SD Prep Sports

SD Prep Sports: Football

2005 San Diego Section Championships
Christian finishes runner-up for Division V football title

By Phillip Brents
Posted Dec. 9, 2006

For three quarters in this year’s San Diego Section Division V championship football game, the second-seeded Christian Patriots had the top-seeded Francis Parker Lancers under control with a 7-3 lead. The teams had met Oct. 28 in a key Coastal League contest, with Francis Parker pulling of a 28-7 victory en route to a league co-championship with Santa Fe Christian.

Defense seemed on order in the rematch, at least from the Patriots’ viewpoint, and the Dec. 9 title game at Torrey Pines High School appeared to play up to form. But the Lanceers broke through with a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns to ruin the Patriots’ championship aspirations.

Francis Parker finished a season of plenty with a 12-1 record following its 16-7 victory to become the section’s first-ever Division V champion. Christian finished an otherwise stellar season 8-4-1.

Zach Pavel scored on runs of eight and five yards, finishing the game with 80 yards on 11 carries. He put the game away with 2:33 to play, with Francis Parker holding a narrow 10-7 lead, when he broke off a 28-yard run to set up his last score. Gino Gordon led the Lancers (and all rushers in the game, for that matter) with 108 yards on 26 carries.

Francis Parker entered the game as the section’s third-highest scoring team, averaging 41 points per outing, but could only manage a 32-yard field goal by Amani Walker in the second quarter. That was before the Lancers’ offensive line took control in the second half and began opening up holes for its talented backfield runners.

“I knew we’d make it. I knew we’d get it,” Pavel told television reporters after the game.

Christian took an early 7-0 lead on a two-yard touchdown run by Patrick Kelley that capped a 73-yard, 10-play drive. Lawrence Walker, who entered the championship game with 1,941 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns on the season, helped maneuver the Patriots for the go-ahead touchdown by ripping off a 27-yard gain on the drive.

However, the Francis Parker defense proved up to task, holding Walker to 77 yards on 14 attempts in the game. Scot Allen picked up 29 yards on 10 carries while Kyler Dwyer was credited with nine yards on five rushes. Dwyer had the only pass reception of the game for Christian — that for eight yards.

The Lancers racked up 276 offensive yards in the contest, with the bulk of those yards coming in the second half of play. The Patriots generated 125 total offensive yards in the contest, including 117 rushing yards.

Christian coach Matt Oliver praised his team’s defensive effort but gave credit to an outstanding effort by an outstanding senior class in leading Francis Parker to the championship title.

The Lancers received 80 passing yards from quarterback Johnny Harari, who was held to minus-13 yards on four rushes.

The Division V championship game was the section’s first after expanding to five playoff divisions this years. Last season, Francis Parker finished 6-4-1 with a first-round Division IV playoff loss to fourth-seeded Horizon Christian while Christian finished 6-5 with a first-round Division IV playoff loss to second-seeded Palo Verde.

Eight-Man Final
Top-seeded San Pasqual Academy won this year’s 8-man football championship with a 45-0 victory against third-seeded Borrego Springs on Nov. 26 at Ramona High School. The Dragons, who ranked first in the section in point-scoring defense (7.2 points per game) and second in point-scoring offense (44.4 points per game), finished a dominating season 11-1 while Borrego Springs finished 7-5. The game was called early because of a mercy rule.

Division Finals
Finals in Division I-IV are scheduled Tuesday, Dec. 13, at Qualcomm Stadium. This year’s Division I championship game pitted second-seeded Carlsbad, the Avocado League champion, against top-seeded Torrey Pines, the Palomar League and reigning Division I co-champion. Torrey Pines entered the high-profile match-up 11-1 with nine consecutive wins while Carlsbad was 10-2 and winner of seven straight gridiron contests.

Torrey Pines was making its third consecutive trip to the division finals while Carlsbad last won the Division I championship in 2002

Tuesday’s Division II championship game pitted defending champion Oceanside (9-3) against fifth-seeded El Cajon Valley (11-2) after the Braves upset top-seeded Mira Mesa by a 26-21 score on Dec. 2. Abraham Muheize (3,835 passing yards, 39 touchdowns) tossed four touchdown passes, including three to Clifton Thomas (1,317 receiving yards, 17 touchdowns), the section’s leading pass-catcher.

The Division III final paired top-seeded Point Loma, the section’s lone unbeaten team at 12-0, against second-seeded St. Augustine after the Saints (9-3) topped Cathedral Catholic, 23-6, in a sizably-attended Dec. 3 semifinal game at Southwestern College.

The Division IV championship game matched up defending champion Santa Fe Christian (10-2) against third-seeded Valley Center, last year’s Division III champion.