WEEK 12 -- CIF PLAYOFFS / FIRST ROUND

Matadors bull over El Capitan
Mount Miguel scores 27 straight points
after the Vaqueros take early 17-7 lead

© East County Sports.com
SPRING VALLEY (10-17-07) -- Not too long ago Mount Miguel teams were not known for their ability to come from behind. That seems to be changing this year.

Despite turning the ball over five times, and squaring off against an El Capitan offense averaging more than 40 points per game in Friday night's SDCIF Division III first round of the playoffs, the Matadors were able to overcome a 17-7 deficit for their first playoff victory in 20 years, stunning the Vaqueros, 34-17.

"It was a game of make-or-break for both of us," said Hobbs. "It's either I stayed on him, or he broke loose and beat me. He's a very good athlete and I enjoyed the challenge of trying to stop him. I think our whole defense met the challenge of going after a playoff win. We've been looked at as underdogs much of the year and that's only served to be motivation for us."

Corner RICO SMITH, strong safety Evans and nickel back MYCHAQUELL SHIELDS each picked off a Rust pass during the final seven minutes of the game.

It was an extra special outing for Shields, a 5-8, 145-pound senior who has been limited to spot duty. On this night though Shields came up with 2 turnovers, including scooping up a fumble and returning it 20 yards for a touchdown with 4:52 left in the game.

"I don't think our defense can play any better," said Karlo. "To commit all those turnovers we did (5) and still hold a team like El Cap to 17 points shows a lot of character."

Mount Miguel amassed 394 yards total offense. Senior running back ELLIOT TAYLOR came off the bench to lead the ground game with 73 yards on 15 carries.

Trailing 17-14 late in the third quarter, the Matadors successfully executed a fake punt on a 4th-and-1 from their own 37-yard line.

Punter TONY SWINTON took the snap and raced 21 yards to the El Capitan 42. From there Taylor ran for 11 yards, and the Vaqueros were flagged for a major face mask penalty as they brought him to the ground.

Suddenly, Mount Miguel had a first down at the El Capitan 16. Bryant then fired a pass to Caples in the endzone, giving the Matadors a lead they wouldn't lose.

"I told my quarterback that the corners were playing off me on the outside, so hit me on the inside -- and that's what he did," Caples said of the touchdown that gave Mount Miguel a 21-17 lead with 1:25 left in the third period.

Even after that though, the game still was up in the air.

Momentum had clearly swung to the Matadors, who drove 52 yards on 9 plays to the El Capitan 18 early in the fourth quarter.

El Capitan's GARRETT JARVIS thwarted that drive, picking off a pass at the 5-yard line and returning it to the 18. That flickering line of hope for El Capitan was quickly dashed, as two plays later Shields intercepted Rust.

"That was the turning point, right there," Burner said. "We get the ball and stop their long drive, but then give it right back to them."

Three plays later Bryant hit Nunley for a touchdown and a 28-17 lead with 5:09 left.

"We had all the symptoms of a loss in that first half," Karlo said. "But that's the difference with these kids. They play with so much energy and emotion."

"Take Shields, for example," he continued. "As a junior he didn't have much (playing time). And most of this year he's played nickel and special teams for us. He picked a great night to have a big game."

Karlo credited his defensive coaches for devising a superb game plan.

"We played them 'man' all through the first half. In the second half we mixed it up -- some 'man,' some zone," he said. "I think we confused their quarterback."

Rust finishes his junior season with 3,159 passing yards and 30 touchdowns.

"We wanted to keep playing and I think we played hard," Burner said. " Mount Miguel just beat us."

SCRIPPS RANCH 28, GROSSMONT 3 -- It was obvious that the Grossmont Foothillers were not playing with the same offense that they enjoyed during the regular season.

To be blunt, they struggled in Friday's (Nov. 16) SDCIF Division II playoff opener against visiting Scripps Ranch (6-4).

The Foothillers (6-4) actually started fast. A 20-yard pass from quarterback CHARLIE PIRO to CONOR MEREDITH covering 20 yards set up an 18-yard field goal by senior JOSH SIMMS to make it 3-0 in the first period. Grossmont should have gotten more, as it had a first-and-goal at the 2-yard line.

Of course, playing without its No. 1 playmaker, Simms -- unable to assume his regular quarterbacking position due to a broken collarbone -- Grossmont (6-4) seemed out of synch most of the game.

Credit Piro for stepping in for Simms and completing 12 of 18 passes for 151 yards. Five of those connections went to MICHAEL GRAHAM for 58 yards.

