PREP FOOTBALL: CIF San Diego Section semifinal capsules

By North County Times | Thursday, December 4, 2008 6:07 PM PST ∞

Division I

Carlsbad at La Costa Canyon

Kickoff: 7 p.m.

Records: Carlsbad 7-5; La Costa Canyon 9-2

Last meeting: In 2008, La Costa Canyon won 52-3.

At a glance: The Lancers lead the series 10-4. ... La Costa Canyon is the Avocado League champion and top seed in Division I. ... In the quarterfinals, LCC beat Vista 38-18 to win its seventh consecutive game. ... Junior WR Kenny Stills is the main threat in a strong offense averaging more than 32 points per game. Still has 54 catches for 1,091 yards and 15 TDs. ... RB Seth Hanson returned last week from a four-week absence because of injury and rushed for 207 yards and had four catches for 111 yards. He leads the team with 450 rushing yards. ... QB Sebastian Frausto has passed for 1,942 yards with 17 TDs and 10 INTs. ... The Mavericks' defense allows an average of 15 points per game, with only two teams scoring more than 20. They are led by Jacob Driver and Dutch Hapgood. ... The Lancers, their stadium closed for repairs, are playing on the road for the 13th straight week. Last week they upset No. 4 seed Chula Vista 34-21. ... They are led by QB Mike Leonard, who has passed for 1,160 yards with nine TDs and seven INTs. He has also rushed for 455 yards on 77 carries and six TDs. ... Leading the team in rushing and receiving is RB Ashston Barbour, who has 495 yards rushing and 356 yards receiving with 31 catches. ... The Carlsbad defense allows 22 points per game.

Prediction: La Costa Canyon 48, Carlsbad 28

---- Matt Null

Mission Hills at Escondido

Kickoff: 7 p.m.

Radio: San Diego 1700

Records: Mission Hills 8-3-1; Escondido 9-2

Last meeting: In 2008, Escondido won 42-17.

At a glance: Mission Hills beat defending champion Poway last week despite playing without RB Eddy Sihavong, who is nursing a sore ankle. Sihavong, who has 979 yards on 160 carries this season, could play in this game. The load, however, will probably fall to Zach McMaster and Brian Searle. QB DJ Zapata has completed 115-of-197 passes for 1,715 yards. He threw for 211 yards against Poway. WR/DB Nigel Westbrooks (34 catches, 472 yards, 6 TDs) has emerged as a force on offense and defense. TE Dallas Butler has 31 catches for 441 yards and Kevin Chung has 29 for 574. ... Escondido beat Fallbrook 14-12 in last week's quarterfinals. RB Ricky Seale rushed for 233 yards to push his county-leading total to 2,311. FB Tim Zier has 1,222 yards rushing and another 255 receiving. ... Seale had 191 yards rushing in the first meeting against Mission Hills as the Cougars had 442 total yards. DE Joel Sisler had three sacks as Zapata completed just 6-of-18 passes and the Grizzlies had just 91 yards rushing on 22 attempts. 

Prediction: Escondido 28, Mission Hills 17

---- John Maffei

Division II

Scripps Ranch at Oceanside

Kickoff: 7 p.m.

Records: Scripps Ranch 8-3; Oceanside 10-0-1

Last meeting: In 2007, Oceanside won 42-14 in the CIF San Diego Section Division II quarterfinals.

At a glance: Oceanside has won all three meetings, each in the quarterfinals. ... The only common opponent is Westview. Oceanside blasted the Wolverines 49-7 while Scripps Ranch beat them 41-31 in last week's quarterfinals. ... This is a matchup of the two best quarterbacks in the section. Oceanside's Jordan Wynn, who led the Pirates to a victory in last year's CIF Division II state bowl game after winning the CIF San Diego Section crown for the fourth consecutive year, is No. 2 in North County with 2,781 passing yards, 28 TDs and just seven interceptions. Tate Forcier is 203-for-295 passing for 3,331 yards, 23 TDs and 13 interceptions for Scripps Ranch, which will attempt to reach the section finals for the first time. ... Rene Siluano has given the Pirates enough of a running game to be a threat. He has 77 carries for 557 yards and nine TDs since becoming the starter halfway through the season. Scripps Ranch answers with Brennan Clay, who has 153 carries for 1,386 yards and 20 TDs. Forcier has rushed for 771 yards and 11 TDs. ... Wynn's favorite targets are DeMario Coleman (48 catches, 1,086 yards), Jerry Whitaker (33-639), Osmond Nicholas (31-630) and King Holder (23-285). ... Forcier will throw to Clay (66-1,010), Todd Herrod (37-875) and J.T. Kerr (21-294).

