We Speak Flag / 7v7 Football

Stunner in San Diego: Carlsbad Knocks Out Top Seed San Marcos 34-7

Published

2 hours ago

November 2, 2026

A Carlsbad ball carrier runs with the ball against San Marcos in the Open Division quarterfinal.

Photo by Craig Maloof via MaxPreps

The San Diego Section playoffs opened with a stunner. Eighth-seeded Carlsbad went on the road and knocked out top-seeded San Marcos 34-7 on Wednesday, October 28, in a CIF San Diego Section Open Division quarterfinal.

San Marcos entered the night 21-1, with its only loss all season coming against Huntington Beach, one of the top teams in the state. The Knights had also handled Carlsbad once already, winning 27-6 on October 21. None of that mattered in the rematch. Carlsbad controlled the game from the start and pulled away for the biggest upset of the San Diego Section postseason, throwing for 208 yards as a team, according to the MaxPreps box score.

It was that kind of night in the Open Division. Both of the top two seeds lost at home in the quarterfinal round, and a bracket headlined by San Marcos at 21-1, Bonita Vista at 20-5 and Helix at 16-1 suddenly belongs to the road teams.

The win flips the top of the Open Division bracket. Carlsbad (15-7) advances to the semifinals and plays at fourth-seeded Torrey Pines on Tuesday, November 3, at 7 p.m. Torrey Pines reached the round with a 19-7 win over Mira Mesa. On the other side of the bracket, seventh-seeded Classical Academy upset Bonita Vista, which leaves open the possibility of an all-North County championship game between Carlsbad and Classical Academy.

Championship Saturday in the San Diego Section is a full day at Olympian High School on November 7, with five finals running from the Division IV game at 10 a.m. to the Open Division final at 6 p.m. After Wednesday night, nobody left in the bracket can feel safe.

We Speak Flag / 7v7 Football

James Clemens Gets the Hardest Draw in 6A: A Playoff Trip to Hewitt-Trussville

Published

1 hour ago

November 2, 2026

We Speak Media

James Clemens players in action during the Jets' Oct. 20 win over Mae Jemison.

Photo by 100Shotz Media via James Clemens girls flag (@jchsgirlsflag) on Instagram.

Every bracket has a draw nobody wants, and in Class 6A it belongs to James Clemens. The Jets travel to Hewitt-Trussville on Tuesday, Nov. 3 at 6 p.m. for a first round playoff game, a road trip confirmed on Hewitt-Trussville’s official athletics schedule.

James Clemens, from Madison, won six of its 14 games and closed the regular season the right way, with a 6-0 shutout win at Columbia on Oct. 27. The Jets’ wins include a 36-6 rout of Bob Jones, a 35-0 shutout of St. John Paul II, a 31-13 win over Mae Jemison on Oct. 20 and an 18-0 shutout of Hazel Green. The losses show the gap the Jets have to close. Gadsden City beat them 36-6 on Oct. 22, and Sparkman edged them 13-6 on Oct. 13.

Hewitt-Trussville is the standard on the other sideline. The Huskies are one of the powers of the 6A bracket, and the program’s flag account still points to the inaugural state title it won in 2021, before flag became an official AHSAA championship sport.

Three of the Jets’ six wins were shutouts, so the defense has traveled before. The game is also one of eight first round matchups in the Class 6A bracket, while eight other teams, including Spain Park and Smiths Station, sit out the week on byes and wait for the winners.

For James Clemens, the math is simple. The Jets have already shown they can pitch a shutout and score in bunches against their own level. Tuesday asks them to do it in the hardest building in the bracket.