The San Diego Section football playoffs will take the spotlight this weekend at Southwestern College’s renovated DeVore Stadium.
The six-game championship series kicked off last Friday with the fifth-seeded La Jolla Country Day Torreys defeating the second-seeded Vincent Memorial Scots, 42-0, to capture the Division V championship.
The final five title games are scheduled this weekend.
The championship weekend kicks off Friday, Dec. 5, at 3:30 p.m. with the second-seeded Mater Dei Catholic Crusaders (7-5) taking on the top-seeded and undefeated Bishop’s Knights (12-0) in the Division IV final and continues at 7 p.m. when the fourth-seeded Madison Warhawks (9-3) test the third-seeded St. Augustine Saints (7-5) for the Division I banner.
Madison has won nine straight games after an 0-3 start to the season; St. Augustine is 5-1 after starting the season 2-4.
Three games round out the championship schedule on Saturday, Dec. 6.
The Division III final starts off the gridiron action at noon pitting the second-seeded and defending division champion Christian Patriots (12-0) against the top-seeded Hoover Cardinals (9-3).
Christian takes a 19-game winning streak into the match-up against Hoover, the longest active winning streak in the section.
The Division II title contest follows at 3:30 p.m. when the top-seeded El Capitan Vaqueros (12-0) clash with the third-seeded Rancho Bernardo Broncos (10-2). The undefeated Vaqueros are making their first CIF finals appearance since 1963.
The Open Division championship game closes out the weekend of prep football finals at 7 p.m. when the third-seeded Helix Highlanders (10-2) take aim at the top-seeded Oceanside Pirates (12-0).
Of the five CIF title games scheduled this weekend, four will showcase undefeated teams: Oceanside (Open Division), El Capitan (Division II), Christian (Division III) and Bishop’s (Division IV).
Division I notepad
South County resident Frank Buncom IV leads the Saints into the Division I title game against the fourth-seeded Madison Warhawks. The grandson of former Charger linebacker Frank Buncom Jr. (1962-67 in the American Football League), the Saints receiver/defensive back has 475 receiving yards to go with five touchdowns and a team-leading 64 tackles.
Buncom is among the finalists for this year’s KUSI-TV Silver Pigskin Award, emblematic of the top player in the San Diego Section; he has also been selected to play in the Semper Fidelis All-American Bowl Game Jan. 4 in Carson.
The game should otherwise be a battle between the teams’ star running backs: junior Elijah Preston for St. Augustine and senior Isaiah Osborne for Madison.
Preston, built low to the ground, has rushed for 1,678 yards and scored 21 rushing touchdowns. He’s also caught 16 passes for 240 yards and two touchdowns for a team-leading 23 touchdowns.
Preston scored both touchdowns in the Saints’ hard-fought 14-7 semifinal win last Friday over xx-seeded El Camino (7-6).
The more massive Osborne has proven to be difficult to take down this season. He amassed 214 yards on 25 carries and scored three touchdowns in last Friday’s 49-34 semifinal win over second-seeded La Costa Canyon (6-6). On the season, Osborned has rushed for 1,557 yards and 17 touchdowns.
The quarterbacks of both teams are more than capable throwers. Madison’s Kareem Coles has lit up the scoreboard this season with 2,054 passing yards and 25 touchdowns against just one pick while St. Augustine’s Tommy Goodridge has passed for 1,581 yards and eight TDs. However, Coles adds another dimension to his game: he’s rushed for 777 yards and 15 TDs.
Cole’s favorite targets include Shaheed Madyun (629 yards, 10 touchdowns), Brandon Lewis (513 yards, five touchdowns) and Elijah Thomas (479 yards, four touchdowns).
While both offenses can pile up points, defense could prove to be the ultimate deciding factor. St. Augustine’s defense shut down the Wildcats in last week’s game with two interceptions and one fumble recovery to earn a third straight trip to the section finals. The Saints won last year’s Division II championship.
Tariq Thompson leads the Saints with five interceptions while Francioise Sims II has posted a team-leading four sacks.
St. Augustine is averaging 230.6 rushing yards per game; Madison is averaging 257.6 rushing yards per game.
Division V recap
La Jolla County Day (7-6) capped its championship season with a perfect 3-0 run through the divisional playoffs. The Torreys defeated the top half of the bracket, eliminating, in order, the No. 4-seeded Maranatha Christian Eagles (61-24 ) in the quarterfinals, No. 1-seeded and defending division champion Holtville Vikings (53-20) in the semifinals and No. 2-seeded Vincent Memorial in the finals.
It was the first section title in 11-man football in LJCD school history.
The Torreys outscored their three playoff opponents 156-41. LJCD led Vincent Memorial, 21-0, at halftime.
Sophomore quarterback Braxton Burmeister completed 26 of 41 passing attempts for 421 yards with three touchdowns without an interception in the win over the Scots. He also rushed for a one-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Meanwhile, senior Darien Brown netted three touchdowns — one on a one-yard run and another on a 52-yard pass in the opening quarter and then on a 57-yard interception return in the final quarter.
Brennan Goring, another sophomore, hauled in two scoring passes to finish the night with nine catches for 165 yards.
Ben Coden had six catches for 103 yards while Brown had six catches for 95 yards and Casey Mariucci had five catches for 58 yards. Cody Galvan led the Torreys on the ground with 41 yards on 10 carries.
Mariucci and Goring each were credited with a half sack
On the season, Burmeister has passed for 3,112 yards and 30 touchdowns with 13 interceptions. He’s also rushed for 553 yards and 13 touchdowns. Goring has 1,323 receiving yards and a team-leading 17 touchdowns while Brown has 727 receiving yards and seven TDs.
Goring leads the team defensively with 141 tackles, followed by Ryan Lariccia with 110 stops and Ben Petty-Hull with 107 tsackles. Mariucci paces the team with 10.5 sacks while Lariccia and Brown both have three picks.
Vincent Memorial, which finished 3-1 in Manzanita League play, defeated vseventh-seeded Crawford, 24-15, in the quarterfinals on Nov. 14 and then blanked third-seeded Classical Academy, 30-0, in the semifinals on Nov. 21.
Ironically, LJCD finished 0-4 in Coastal League play, yet won a CIF championship in the same season.
State bowl games
State bowl bids will be announced Sunday afternoon. Only section champions are eligible for selection in the CIF state regional championship bowl games. Teams are also selected based on won-loss record, strength of schedule, head-to-head competition and common opponents. There are a total of 51 section champions this year, 23 from Northern California and 28 from Southern California.
This year’s state bowl line-up includes the following divisions: Open, Division I, Division II, Division III and Division IV (small schools). Other than the Open Division, all divisions are based on enrollment levels.
Oceanside has two state bowl championships to its credit since the format made its debut in 2006. The Pirates won the Division II title in 2007 and the Division I title in 2009.
Other San Diego Section teams with state bowl titles include Cathedral Catholic (Division II in 2008), Bishop’s (Division IV in 2010), Helix (Division II in 2011) and Madison (Division III in 2012).
