The 2018 high school football season is a lot closer than the casual observer might think.
Fall training camps open July 25. The first regular season games are scheduled Aug. 16-17, with scrimmage games held two weeks prior to that.
In the meantime, summer passing tournaments remain in full sway after getting a jump-start in June.
Sweetwater High School hosted a three-team event on June 28, with Castle Park and Hilltop joining the Red Devils in the mix.
The teams scrimmaged for about two hours, alternating matchups.
The seven-on-seven format obviously highlights passing plays and passing defense.
“It’s about getting better running our routes and keeping a constant mentality,” SuHi head coach Bryan Wagner explained. “We want to be able to compete against every style of play and every single team. We’ve got to play every play well.”
Castle Park coach Bernard Ansolabhere noted it was the third passing event this summer for his team.
“It’s just a chance to get better at what we do every day,” the Trojan coach said said about the off-season competition. “We want to get better every day whether it’s in the weight room or seven-on-seven.”
The Sweetwater event was the second of the summer for Hilltop after engaging Madison, Cathedral Catholic and University City on June 26.
“It’s a chance to compete and see defensive schemes,” Hilltop head coach Drew Westling said. “Every team we’ve thrown against – all the coaches have the same goal: We want to work on our skills and have fun.
“We’ve improved, which is really our only goal. I tell the guys to make new mistakes. Our number one goal is not to repeat mistakes.”
Southwestern College will host a much larger 24-team event this weekend on campus. The Jaguars’ 12th annual South County Passing Tournament will feature 11 area teams gleaned from Bonita Vista, Chula Vista, Eastlake (two teams), Hilltop, Mater Dei Catholic, Mar Vista, Olympian, Otay Ranch, San Ysidro and Sweetwater high schools.
Teams will engage in pool play on Friday, July 6, and return to championship bracket play on Saturday, July 7.
Teams will play back-to-back games of 45 minutes each in both a morning session (starting at 9 a.m.) and an afternoon session (starting at 1 p.m.).
Saturday’s bracket games also start at 9 a.m.
SWC head coach Ed Carberry noted that Cathedral Catholic returns after a few years’ absence to compete in the South County tournament.
Six East County teams are slated to participate in this weekend’s event: Christian, El Cajon Valley, El Capitan, Grossmont, Mountain Empire and Valhalla.
Other teams included in the lineup include Lincoln, Torrey Pines, O’Farrell, Hoover and Kearny.
“Olympian, Eastlake and Grossmont are back and always have a solid group of athletes,” Carberry said. “Lincoln has been the team to beat for the last two summers.”
Team beat
Mar Vista hosted Olympian and Brawley in a three-team passing tournament on June 26 and entertained Otay Ranch and Chula Vista on June 28.
Besides competing in this weekend’s SWC event, MVHS head coach Tyler Arciaga said plans are in place for a four-team passing event involving Southwest, Hilltop, Mountain Empire and Mar Vista at the Imperial Beach school on Thursday, July 12, starting at 4 p.m.
“These summer events are like spring training for baseball,” explained Arciaga, who played locally at Bonita Vista High School before attending the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. “It definitely helps get your timing with the offensive skill positions and tune up your adjustments on defense.
“I also believe that it help build competitiveness in your team and allows themselves to look at competition across the county. I think it gives you a look at athleticism of teams, but at the end of the day, some teams aren’t built to have a great showcasing in passing leagues.”
Lincoln defeated Torrey Pines to win the 10-team Tony Jefferson Battle of Champions seven-on-seven passing tournament on June 3 at Eastlake High School.
Olympian, Otay Ranch, Eastlake and Sweetwater participated along with six teams from outside the boundaries of the Metro Conference: Morse, Lincoln, Torrey Pines, Oceanside, Cathedral Catholic and Mira Mesa.
Olympian finished 2-3 at Battle of Champions event, losing twice to Lincoln and by one point to Eastlake after defeating Cathedral Catholic and Mira Mesa.
Otay Ranch lost in the quarterfinals to Oceanside at the Eastlake event and followed that up by participating in the San Diego State passing tournament. The Mustangs lost in the consolation bracket championship game to El Camino.
Sweetwater finished 0-3 in pool play at the Eastlake tournament and did not advance past the first round of the playoffs.
“We took huge steps forward and we were very competitive in every game,” Wagner noted. “In our group we had Oceanside, Torrey Pines and Morse.”
Extra points
Hilltop’s new turf field is nearing completion after a delay of one year. There are plans for a grand opening ceremony to commemorate the Lancers’ Aug. 17 non-league game against visiting Escondido, though no formal plans have been announced.
“We are 100 percent positive that we are good to go for Aug. 17,” Westling said.
