When the Metro Conference unveiled its realigned three football leagues last spring, there was widespread skepticism. Now it appears the Metro’s administrators may have the last laugh.
The championship titles in all three leagues will be decided on Friday, Nov. 5.
Eastlake can wrap up its fifth consecutive Metro-Mesa League title with a victory against visiting Bonita Vista. Meanwhile, Mar Vista and Hilltop will battle for the Metro-South Bay League title amid homecoming celebrations at Hilltop. Olympian hosts Castle Park in a battle of Metro-Pacific League unbeatens.
Kick-off for all three games is 7 p.m.
Friday’s victors will close out the regular season guaranteed with no worse than a co-championship. The following week’s games will determine if each team can remove “co” from “co-champion.”
Go Aztecs
For those following the fortunes of the 2010 SDSU football team — and with six South County products on the Aztecs’ roster, it’s hard not to do so — these are clearly the glory days in the new millennium. By virtue of last Saturday’s 48-38 Mountain West Conference victory at Wyoming, SDSU has reached a milestone: the Aztecs are bowl eligible for the first time since 1998.
As has been the case most of this season, former Metro Conference standouts played a large role in the Aztecs’ latest victory. Castle Park grad Demarco Sampson, a senior receiver, caught two touchdown passes while Bonita Vista alum D.J. Shields, a sophomore tight end, caught a 14-yard TD pass from quarterback Ryan Lindley (El Capitan). Abel Perez, another Castle Park grad, booted field goals of 21 and 28 yards while tacking on six PAT conversions.
Sampson finished the game with seven catches for 175 yards to earn honors as the MWC Offensive Player of the Week. He caught scoring passes of 56 and 59 yards.
The win at Wyoming raised SDSU’s MWC record to 3-1 and its overall record to 6-2. Under the current bowl formula, six wins are required for teams to become bowl eligible.
SDSU hosts the Colorado State Rams (2-2 in MWC, 3-6 overall) in a key conference match-up Saturday, Nov. 6, at Qualcomm Stadium. Kick off is 7 p.m.
The SDSU scoring summary against the Cowboys was a who’s who of homegrown San Diego County talent.
Lindley (El Capitan) completed 16 of 32 passing attempts for 365 yards while senior fullback Brandon Sullivan (Poway) scored three rushing touchdowns, all on one-yard runs.
The Aztecs trailed 10-6 in the second quarter before going on a 42-28 tear over the balance of the game.
Brian Stahovich (Cathedral Catholic) ripped an 89-yard punt — the longest in SDSU history — in the third quarter to earn honors as the MWC Special Teams Player of the Week.
Sampson has caught 41 passes for 828 yards and six scores. He is averaging 103.5 receiving yards per game. The TD reception was the first for Shields in his college career.
As for Perez? The junior place-kicker leads the Aztecs in scoring with 74 points — 14 field goals and 32 PAT kicks. He also has recorded 23 touchbacks this season on kick-offs.
On defense, senior linebacker Marcus Yarbrough (Eastlake) ranks third on the team with 39 tackles, including 24 solo stops.
Lindley has thrown for 2,255 yards this season with 15 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
Saturday’s upcoming game against the Rams marks the personal homecoming for Colorado State quarterback Pete Thomas, who owns the distinction as the only true freshman in the nation to start every game for his team this season.
Thomas has passed for 2,007 yards in nine games with nine touchdowns and nine picks. He is obviously having a remarkable first season with the Rams. The 6-foot-5, 218-pound signal-caller already holds the CSU freshman passing record and is on pace to finish as the most accurate single-season passer in Colorado State history.
Thomas’ family has reportedly purchased 450 tickets to the game to provide the Valhalla alum with his own cheering section.
SDSU closes its 2010 regular season schedule with a Nov. 13 encounter at fourth-ranked TCU (5-0, 8-0), a Nov. 20 home game against eighth-ranked Utah (5-0, 8-0) and a post-Thanksgiving Nov. 27 home field match-up against UNLV (1-3, 1-7).
