Upsets Abound in CIF San Diego Section High School Football Playoffs

The CIF Playoff Upsets That Defied the Records

In high school football, the numbers on a stat sheet are often treated as a final verdict. But on Friday night, the CIF San Diego Section playoffs proved that regular-season records are little more than history, not destiny. As reported by the San Diego Union-Tribune, the opening round of the postseason saw a series of dramatic upsets where teams with losing records systematically dismantled higher-seeded opponents, turning the projected brackets into a chaotic scramble.

The most glaring examples of this trend occurred in Divisions 2 and 3. El Camino, entering the Division 2 bracket as a No. 6 seed despite a challenging 1-9 regular season, rallied from a 19-0 halftime deficit to defeat 7-3 Grossmont. Similarly, in Division 3, a 1-9 Scripps Ranch squad stunned Eastlake—a team that had finished its regular season with a commanding 9-1 record. These results highlight a recurring theme in competitive sports: the “strength of schedule” argument often masks the potential for a team to find its rhythm exactly when the pressure mounts.

When Momentum Outweighs Seeding

The data suggests that the gap between a high seed and an underdog is thinner than the win-loss columns imply. Mira Mesa, seeded 10th, blanked No. 7 Madison 29-0, while Brawley—a 4-6 team—traveled to take down 7-3 Westview. In Division 5, the 12th-seeded Olympian Eagles managed to survive their matchup against 6-4 Bonita Vista, marking them as the lowest seed to advance in the current bracket.

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“Records and playoff seedings often don’t tell the full story,” noted the San Diego Union-Tribune in its coverage of the opening round.

For the athletes and coaching staffs involved, these games represent the culmination of a season-long process of adaptation. While the higher-seeded teams often benefit from the comfort of home-field advantage and a more favorable path, the volatility of a single-elimination tournament rewards the team that executes best on a specific Friday night. The ability of a 2-8 Mt. Carmel team to overcome a 5-5 Hilltop squad illustrates that late-season momentum can effectively neutralize the perceived talent gap established during the previous ten weeks.

The Economic and Community Stakes

While the focus remains on the field, the downstream impact of these upsets is felt throughout the San Diego school communities. High school sports remain a primary pillar of civic engagement, driving local booster club funding, student morale, and Friday night attendance. When a lower-seeded team advances, it forces a shift in the logistical and financial planning for the following week, as schools must scramble to arrange travel, security, and staffing for quarterfinal matchups on short notice.

Critics of the current seeding system might argue that these results expose flaws in how teams are evaluated before the playoffs begin. However, proponents of the “open” style of competition often point to these exact moments as the reason the system exists. By allowing teams with lower win percentages into the tournament, the CIF ensures that a team that struggled with injuries or a brutal non-league schedule in September still has a path to redemption in November.

Roundup: Upsets abound in first round of CIF football playoffs — Photo: newsbeep.com

What Remains to be Seen

As the tournament moves into the quarterfinals, the focus shifts to whether these underdogs can sustain their hot streaks. Teams like El Camino and Scripps Ranch now face the daunting task of repeating their performances against even more formidable opposition.

The four-team Open Division and the eight-team Division 1 playoffs are set to begin this coming Friday, November 14. Until those games conclude, the narrative of the 2026 San Diego Section playoffs remains unwritten. The question now is not just which team has the better record, but which team has the depth and discipline to survive the physical attrition of a deep postseason run. For the teams that were sent home early, the focus shifts to off-season development, while for the survivors, the path to the championship remains open—provided they can avoid becoming the next victim of an upset.