San Diego Prep Review : Here’s a Final Toast to the Section Champions, Big and Small

A final salute to the champions . . .

The biggest . . . --Vista High School, with an offensive line that blew away defenses, breezed to the San Diego Section 3-A football championship last December in San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

Vista, which finished as the No. 1 team in the state, went undefeated in the regular season and then routed three playoff opponents to win the title. In the playoffs, Vista beat Mira Mesa, 36-7; Granite Hills, 43-9, and Helix, 35-7.

The Panthers’ running game was so successful that passing was rarely necessary. Running back Roger Price gained 1,376 yards and quarterback Sal Aunese ran for 936 . Vista scored a county-high 479 points in 13 games.

. . . And the smallest--With only 14 players coming out on the first day of practice at Lincoln, you wouldn’t think that the Hornets’ defense line would stand a chance of matching up with Vista’s powerful offensive line.

But, in a preseason scrimmage between the teams, it did.

“I turned my head because I was afraid to see what would happen,” Lincoln Coach Skip Coons said of the scrimmage. “I couldn’t even see my players . . . then they snapped the ball and I heard the whistle blow.”

Lincoln was small, but it was also mighty. The Hornets went on to win the 2-A football championship by routing Crawford, 28-0. Lincoln allowed only seven points in three playoff games.

The streak ends--On a muddy field on the last day of November, Sweetwater’s county-record winning streak of 36 games came to an end at the hands of Helix, 15-6, in a 3-A semifinal game. The Red Devils turned the ball over five times and Terry Rodgers, The Times’ Back of the Year, was limited to just 82 yards on 20 carries.

Best in spikes, again--La Jolla and Poway both continued to dominated San Diego county girls’ volleyball by winning section titles in November. La Jolla won its fourth straight 2-A championship, beating San Pasqual. Poway beat Serra for its second straight 3-A title.

The youngsters take over--Valhalla’s Scott Hargrove, a 14-year-old freshman, scored a pair of goals to lead the Norsemen to a 3-2 victory over Bonita Vista in the boys’ 3-A soccer championship game in March. La Jolla won the boys 2-A title, defeating Ramona. San Pasqual and Bonita Vista won girls’ soccer titles.

Another 14-year-old, Michael Chang of San Dieguito won the San Diego Section boys’ tennis championship. Chang defeated his 17-year-old brother, Carl, in the final by winning two of three sets.

Three in a row for the Titans . . . --Led by Jud Buechler, the Poway boys’ basketball team won its third straight 3-A championship by defeating Serra, 74-66, in the final in March at the Sports Arena. Buechler, the county’s leading scorer, scored 27 points--including seven slam dunks--in the victory and teammate Dominick Johnson added 28 points. Poway went on to beat Pasadena Muir, 77-74, in the first round of the State Division I playoffs before losing to eventual state champion Crenshaw, 82-73, in the second round.

. . . But not for the Pirates--Oceanside, like Poway, was seeking its third consecutive basketball title when it faced El Camino for the 2-A championship. But the Pirates lost to the Wildcats, 61-35, in the final. El Camino went on the State Division II Southern Regional final before losing to eventual state champion Hacienda Heights Wilson, 64-46.

Nobody does it better--The Point Loma girls’ basketball team won its third straight State championship by defeating Sacramento Grant, 56-50, in the Division I final at Oakland. The Pointers, led by Terri Mann, now have an 87-1 record in the last three seasons.

Point Loma won its third straight San Diego Section championship by beating Monte Vista in the final. San Marcos beat Southwest for the girls’ 2-A championship.

All the right moves--The Poway wrestling team scored 105 points to win the State wrestling championship in March at San Jose. Poway qualified 10 wrestlers for the state meet and its depth proved too much for Placentia’s El Dorado, which finished second with 80.5 points.

Meanwhile, Valhalla’s Mark Gerardi won the State title at 149 pounds for his second championship in as many year. Last year, Gerardi won the title at 141 pounds. El Camino’s John Grubb also won a State title, winning the 102-pound division.

Maul wins again--Santana’s Eileen Maul won the San Diego Section diving and gymnastics championships on consecutive weekends in May. Maul, a sophomore, won the diving and gymnastics championships a year ago on consecutive days.

The best ever--Santana’s baseball team won its second section 3-A championship in the last three seasons by beating Mount Carmel, 7-2, in the title game last Saturday. The Sultans finished the season 26-2, the best record ever by section champion. The previous record was held by Santana’s 1970 champions (25-3), a team that first-year Coach Jim Saska played for. Mike Hook got the win in the championship game and was drafted by the Houston Astros two days later. Hook pitched a perfect game earlier in the season when he beat Valhalla, 10-0.

Winning the arms race--Mission Bay, which had the county’s best pitching staff, won its first-ever 2-A championship by beating San Marcos, 3-0, as Sean Rees, the Buccaneers’ No. 3 pitcher, fired a three-hitter. Rusty Filter, the Mission Bay ace, pitched two no-hitters during the regular season but caught in the title game.

Long day, tired arm--Christian High’s Michelle Wesson had a long day on April 5. Wesson, a junior, pitched 26 scoreless innings to help Christian’s softball team win three games in the Hilltop-Moose Tournament. She did not walk a batter all day. In June, Wesson was the winning pitcher as Christian beat Crawford in the 2-A title game.