Ranking the best San Diego Section championship games of the last 25 years

San Diego’s best section championship games since 2000

1. 2013: Cathedral 37, San Pasqual 31 (3 OT): Tied at 17 at the end of regulation, the Dons and Eagles traded scores in overtime before Cathedral Catholic prevailed.

2. 2004: Valley Center 39, Brawley 36: Before a crowd of about 21,000 in Qualcomm Stadium, Valley Center and Brawley traded blows before the Jaguars kicked a late field goal to win.

3. 2018: St. Augustine 21, Helix 20 (OT): The teams were tied at 14 at the end of regulation. The Saints took the lead in OT on a 1-yard Byron Cardwell run and Dominic Gross’ PAT. Helix scored and went for two points to win, but fumbled the snap.

4. 2023: Granite Hills 27, Lincoln 26: In the Open Division title game at Snapdragon Stadium, Lincoln was driving for the winning score, but ran out of time before it could attempt a game-winning field goal.

5. 2014: St. Augustine 49, Madison 42: The Saints scored twice in the fourth quarter to pull off the upset. Elijah Preston rushed 33 times for 259 yards. Isaiah Osborne of Madison rushed for 211 yards and QB Kareem Coles had 310 yards of total offense.

6. 2016: Madison 35, St. Augustine 31: Trailing 31-7 at the half, Madison scored 14 in the third quarter and 14 in the fourth, winning on a 22-yard TD pass from Tyrone Anderson to Donte Brown.

7. 2022: Mater Dei Catholic 34, Mission Hills 29: Trailing 29-28, the Crusaders scored with under a minute to go on a 35-yard pass from Dominic Nankil to Herry McClure. Nankil threw for 301 yards and three scores. McClure caught 15 passes for 150 yards and two TDs.

8. 2005: Oceanside 31, El Cajon Valley 21: El Cajon’s Abraham Muheize threw for 216 yards and three TDs, but was intercepted twice. Oceanside’s Steven Carroll and Jeff Small combined to throw for 308 yards and Mario Gionzales rushed 28 times for 199 yards.

9. 2023: La Jolla Country Day 73, Grossmont 34: Jaden Mangini threw for 429 yards and six TDs and rushed for 113 yards and four scores. The Torreys scored 35 points in the third quarter.

10. 2002: Oceanside 42, Helix 14: Heavily favored Helix, led by Reggie Bush, trailed 28-0 at the half and fell to the Pirates. Bush rushed 13 times for 144 yards, had a 91-yard kickoff return and ran 60 yards in a fake punt. But Oceanside’s Rick Coppack threw for 258 yards and two TDs in the final minute of the first half.

Best performance in a championship game

The 2019 Division 2 championship game was a classic, with El Camino beating Bishop’s 75-59.

Bishop’s quarterback Tyler Buchner was the story. He completed 22 passes for 296 yards and three TDs and ran 18 times for 353 yards and five scores, giving him 649 yards of total offense and eight TDs. It would have been more had his 75-yard touchdown run not been called back because of a holding penalty.

JOHN MAFFEI