Scotties to be Lone San Diego Team Battling for State CIF Football Title

Helix Charter High School is “excited and honored” to be the lone San Diego County school playing for a CIF State Bowl title this Saturday at the Home Depot Center in Carson, the school’s athletic director said Sunday.  

The Highlanders were informed they would play Del Oro High School of Loomis in the Division II game after a Sunday meeting, said Damon Chase, the athletic director and Class of 2012 principal.

“We were informed by CIF [San Diego] Commissioner Jerry Schniepp this morning after the selection meeting,” Chase said. “The players and general public were notified by the State Bowl Selection show on Time Warner Cable at 3 p.m.”

Chase called Del Oro (13-1) “an outstanding team that has had a great season.”

A large contingent of La Mesans and Helix community members will make the trip to Carson for the 4 p.m. game, he said.  

“The band and cheerleaders will be making the trip to perform,” he said. “We will travel up and back in the same day.”

State CIF, based in Sacramento, will reimburse Helix for travel, Chase said.  

“We will find out all the details at a meeting tomorrow morning in Carson,” he said via email.

He said coach Troy Starr’s players are “excited to be able to continue the season and have the opportunity to compete for a state championship.”


In Northern California, coach Casey Taylor told the Sacramento Bee that his Del Golden Eagles got official word of their selection via cell phone from CIF Sacramento-Joaquin Section commissioner Pete Saco.

“The state’s 10 commissioners discussed and debated the merits of their champions, breaking down results, strength of schedule, strength of league, and all voted on who would represent the five teams from Northern California and five from Southern California in the Open, Division I, D-II, D-III and Small School bowls,” the Bee said.

“We’re real excited,” Taylor was quoted as saying. “We’ve been wanting to be a part of the bowl experience. We’re looking forward to another week of practice, a chance to play for the big prize and see what we can do. It’s great for our program and our town.”

Taylor told the Bee he scouted Helix in person last Monday as Helix played for its section title at Qualcomm Stadium, beating seven-time defending champion Oceanside 44-6.

“They're really, really good,” Taylor told the Bee.  “They have a big line, very good athletes. They may have the best defensive line we’ve seen. The key is how we control the defensive line, hats on hats. We have to do what we do, and throw them some looks they haven't seen.”

Helix (12-1) was chosen to represent Southern California over Rancho Verde High School of Moreno Valley, a 14-0 team that won the CIF Southern Section-Central Division title.

Helix lists 42 players on its football roster, while Del Oro lists 64. Loomis is a Placer County city of 6,400 incorporated in 1984, about 40 miles northeast of Sacramento.