Nine South County high school football teams participated in last weekend’s 11th annual South County Passing Tournament at Southwestern College.
Fourth-seeded Hilltop was still playing when it came time to shift the semifinals to the main campus stadium, the same field where six San Diego Section championship games were played last December.
St. Augustine defeated Christian, 31-19, to win the consolation championship in the 24-team tournament while Lincoln out-paced Torrey Pines by a score of 34-12 to win the winners bracket championship.
Hilltop advanced to the winners bracket semifinals, dropping a 10-point decision to top-seeded Torrey Pines.
The Lancers finished the two-day seven-on-seven event with a 5-1 record.
“It’s a great way to compete and work on our timing,” second-year Hilltop head coach Drew Westling said of participating in the mid-summer event. “Nobody is more excited than me to get to real football because this not a great indication of how the game will be played.
“But it’s a great opportunity to compete, for us to be under some pressure, see how we react when games are close. We’re sticking together and doing some good things and staying healthy, which is the most important point.”
Southwestern College head coach Ed Carberry, who has helped guide the Jaguars to five bowl games in the past 10 years, said the summer event offers another benchmark for teams to measure their progress as they head into preseason camps in August.
“They started out in the spring with intra-squad scrimmages and now it’s time to get out there and go against other teams,” Carberry said.
The participating teams competed in round-robin play the first day of the tournament on Friday, July 7.
The teams were then seeded for the opening round of single-elimination play on Saturday, July 8.
The winning teams in the opening round continued on in the winners bracket while losing teams in the opening round competed in the consolation bracket.
Otay Ranch (seeded fifth), Olympian (seeded 11th) and Hilltop advanced to compete in the winners bracket playoffs.
Otay Ranch defeated Imperial (seeded 12th) and Olympian defeated Mt. Miguel (seeded sixth) to advance to the quarterfinals before being eliminated by higher-seeded opponents.
Hilltop defeated Otay Ranch while Madison (seeded third) defeated Olympian.
Mater Dei Catholic (seeded second), Bonita Vista (seeded fifth), Mar Vista (seeded sixth), Chula Vista (seeded eighth), Sweetwater (seeded ninth) and Southwest (seeded 11th) competed in the consolation playoff bracket.
Chula Vista and Southwest won their first games to advance to the quarterfinals.
Chula Vista defeated west side rival Sweetwater while Southwest defeated Mar Vista.
Mater Dei Catholic and Bonita Vista received byes to the quarterfinals.
Chula Vista upset top-seeded Mountain Empire to advance to the semifinals while fourth-seeded Christian topped Bonita Vista to join seventh-seeded St. Augustine and third-seeded El Cajon Valley in the semifinals.
El Cajon Valley eliminated Southwest in the quarterfinals before being stopped by St. Augustine.
Christian defeated Chula Vista in the other semifinal matchup.
The winners of each bracket received commemorative T-shirts.
Mater Dei Catholic finished 2-1 in round-robin play but came up short in its two games on the final day of competition.
Crusader head coach John Joyner, now in his eighth year coaching the team, said participating in the passing tourney was an opportunity for his squad to “get more reps.”
“It’s a chance for us to compete, a chance to play somebody and see what the kids can do,” Joyner said.
Mater Dei Catholic will be facing a considerable reshaping this fall due to significant losses to graduation.
“Guys will have to stand up,” Joyner explained in offering a preview snapshot of his team. “We have some good players who played behind good players last year. It will be about getting them more experience.
Bonita Vista, Chula Vista and Sweetwater took the field under new head coaches last weekend.
Former Madison assistant coach Aaron Jones replaces Chris Thompson at Bonita Vista while former Hilltop standout and one-time Charger Bryan Wagner takes over the reins at Sweetwater. Howard Bannister assumes the role of head coach at CVHS after former head coach Daryl Butterfield stepped down during the spring.
Thompson announced his retirement as BVHS coach earlier this spring. His 2015 Baron team became the first to win a San Diego Section championship at the school. That 2015 BVHS squad would go on to place runner-up at the state finals.
Bannister returns to the CVHS campus after a prior teaching stint there. He said the Spartans have gotten off to a late start but are making up ground.
Chula Vista finished with a 3-4 record over the weekend.
“It’s nice to return to campus,” Bannister said. “I started my teaching career at Chula Vista High School. I coached a lot at Otay Ranch High School whether it was youth or high school, so I love those guys over there but it’s nice to return to the star and the Spartans. I’m excited about turning this program around.
“I got the job kind of late, so I’ve only had the job for two months. We’re a little behind in the game right now but we’re coming along. We’ve got some pretty good football players who are learning a new system. For a program that’s basically had only about five weeks of practice, and a brand new system, I’m pretty happy where we’re at.”
Bonita Vista finished 1-2 in pool play at the SWC passing tourney while Sweetwater finished 0-3. The Red Devils performed much better than their record indicated, losing by just one point in a round-robin matchup against Hilltop.
Otay Ranch also showed well over the two days with a 4-2 record; Olympian finished 3-3.
Lucky charm
St. Augustine lost its three round-robin games on the first day and lost its opening game on the second day before posting four consecutive wins to end the tournament.
“It’s not often you start out 0-4 and come out with something,” St. Augustine head coach Richard Sanchez said. “We’re a work in progress. We’re slowly getting better.
“Tournaments like this offer a chance to compete — to see if the quarterback can read defenses and if the wide receivers can catch the ball. That’s really it.
“We didn’t have one of our staring cornerbacks the first day and our quarterbacks (J.R. Justice and Ryan Thomas) both didn’t play well. The second day both quarterbacks played well and we were more consistent catching the ball.”
Lincoln finished the tournament with a 7-0 record while top-seeded Torrey Pines finished 6-1.
Six teams finished with 3-0 records on the first day: Torrey Pines, Lincoln, Madison, Hilltop, Mountain Empire and Mt. Miguel.
Second-seeded Lincoln defeated Madison in the semifinals.
The 2017 high school football season kicks off with regular season play on Aug. 25.
Eye on the prize
Eastlake High School alumnus Tony Jefferson returns to campus this weekend as host of the inaugural Tony Jefferson youth skills camp and Battle of Champions high school passing tournament.
The free skills camp (ages 6-14) includes a T-shirt and lunch. Registration is 9 to 9:30 p.m. on Friday, July 14. The camp runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The seven-on-seven passing tournament will include 10 teams on Saturday, July 15. Eight of the teams are from the Metro Conference: Hilltop, Castle Park, Chula Vista, Sweetwater, Southwest, Eastlake, Otay Ranch and Olympian. Point Loma and Lincoln complete the lineup.
Competition is from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The winning team will receive $10,000 to be donated to its football program.
For more information on the youth camp, visit the website at tjscamp.eventbrite.com.
For more information on the passing tournament, visit the website at tj7on7.eventbrite.com.
Eastlake High School is located at 1120 Eastlake Parkway, Chula Vista.
Jefferson recently signed a free agent contract with the NFL Baltimore Ravens after playing four seasons with the Arizona Cardinals.
Green machine
Hilltop will host a lineman skills event on July 26, starting at 4:30 p.m. The event serves as a fundraiser for assistant coach Jonathan Molina in his ongoing battle with cancer.
A Go Fund Me page has been set up to help Molina: https://www.gofundme.com/help-jonathan-molina-beat-cancer.
