Several new opponents and membership in a new league will highlight the 2016 Point Loma High School football season.
\nBased on their strong performance in recent seasons, the Pointers will move up to an Eastern League that will undoubtedly be one of the toughest in the CIF’s San Diego Section, and there should be no shortage of rivalries in the new format.
\nThe 2016 Eastern League games will match the Pointers against perennial county powers Cathedral Catholic and St. Augustine, two private schools with more liberal allowances in filling their rosters.
\nIn fact, when the Pointers made three consecutive trips to Qualcomm Stadium as a CIF Div. III finalist, it was the Saints (46-14 in 2005), (17-7 in 2006) and Dons (41-3 in 2007) who defeated them. Then, in the Pointers\u2019 fourth stadium trip, it was the Dons who again drove a dagger through Pointer hearts with a 20-14 come-from-behind win in 2009.
\nFrom the period between 1993 and 2014 when schools were grouped for playoff\u00a0competition by enrollment,\u00a0private schools won 14 Div. III titles, led by the Dons (eight times) and the Saints (two titles and five\u00a0runners-up).
\nTeams are now assigned to divisions based on their record over the past five seasons, a move local CIF administrators felt would help even the playing field for all schools. Following each year, division assignments are re-evaluated and changes made.
\nAnother rivalry continues in the new Eastern League with Pointer nemesis Madison also coming on board. The Warhawks have been dominant since joining the Western League for the 2010 season, winning the league title every year since except for 2011, when the Pointers battled them to a 13-13 tie in a memorable rainy-night donnybrook at Madison.
\nThe Pointers have yet to defeat the Warhawks in league play, coming no closer than a 28-14 loss in 2012 before their worst loss in the series last year, when Madison crushed them 48-0 on Bennie Edens Field.\u00a0
\nHoldover Mira Mesa, who finished 7-5 overall (1-2 in\u00a0the Eastern League) last year, rounds out the league.
\nBesides these league opponents, the Pointers’ early games coming up include repeat matches with El Camino (28-21 Pointer loss last year); Ramona, (20-18 win); Lincoln (21-0 win) and Olympian (21-14 loss).
\nNew to the schedule this year is South Bay power Bonita Vista, who finished 12-3 (4-0 in the Metro Mesa League) enroute to a 52-14 destruction of Mission Bay for the CIF Div. III championship before defeating Canyon (Anaheim) and before losing to Hanford, Cal. 33-21 in a state bowl game.
\nAlso new is El Cajon’s Christian High School, who finished 8-4 (4-0 to win the City League crown).
\nGone, for now, is the annual “Shoe Game” against La Jolla, one of the county’s\u00a0longest rivalries, which the Pointers have won with regularity in recent years.
\nThe ever-popular Homecoming game takes place on Oct. 28 when the Pointers host Christian in a 6:30 kickoff under rented lights. Here’s what the Pointers 2016 schedule looks like:
\n2016 “FIGHTING POINTERS” FOOTBALL SCHEDULE DATE \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0TIME \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 OPPONENT \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0SITE Aug. 26 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a07:00 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0El Camino \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Away Sept. 3 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 3:00 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Ramona \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Home Sept. 9 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 6:30 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Lincoln \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Away Sept. 16 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 7:00 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Bonita Vista \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Away Sept. 23 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 7:00 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Olympian \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Away Sept. 30 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Bye Week Oct. 7 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a06:30 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Mira Mesa * \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Away Oct. 14 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a06:30 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Madison * \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Away Oct. 21 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a03:00 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Cathedral * \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Home Oct. 28 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a06:30 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Christian # \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Home Nov. 4 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a02:30 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0St. Augustine * \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Home Nov. 11 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0TBA \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a01st Round Playoffs Nov. 18 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0TBA \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Playoff Quarterfinals Nov. 25 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0TBA \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Playoff Semifinals Dec. 2 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 TBA \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 CIF Finals * Eastern League game # Homecoming<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Several new opponents and membership in a new league will highlight the 2016 Point Loma High School football season. Based on their strong performance in recent seasons, the Pointers will move up to an Eastern League that will undoubtedly be one of the toughest in the CIF’s San Diego Section, and there should be no […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":260767,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11561","_seopress_titles_title":"Point Loma football to play county powers","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11561,11553],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-260766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-peninsula-beacon","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260766","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=260766"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260766\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/260767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=260766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=260766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=260766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}