12th annual South County Passing Tournament Schedule
Friday, July 6, at Southwestern College
Morning Session
9 a.m. — Olympian vs. Christian, Otay Ranch vs. Grossmont (pool 1); Chula Vista vs. Hilltop, Mountain Empire vs. Eastlake 2 (pool 2); El Capitan vs. Valhalla, Bonita Vista vs. Torrey Pines (pool 3)
10 a.m. — Olympian vs. Grossmont, Christian vs. Otay Ranch (pool 1); Chula Vista vs. Eastlake 2, Hilltop vs. Mountain Empire (pool 2); El Capitan vs. Torrey Pines, Valhalla vs. Bonita Vista (pool 3)
11 a.m — Olympian vs. Otay Ranch, Christian vs. Grossmont (pool 1); Chula Vista vs. Mountain Empire, Hilltop vs. Eastlake 2 (pool 2); El Capitan vs. Bonita Vista, Valhalla vs. Torrey Pines (pool 3)
Afternoon Session
1 p.m. — Morse vs. Mater Dei Catholic, Eastlake 1 vs. Cathedral Catholic (pool 1); O’Farrell vs. San Yisdro, Sweetwater vs. Kearny (pool 2), Hoover vs. Lincoln, El Cajon Valley vs. Mar Vista (pool 3)
2 p.m. — Morse vs. Cathedral Catholic, Mater Dei Catholic vs. Eastlake 1 (pool 1); PO’Farrell vs. Kearny, San Ysidro vs. Sweetwater (pool 2); Hover vs. Mar Vista, Lincoln vs. El Cajon Valley (pool 3)
3 p.m. — Morse vs. Eastlake 1, Mater Dei Catholic vs. Cathedral Catholic (pool 1); O’Farrell vs. Sweetwater, San Ysidro vs. Kearny (pool 2); Hoover vs. El Cajon Valley, Lincoln vs. Mar Vista (pool 3)
Hornets sting opponents in opening day of South County Passing tournament
The Lincoln Hornets continue to sting opponents after out-scoring their three opponents 163-14 in Friday’s opening day of the 12th annual South County Passing Tournament at Southwestern College.
The Hornets earned the No. 1 seed for Saturday’s championship playoffs. Teams were seeded 1 through 24 after Friday’s round-robin play. Seeds 1-12 will play at 9 a.m. on Saturday, followed by seeds 13-24 at 10 a.m.
The winners of each set of games advance to the championship bracket (National Division) while the losers of the two sets of games will compete in the consolation bracket (American Division).
Six teams went undefeated in Friday’s round-robin. Grossmont, Hilltop and Torrey Pines all finished 3-0 in the morning session while Cathedral Catholic, Sweetwater and Lincoln all finished 3-0 in the afternoon session.
Seeds were based on point-differential. Sweetwater edged Torrey Pines by one point to earn the No. 2 overall seed behind the Hornets. Hilltop is seeded fourth, followed by Cathedral Catholic (fifth seed) and Grossmont (sixth seed).
Lincoln defeated Mar Vista 50-0, Hoover 58-2 and El Cajon Valley 53-12 in round-robin play.
Sweetwater went undefeated against Kearny, O’Farrell (a late entrant) and San Ysidro while Torrey Pines defeated Bonita Vista, El Capitan and Valhalla. Sweetwater scored 71 points in its three games while Torrey Pines scored 70 points.
Hilltop defeated Chula Vista, Eastlake’s JV team and Mountain Empire while Cathedral Catholic defeated Morse, Eastlake, Mater Dei Catholic.
Grossmont went undefeated in its three pool games against Otay Ranch, Christian and Olympian.
Morse edged Eastlake, 8-7, to finish 2-1 in pool play. Bonita Vista also finished 2-1 in pool play among the 11 Metro Conference teams entered in the tournament. Chula Vista and Eastlake’s JV team both finished 1-1-1 while Eastlake’s varsity unit, San Ysidro, Mar Vista and Otay Ranch all finished 1-2.
Olympian (0-2-1) and Mater Dei Catholic (0-3) both finished winless in round-robin play.
The opening round of elimination play is scheduled to start at 11:30 a.m.,followed by the quarterfinal round at 12:30 p.m. and the semifinal round at 1:30 p.m.
Saturday’s championship game is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. in the stadium.
Temperatures topped 100 degrees on the synthetic fields on Friday, so athletes, coaches, referees and spectators are encouraged to hydrate themselves at regular intervals throughout the day.
12th annual South County Passing Tournament
July 6-7 at Southwestern College
Friday, July 6
Pool Play Records
Morning Session
Pool 1: Grossmont 3-0, Christian 1-1-1, Otay Ranch 1-2; Olympian 0-2-1
Pool 2: Hilltop 3-0, Chula Vista 1-1-1; Eastlake (II) 1-1-1; Mountain Empire 0-3
Pool 3: Torrey Pines 3-0, Bonita Vista 2-1; El Capitan 1-2; Valhalla 0-3
Afternoon Session
Pool 1: Cathedral Catholic 3-0, Morse 2-1, Eastlake 1-2, Mater Dei Catholic 0-3
Pool 2: Sweetwater 3-0, Kearny 2-1, San Ysidro 1-2, O’Farrell 0-3
Pool 3: Lincoln 3-0, El Cajon Valley 2-1, Mar Vista 1-2, Hoover 0-3
Top Six Seeds for Day 2/Bracket Play
1. Lincoln
2. Sweetwater
3. Torrey Pines
4. Hilltop
5. Cathedral Catholic
6. Grossmont
Tony Jefferson Battle of Champions
seven-on-seven passing tournament photo gallery
Photos by Jon Bigornia
Additional photos: Olympian, Eastlake, Otay Ranch, Sweetwater high schools
