San Diego U-T Preps

For Mission Hills High, the 7-on-7 passing league season ended last week with a victory over Oceanside to clinch the championship of the 30-team North County Tournament in what the Grizzlies hope is a trendsetter.

With his field under construction, Mission Hills coach Chris Hauser took his squad on the road this summer for games against powerhouse teams like Santa Margarita, Bellflower St. John Bosco, Ventura St. Bonaventure, West Hills Chaminade, Sherman Oaks Norte Dame, Corona Centennial and Gardena Serra.

“We saw some great teams, teams with athletes and speed,” Hauser said. “It helped us against Oceanside.”

Both teams raced through the North County Tournament unbeaten before Mission Hills edged the Pirates 26-19, stopping Oceanside on the last series of the event.

Grizzlies quarterback Connor Wynn threw three touchdown passes to Scott Higgins in the title game.

Brad Sochowski was huge in a 28-27 semifinal win over La Puente Bishop Amat, coming back from a 20-0 deficit.

“What we learned this summer was that if you’re not your best, you’ll get exposed,” Hauser said. “Both teams were at their best Saturday, but we were able to deal with Oceanside’s speed after playing all those good teams.”

What does Saturday’s win mean?

Hauser said both teams will find out when they line up 11-on-11 on Sept. 27.

Vaqueros on a roll

The surprise team in the North County Tournament was El Capitan, which beat powerful Palmdale 32-20 in the quarterfinals.

“Palmdale crushed us, intimidated us on Friday,” said El Cap coach Ron Burner. “I told my kids before the Saturday game that I wasn’t concerned about winning or losing, I just didn’t want us to back down, give up. We could have wilted, but we didn’t.”

Burner singled out QB Brad Cagle and receiver Isaiah Capoocia for solid play.

Short passes

• Oceanside is so deep the Pirates’ B team won three games in the North County Tournament on Friday before falling to Bishop Amat in the quarterfinals.

• El Camino lost in overtime to Sanger (near Fresno) in the consolation finals.

Coaching jobs
• Jordan Wynn (Oceanside/Utah) has been named a graduate assistant coach in charge of quarterbacks at Hawaii. Wynn, who led Oceanside to the state Division II bowl championship in 2007, was MVP of the 2009 Poinsettia Bowl after leading Utah to a 37-27 win over Cal in Qualcomm Stadium. Four shoulder injuries in three years cut his college career short.
• Thom Kaumeyer (San Dieguito/Palomar College/Oregon) is Hawaii’s defensive coordinator.