Prediction: Oceanside 38, Scripps Ranch 31

---- Terry Monahan

Division III

St. Augustine at Cathedral Catholic

Kickoff: 7 p.m.

TV: Channel 4

Records: St. Augustine 7-4; Cathedral Catholic 11-0

Last meeting: In 2008, Cathedral Catholic won 56-30.

At a glance: Cathedral Catholic leads the series 27-17, but the Saints have won three of the four meetings since the Dons moved to Carmel Valley. ... The Saints have had no trouble scoring this season, averaging 35.5 points a game. Defensively, though, they have given up 26.9 points a game. ... Sophomore QB Evan Crower has passed for 2,745 yards, 31 TDs and only seven interceptions. His receivers include Alan Aguilar (67-830), Dana Barbaro (61-774), Anthony Campos (29-300), Anthony Cometa (28-255) and Daniel Hiser (27-232). ... The Dons counter with RB Tyler Gaffney, who has 218 carries for 2,128 yards ---- second to Escondido's Seale ---- and a North County-leading 40 TDs. ... Dons QB Parker Hipp has 1,768 passing yards with 14 TDs and three interceptions. Brad Harrington leads the team with 29 catches for 674 yards and seven TDs. ... Averaging 48 points a game after last week's 20-14 win over Point Loma, the Dons put pressure on a defense. That will mean lots of work for Saints DB Kenny Hill (102 tackles), DE Andrew Noonan (95 tackles), LB Ryan Kuhn (86 tackles), DB Mark McRoskey (80 tackles), linebacker Donnie Walsh (69 tackles) and DB Sam Macias (39 tackles and 6 interceptions).

Prediction: Cathedral Catholic 49, St. Augustine 40

---- Terry Monahan

Division IV

Coronado at Valley Center

Kickoff: 7 p.m.

Records: Coronado 9-2; Valley Center 9-2

Last meeting: In 2005, Valley Center won 55-6 in the CIF Division IV first round.

At a glance: Coronado beat Santa Fe Christian 35-20 in last week's quarterfinals. The Islanders have outscored opponents 382-126, with their only losses coming to Madison (34-28) and Santa Fe Christian (30-20). QB Mason Mills has completed 136-of-192 passes for 2,661 yards and 35 TDs with just six interceptions. Mills also has 426 rushing yards. Chris Page leads Coronado on the ground with 527 yards. Blake Malkemus is Mills' favorite receiver with 66 catches for 962 yards and 11 TDs. Keith Englehart has 23 catches for 575 yards and 10 TDs while Kodie Englehart has 22 catches for 692 yards and 8 TDs. ... Valley Center is the defending Division IV champion. The Jaguars' only losses this season were to Westview (20-16) and Oceanside (49-21). Valley Center has outscored its opponents 420-187. RB Stanton Upson leads the Jags on the ground with 1,183 yards on 197 carries. QB Tyler Bernard has completed 140-of-228 passes for 2,204 yards with 25 TDs and only 5 interceptions. Bernard spreads the ball around to James Johnson (47 catches, 1,107 yards and 14 TDs), TE Jeremy Dozier (31-460-2) and his sophomore brother, Travis (26-328-1).

Prediction: Valley Center 27, Coronado 24

---- John Maffei

Division V

Army-Navy at Francis Parker

Kickoff: 7 p.m.

Records: Army-Navy 9-2; Francis Parker 10-1

Last meeting: In 2006, Francis Parker won 35-0.

At a glance: Army-Navy advanced to the semifinals with a convincing 43-24 win over La Jolla Country Day. ... The offense revolves around RB Tommy Brown, who has 207 carries for 1,308 yards. QB Varden Bernstein has completed 45-of-81 passes for 879 yards. Brown rushed for 191 yards last week and Bernstein completed 8-of-10 passes for 119 passes. ... The Warriors have won six in a row since losing to Linfield Christian, a team that is in the Southern Section semifinals. ... Parker has won 10 in a row since an opening-week loss to Westview. The Lancers have outscored their opponents 560-181, including a 76-3 win over Calvin Christian in last week's quarterfinals. QB Deon Randall has thrown for 1,375 yards and 17 TDs, and rushed for 1,283 yards and 29 scores. His favorite targets are Ronald Jackson, who has 21 catches for 385 yards, and Myles Muagututia, who has 27 catches for 390 yards and 10 TDs.

Prediction: Francis Parker 35, Army-Navy 13

---- John Maffei