The Hillers had even less success running the ball, totaling just 68 yards on 29 carries. KHALID WATERS, who was banged up in Grossmont's regular season finale, rushed for only 43 yards on 16 carries.

Grossmont's DOMINIQUE BRADLEY delivered some big hits but the Foothillers really had no answer to Scripps Ranch's scrambling quarterback, Tate Forcier.

Forcier rushed for touchdowns of 35, 13 and 45 yards, and passed for a fourth, finishing with 158 total yards.

On the defensive side Grossmont did come up with 3 sacks -- one apiece from KYLE VOIGHT, DONOVAN STAUDER and BOBBY LOPEZ.

ST. AUGUSTINE 20, MONTE VISTA 6 -- Things started out OK for the Monte Vista Monarchs in Friday's (Nov. 16) SDCIF Division III 1st round playoff game at Balboa Stadium.

Monte Vista sophomore quarterback MAURICE PAYNE, with a St. Augustine defender in his face, unleashed a long pass to a wide open KYLE RICHARDSON, who continued uncontested to the end zone to complete a 70-yard scoring play. The Monarchs (4-6) missed a chance to tie the game when their PAT kick missed its mark.

The Monarchs, who finished the season 4-6, trailed only 7-6 after one half. They displayed a balanced attack but could not find the endzone over the final three quarters.

Payne completed 8 of 15 passes for 137 yards and rushed for 29 more.

NICK WILLIAMS led Monte Vista with 99 yards on 24 rushes.

Richardson totaled 3 catches for 100 yards, while JOSH GOSSMEYER pulled in 3 Payne passes for 40 yards.

What the Monarchs couldn't do was slap a harness on Saints running back Daniel Butler, who scored touchdowns on runs of 48 and 12 yards.

Vaqueros, Matadors
line up for shootout

© East County Sports.com
SPRING VALLEY (11-15-07) -- The last time El Capitan and Mount Miguel high schools met came during the topsy-turvy 2005 season. It was a year when El Cajon Valley advanced to the stadium to play for an SDCIF championship, Valhalla went undefeated in the regular season yet failed to win a league title, and traditional powerhouses Helix and Monte Vista combined to win just three contests.

Even this pairing was unusual, as the Matadors won on the road, 41-21, but the game was actually played at Santana's Santee Community Stadium while the artificial turf was still being installed at El Capitan's Wendall Cutting Stadium. The victory marked the first on-the-field victory for then first-year Mount Miguel coach TOM KARLO (the first came via a forfeit).

When Karlo and Vaqueros coach RON BURNER took over, scoring was a main problem. In 2007, these are now the highest scoring ballclubs in East County. The Vaqueros led the way with 362 points (40.2 average), with the Mount Miguel following closely (292 pts, 32.4 avg).

"We always have high expectations. And people don't realize we're just 12 points away from being 7-2," said Burner, whose Vaqueros begin the SDCIF Division III playoffs at Mount Miguel on Friday (Nov. 16) at 7:30 p.m.

The paths to the endzone differ. El Capitan may be forced to go almost exclusively to the air since a knee injury to running back BEN WILKINS leaves his status up in the air.

Last week against Santana, Vaqueros quarterback TANNER RUST threw for a CIF-San Diego Section record 597 yards. But it takes two to make the passing game work.

"We had no idea those kind of numbers were being put up," added Burner. "We had a couple of deep balls in the first half, but in the second half it was all short stuff."

On the receiving end from Rust is a difference-maker in TILA CASE, the runaway East County leader in all-purpose yardage who is only recently getting notice from 4-year schools.

"I don't know why Tila's over-looked -- he may be the best all-around player in the county," said the coach. "He leads East County by 500 yards in all-purpose yards, and on defense he's got 2-or-3 interceptions."

Could be Case is only 5-foot-9, 175 pounds.

"He's not real big, yet he's one of the most dangerous guys around," Burner said.

Case missed half of the 2006 season with a broken collarbone. Now with Wilkins hurting, the role reversal places Case in the mix to fill the void.

Meanwhile, Mount Miguel finds comfort in a ground game from the 2-headed monster of sophomore DERALL HUNTER and quarterback AARON BRYANT, with versatile RICO SMITH pitching in and ELLIOT TAYLOR helping when healthy.

"They're fast, very athletic and very talented at all positions," noted Burner. "They're big physically and they play hard -- you can see that on film -- so it will be a challenge for us. It'll take our 'A' game to beat them."

