The Eastlake High School football team was making its third trip to the San Diego Section finals after previously winning championships in 2009 and 2012.
The second-seeded Titans carried an imposing 10-2 record into last Friday’s Division I title game against the top-seeded El Camino Wildcats at Southwestern College. It marked a huge turnaround for the Titans from their previous season in which they finished 2-9.
But the long road back to the top of the mountain ended on a disappointing note following a 20-10 loss to the Wildcats in front of a boisterous gathering of 7,125 fans at DeVore Stadium.
“We fell short of our goal but it was an amazing ride,” EHS head coach Dean Tropp said. “I congratulate everyone involved for believing in our program. We got everyone excited about football at Eastlake High School.”
The key for the Titans to find success in last Friday’s championship game was to play mistake-free football. They were unable to do that.
Eastlake presented the Wildcats (8-5) with three turnovers — two interceptions and one lost fumble. El Camino cashed in on two of the three turnovers for 14 points. It ultimately proved to be the difference in the game.
“We had the momentum for a while there, then lost it,” Tropp explained following the disappointing outcome. “We had a couple drives stall out (in the second half) on third-and-long.
“But that was a great team that we played. It just wasn’t our night.”
Everything appeared set up for a memorable showing. The visiting stands at DeVore Stadium were packed with Titan supporters. There was plenty of festive atmosphere to spread around.
There was plenty to cheer about for Eastlake fans despite the Titans coming up short 10 points in the game.
Eastlake recorded 310 total yards in the game — 230 rushing and 177 passing.
However, the Titans could not come up with a big game-breaking play in the contest.
Senior Jalyn Jackson scored on deep pass plays in Eastlake’s previous two playoff games while also returning a kick-off 93 yards for a touchdown.
Jackson, a silver medalist at last season’s California state track and field championship meet, was limited by the El Camino defense to three catches for just 23 yards.
Senior Micah Pietila-Wiggs, who finished the season as the Titans’ all-purpose yards leader, rushed four times for 13 yards and had four catches for 38 yards.
Pietila-Wiggs did account for six points in the CIF championship game after hauling in a 14-yard scoring pass from junior quarterback Ryzhon McCoy with 4:10 left in the third quarter.
Junior D.J. Del Fierro accounted for the team’s other four points — the extra-point conversion on Pietila-Wiggs’ touchdown and a 40-yard field goal with 1:13 to play in the first quarter.
When asked, Tropp said the opportunity to insert a big play did not present itself in the game.
“We were waiting for the right time,” the EHS coach said.
Junior Daniel Amon, who threw the two big strikes to Jackson in playoff wins over Rancho Bernardo and Carlsbad, started the game at quarterback for the Titans. He completed five of seven passing attempts for 26 yards but was intercepted twice.
The first pick came on a deep ball to the sideline that was thrown into space occupied only by El Camino’s Donnell Frazier, who returned the ball 26 yards to midfield. The Wildcats promptly generated seven points off the turnover when Chris Brown (19 carries, 138 yards) scored on a 50-yard breakaway touchdown.
El Camino 7-0.
The Titans were forced to play catch up from there — something they didn’t have to do in their two previous playoff contests.
The Titans made it a game when Del Fierro’s field goal barely cleared the crossbar. But settling for a field goal and not a touchdown kept the Metro Conference representative down on the scoreboard.
Eastlake’s deficit grew further when El Camino quarterback Jaden Casey hit Malachi Russell on a 42-yard touchdown pass with 8.7 seconds left in the first quarter.
The Wildcats missed the extra-point conversion but expanded their lead to 13-3.
The lead grew to 20-3 when Brown scored on a 16-yard run with 1:56 left in the first half.
Amon threw a second interception early in the second quarter. However, El Camino could not take advantage of that turnover following a missed 38-yard field goal.
But the Titans failed to take advantage of the opportunity by promptly handing the ball back to the Wildcats when defender Jacob Sega pounced on a loose ball during a botched handoff by Eastlake.
The Wildcats turned that turnover into another touchdown that culminated with Brown’s second score of the game.
While the Titans failed to make the proverbial big play in the game, El Camino made several.
Fog descended onto the field at halftime but began to clear by the fourth quarter.
McCoy entered the game at quarterback in the second half and appeared to jump-start the EHS offense with his running ability.
The Titans narrowed the score to 20-10 on Pietila-Wiggs’ TD catch.
Neither team scored after that as the Wildcats managed to hold possession for the final 5:24 of the contest.
The 10 points were Eastlake’s lowest output of the season.
El Camino last won a section title in 1999 and lost to cross-town rival Oceanside in the 2015 finals at SWC.
The Wildcats will host Crenshaw (10-3) in Friday’s Division 4-AA Southern California regional playoff game.
The Titans finished the season 10-3, gaining a new legion of fans along the journey.
Donyal Thompson, who finished the season with 11 sacks and three fumble recoveries, earned honors as Eastlake’s sportsmanship award winner.
