown with a 31-21 victory against El Cajon Valley. Valley Center overwhelmed defending Division IV champion Santa Fe Christian, 31-13 while St. Augustine, which draws its student body from across the county but with a healthy dose of North County geography, ended Point Loma’s chance at an undefeated 13-0 campaign with a dominating 46-14 win.

North County dominance. It’s not just a state of mind; it’s physical reality.

While it’s true that on any given day that any team can beat any other, it seems that South County teams are almost forced to play near-perfect in order to compete with schools located north of Interstate-8.

Carlsbad topped Bonita Vista — this year’s Mesa League champions — 34-0 in the Division I semifinals. Poway, a 5-5 team this season, ousted Otay Ranch — sporting a 9-1 record — in the opening round of the Division I playoffs by a 24-14 score. San Pasqual crushed San Ysidro 64-0 (even with the aid of a running clock) in the first round of the Division II playoffs.

In four North versus South post-season matchups, only Eastlake managed a win — and that was put in jeopardy as the Titans held on for a 31-23 first-round Division I victory against visiting Fallbrook after owning a 21-0 halftime lead.

The Metro Conference also came up short in its two playoff pairings against East County teams: West Hills eliminated Hilltop, 50-14, while El Cajon Valley subdued South Bay League champion Castle Park, 56-32.
Two South County teams advanced to the next round of the playoffs because they played an- other South County school (no disrepect intended to the winners of those games).

East County schools as well have had difficulty in recent years beating North County rivals. Even Helix, with last season’s behemoth squad, handily fell to Oceanside in the 2004 Division II championship game. When push came to shove, Valley Center topped Monte Vista — then boasting an 11-0 record and the services of star running-back Darrell Mack — in the Division III semifinals.

The kids are the same age and drink the same water, as the saying goes, but something else has to be working here. Chula Vista last won a CIF title in 1983, Sweetwater last held their fingers high in 1984, Castle Park last made the grade in 1996.

Marian Catholic, a private school with the ability to recruit beyond traditional public school boundaries, has carried the pennant for South County in recent years at the lower enrollment level.

But population growth in South County has moved the bulk of the Sweetwater district schools to the Division I level — the playground of the large North County schools where parental support for high school sports programs is admirable.

CIF football playoffs: North County dominance fact, not fiction

A demographics issue? Perhaps. Academics are the life support of living a successful adult life, of making a living and supporting a family, of enriching the community with knowledge. Some ethnic groups steer their children toward these very important goals.

However, athletics draws its own cadre of high-achievers and, like visual and performing arts programs, has proven to keep lower-achievers in school.

What can be done? It is a simple case of finances? Does there need to be more infra-structure in place to better support its athletic programs? Does anyone care?

School spirit is important. All the freshly-painted student fans at Qualcomm Stadium easily made one realize that high school athletics have a special place in campus life. A community can rally around a successful team — Brawley’s traveling entourage includes 3,000 fans. Amazing.

It’s also a word to describe the gap that appears to exist at present between the elite football teams from North County and, for the most part, their South County counterparts.

One only has to hope that gap will not continue to widen.

North vs. South 2005 Match-ups
Regular season
•Oceanside 10, Eastlake 9
•Torrey Pines 20, Castle Park 6
•Escondido 45, Hilltop 3
•Oceanside 31, Marian Catholic 6
•Carlsbad 39, Chula Vista 7
•Vista 24, Bonita Vista 9
•Rancho Buena Vista 42, Marian Catholic 14
•Bonita Vista 48, Fallbrook 19
Playoffs
•Poway 24, Otay Ranch 14
•Eastlake 31, Fallbrook 23
•San Pasqual 64, San Ysidro 0
•Carlsbad 34, Bonita Vista 0

North vs. South record: 10-2
Average score: North County 31, South County 12