The backfield speed of Mount Miguel will keep El Capitan 's defense (298 points, 33.1 avg) scrambling all night. Equally, the Vaqueros should get behind the Matadors' secondary often, then chip away with a short aerial attack.

As explosive as El Capitan is on offense, the Mount Miguel defense is much tighter than some -- permitting just 16.1 points per game.

"We have to play hard right back at them and make tackles," Burner said. "You can't let them break tackles and you can't hit them high or hope just one guy can wrap-up on them. We need to swarm to the ball."

If Bryant can match his season average by throwing for 160 yards, the winner should be the team with the greater multi-dimensional offense... Mount Miguel, 45-38.

DIVISION II
Westview at West Hills -- These schools not only own almost mirror-like names and mascots, but reflect similarly on the field, too.

Both teams share similar identities on offense, with rotating quarterbacks. On defense, need to hold the fort while playing a series of low-scoring contests.

For Westview, now getting the call is senior Mike Hachadorian, who leaped from a less-than-stellar Week 2 performance against Granite Hills (7-for-21 passing with 2 INTs in a 10-3 loss) to last week's first start at home, rallying the Wolverines past Serra, 14-13, to snap a 4-game losing streak.

Hachadorian completed 16-of-21 passes for 206 yards and two scores, including a connection with senior Jordan Walton, the fourth hookup between the pair in their last five outings. The tandem gives 9th-seeded Westview (4-5) optimism for a mild upset against the No. 8 seeded Wolf Pack (5-4).

Grossmont North League West Hills still utilizes a pair of quarterbacks, but CHRIS MISENSOL owns the starting nod with ERIC FIEGE filling in occasionally.

Defensively, Westview has struggled, even though the Wolverines weekly compete with Top 10 ranked ballclubs like top-ranked Poway and La Costa Canyon. Thus, the Wolverines might look at West Hills as a lower-echelon opponent, while will further test a Wolf Pack defense which is riding a pair of shutouts and 14 consecutive quarters without allowing a point.

Keep in mind that three of the West Hills loses have come against Mission Hills, Helix and a solid Steele Canyon squad.

Linebacker DAVID HERNANDEZ and RUDY ORTEGA are the Pack's defensive mainstays.

The CIF-San Diego Section office isn't saying, but Westview might really have been the No. 8 seed over West Hills, but league champions are given the home game over any runner-up. This leads one to wonder which is truly the better team in the eyes of the seeding committee. It's a tough call, so go with the side playing better defense... West Hills, 14-10.

Scripps Ranch at Grossmont -- Based on a season's body of work, the Foothillers earned their first-round home playoff game, but this isn't the same ballclub which finished as runners-up in the Grossmont North League.

Quarterback JOSH SIMMS is absent due to a broken collarbone, and running back KHALID WATERS, who also was injured in the last game of the regular season, is questionable.

In the Foothillers' favor, not many teams can replace a fallen quarterback with a three-year starter like Grossmont can in senior CHARLIE PIRO.

Grossmont looks to East County's No. 2 receiver NICK FLOYD (46 catches, 621 yards) for a big-play help. Floyd also is a threat on kickoff returns. RB MICHAEL GRAHAM may be a Foothillers factor as well.

Meanwhile, Scripps Ranch, led by QB Tate Forcier, has been clicking on offense all season, despite a 3-game losing streak in September. Since then, the Falcons have posted a 4-1 mark, averaging 39.6 points during the streak.

If this battle were held three weeks ago, it might have been a pick-em affair. No longer... Scripps Ranch, 24-10.

DIVISION III
Monte Vista vs. St. Augustine, at Balboa Stadium (7 p.m.) -- Among all the teams which hovered around the .500 mark at season's end, some deserved a berth in the playoffs while others simply filled out the bracket as fodder.

The Monarchs definitely are in the former category after adding three more victories from their 2006 showing. Meanwhile, the Saints have been extremely predictable. They beat the teams they're supposed to beat and vice-versa.

A year ago, St. Augustine coach JERRY RALPH (the former head coach at Santana) finally figured out that the way to stop then-undefeated El Capitan was to run right at them. The burning question: do the Monarchs possess the muscle to alter such strategy while using their own ground game in a contest of keep away.

Monte Vista sophomore quarterback MAURICE PAYNE is a threat rushing and passing for the Monarchs. He's averaging nearly 200 yards total offense per game.

Thus, an early score by Monte Vista will keep the Saints scrambling all night. It's a hard spot, however, to make this an upset special based on the teams' recent playoff track record. It was a nice year for the Monarchs and 2008 will be even better, yet... St, Augustine, 17-14.