Lincoln coach ‘shocked’ after Hornets left out of Open Division playoff bracket

Friday, when it appeared La Costa Canyon High School was the odd team out of the four-team San Diego Section Open Division football playoffs, Ramona coach Damon Baldwin talked LCC coach Sean Sovacool down.

By Sunday’s seeding meeting, LCC had risen to the No. 2 seed in the Open Division bracket, and Lincoln — the No. 1 team in San Diego for the first 10 weeks of the season — was the No. 5 team in the playoffs. Top-seeded Mission Hills, LCC, No. 3 Carlsbad and No. 4 Cathedral Catholic will play for the Open Division title.

And Lincoln will be the top-seeded team in Division 1. Brackets were revealed Friday, though the dates, sites and locations of championship games remain up in the air because of scheduled San Diego State football games and the uncertainty of SDFC playoff games at Snapdragon Stadium.

“I’m definitely shocked, surprised with how it turned out,” said Lincoln coach David Dunn. “We loaded up the schedule, but some of our opponents didn’t finish well.”

The Hornets played Hawaii powerhouse Punahou, Long Beach Poly, Bakersfield Frontier and Sacramento Grant. But all four teams had down years.

“We have no control over what teams do after we play them,” Dunn said. “But it’s all part of the ranking system. At the end of the day, yes, we’re disappointed, but we’re going to go out, represent our league to the best of our ability and try to win a Division 1 championship.”

The San Diego Section, along with several sections throughout the state, uses MaxPreps.com’s computer rankings to seed the playoffs on a Nos. 1-through-64 basis.

And while Carlsbad, La Costa Canyon — both 9-1 — benefited from playing each other in the Avocado West League, Lincoln was in a four-team league, losing to Cathedral Catholic and beating University City (5-5) and Scripps Ranch (5-5).

After Week 8, Lincoln was 7-1 and ranked No. 1 in San Diego with a Power Ranking of 61.50. Mission Hills was No. 2 at 50.40. In the three weeks since then, Lincoln lost to Cathedral Catholic (42-33), beat Scripps Ranch (49-13) and dropped more than 11 points to 50.40.

That put the Hornets behind Mission Hills (9-1, 62.40), La Costa Canyon (9-1, 58.90), Carlsbad (9-1, 56.50) and Cathedral Catholic (8-2, 55.20).

“Obviously, there has been movement at the top that we haven’t seen in the first 10 weeks,” said CIF San Diego Section Commissioner Joe Heinz. “So we asked our contact at MaxPreps, and she said this was the first time all the teams were on the same schedule … byes, forfeits, that kind of thing. And the preseason rankings were removed.

“There is no perfect system, but this is what the coaches agreed to. This is our first time using MaxPreps, and we have a great relationship with MaxPreps. Maybe this is a good time to look into expanding the Open Division, but that discussion won’t happen until the postseason meeting.”

Lincoln, Granite Hills, Mount Miguel and San Marcos are the top four seeds in Division 1. The Advisory Committee does everything it can to avoid teams in the same league playing again in the first round. But in Division 1, seeds six through 10 are all from the Avocado East League, so Del Norte will play at league foe Rancho Bernardo in the first round.

“To change things would have required too many moves, would have created distractions in that bracket,” Heinz said.

In Division 2, Santa Fe Christian, Steele Canyon, Mission Bay and El Camino, which finished 1-9, are the top four seeds. In Division 3, Central Union, Army-Navy, Ramona and University City are the top seeds. Division 4 features Westview, El Capitan, Valley Center, and Mt. Carmel at the top.

Mar Vista, the Metro Pacific League champion, created a problem in Division 5. The Mariners were No. 67 in a 64-team field. However, league champions are guaranteed a spot in the playoffs. So Mar Vista jumps into the postseason as the No. 12 seed in Division 5. The move up knocked Calexico out of that spot and out of the playoffs.

Sweetwater, Morse, Monte Vista and Canyon Hills are the top seeds in Division 5.

Of the San Diego Section’s three 10-0 teams, Point Loma is the fifth seed in Division 1, while Santa Fe Christian is No. 1 and Mission Bay No. 3 in Division 2.

High school football

CIF San Diego Section playoff pairings

All games at 7 p.m., unless noted

OPEN DIVISION

Semifinals

Nov. 14

(4) Cathedral Catholic at (1) Mission Hills

(3) Carlsbad at (2) La Costa Canyon

Championship game: Date, site to be determined

DIVISION 1

Firstr round

Friday

(1) Lincoln, bye

(9) Poway at (8) Torrey Pines

(12) Mater Dei Catholic at (5) Point Loma

(4) San Marcos, bye

(11) Holtville at (6) Oceanside

(3) Mount Miguel, bye

(10) Del Norte at (7) Rancho Bernardo

(2) Granite Hills, bye

Quarterfinals: Nov. 14 at higher seeds.,

Semifinals: Nov. 21 at higher seeds

Championship game: Date, site to be determined

DIVISION 2

First round

Friday

(1) Santa Fe Christian, bye

(9) Grossmont vs. St. Augustine at San Diego Mesa College

(12) Scripps Ranch at (5) La Jolla

(4) El Camino, bye

(11) San Diego at Imperial

(4) Mission Bay, bye

(10) San Pasqual at (7) Helix

(2) Steele Canyon, bye

Quarterfinals: Nov. 14 at higher seeds

Semifinals: Nov. 21 at higher seeds

Championship game: Date, site to be determined

DIVISION 3

First round

Friday

(1) Central Union, bye

(9) Montgomery vs. (8) Bishop’s at site TBD

(12) Otay Ranch at (5) Madison

(4) University City, bye

(11) Brawley vs. Christian at Granite Hills High School

(3) Ramona, bye

(10) Patrick Henry at (7) Olympian

(2) Army-Navy, bye

Quarterfinals: Nov. 14 at higher seeds

Semifinals: Nov. 21 at higher seeds

Championship: Date, site to be determined

DIVISION 4

First round

Friday

(1) Westview, bye

(9) Coastal Academy at (8) Hilltop

(12) West Hills at (5) Eastlake

(4) Mt. Carmel, bye

(11) Mira Mesa at (6) Rancho Buena Vista

(3) Valley Center, bye

(10) La Jolla Country Day at (7) Coronado

(2) El Capitan, bye

Quarterfinals: Nov. 14 at higher seeds

Semifinals: Nov. 21 at higher seeds

Championship game: Date, site to be determined

DIVISION 5

First round

Friday

(1) Sweetwater, bye

(9) Hoover at (8) Escondido

(12) Mar Vista vs. Chula Vista at site TBD

(4) Canyon Hills, bye

(11) Valhalla at (7) Fallbrook

(3) Monte Vista, bye

(10) Bonita Vista at (7) Santana

(2) Morse, bye

Quarterfinals: Nov. 14 at higher seeds

Semifinals: Nov. 21 at higher seeds

Championship game: Date, site to be determined

DIVISION 5-AA

Quarterfinals

Friday

(8) Rock Academy at (1) Maranatha Christian

(5) Clairemont at (4) Calipatria

(6) Victory Christian Academy at (3) Mountain Empire, day and time TBD

(7) O’Farrell Charter at (2) Palo Verde Valley

Semifinals: Nov. 14 at higher seeds

Championship game: Date, site to be determined

8-MAN

Quarterfinals

(1) St. Joseph Academy, bye

(5) Horizon Prep at (4) Francis Parker

(6) West Shores at (3) Julian

(2) Borrego Springs, bye

Semifinals: Nov. 14 at higher seeds

Championship game: Date, site to be determined