It is likely the biggest win to date recorded by a Metro Conference football team in the early going of the 2018 season, and Eastlake High School head coach John McFadden is certainly not downplaying his team’s 21-10 non-league victory against the visiting Santiago Sharks last Friday at Stan Canaris Stadium.
“I think it was a big win,” McFadden underscored. “They were ranked in the top 30 in California and higher ranked than any San Diego team before we played them.
“We played a very good team and out-played them. I’ve been telling the team if we can just play in the 85 percent of scoring we can beat anyone, and we played right around there as a team.”
The Titans, who improved to 2-1 on the season with last Friday’s confidence-boosting victory, trailed 7-0 at halftime before engineering a 21-3 scoring edge in the second half.
Sophomore quarterback Richard Colmenero III completed 13 of 20 passes for 207 yards and one touchdown while senior Parker Merrifield rushed 14 times for 117 yards and two touchdowns.
Photos by Jon Bigornia
Eastlake controlled the ground attack with 257 rushing yards, doubling the 118-yard output from the Corona visitors. The Titans out-gained Santiago 464-278 in total yards.
Junior Darius De Los Reyes had four catches for 75 yards, including one touchdown reception.
Senior Kevin Bateman had three catches for 69 yards while classmate A.J. Hernandez had six carries for 53 yards to bolster the offensive attack. Merrifield finished the game with 115 all-purpose yards.
Defensively, senior Josh McCurty recorded a team high 17 tackles, including one sack and one pass deflection.
Senior Trevor Trussell also had a sack for Eastlake while senior McKinley Egland-Young had one interception.
The Titans close out a season opening four-game homestand with a key non-league encounter against the visiting Grossmont Foothillers (1-1) on Friday. Eastlake is currently ranked eighth among San Diego Section Division I teams while Grossmont is ranked ninth.
Road trip
Mar Vista had to travel a bit farther to pick up its biggest win of the season thus far after defeating the host San Jose Bulldogs, 34-0, last Friday in the Bay Area.
The out of town trip was the sixth consecutive for the Mariners, who improved to 5-1 in extended road trips since 2013.
Standouts included Jacob Galeana with two rushing touchdowns, Hassan Spruill with one rushing touchdown, one interception and one fumble recovery, Marcelino Maclang with one rushing touchdown, Damon Thomas with one sack and four tackles and Cesar Macias with two field goals and four extra- point conversions.
Galeana rushed 10 times for 82 yards while Spruill rushed three times for 70 yards
Head coach Tyler Arciaga said the team left Wednesday morning after practicing at 6:30 a.m. at school in order to make the 475-mile trip to the Bay Area. The Mariners stayed in Newark as it was a centralized location between San Francisco sightseeing and the game in San Jose.
On Thursday, the Mariners took in various San Francisco landmarks after a morning practice, visiting Crissy Field/Golden Gate Park, Pier 39 Embarcadero, Chinatown and ending with a trip to Alcatraz.
On Saturday, the Mariners were able to watch a Pac 12-ACC college matchup as the North Carolina Tar Heels played at Cal Berkeley. The Mariners enjoyed the pre-game atmosphere on the Cal Berkeley campus as well as the raucous tailgating environment.
“This was also great for the kids to see big-time college football and see how fast the game is really played in person, as the television does not do it justice at times,” Arciaga said.
The Mariners (2-1) host unbeaten Coronado (3-0) on Friday in an important matchup of Division IV teams.
Win column
The Hilltop Lancers picked up their first win of the season following a 0-2 start by defeating the host San Ysidro Cougars, 39-0, in a non-league game last Friday. Hilltop quarterback Joey Castillo ignited his team’s offense by recording four touchdowns — three passing and one rushing.
Castillo, a senior, completed 15 of 25 passing attempts for 183 yards while rushing six times to 97 yards to finish with a 122.2 quarterback efficiency rating.
Marko Aki (two catches, 27 yards), Dylan McCoy (four catches, 48 yards) and Marcos Deanda (four catches, 31 yards) each caught touchdown passes.
Castillo finished as the team’s top rusher. Teammate Jeremiah Serrano rushed nine times for 52 yards.
McCoy finished the game with 167 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns. He totaled 119 yards on seven punt returns, returning one for a touchdown.
Hilltop controlled game flow with 172 rushing yards to 67 rushing yards for San Ysidro.
Overall, the Lancers out-gained the Cougars 362 to 92 in total yards.
Nestor Amaya led San Ysidro with 57 rushing yards on 17 carries. Marcus Bowman was 9-of-12 for 25 passing yards.
Defensive leaders for Hilltop included Deanda with 15 tackles and two sacks; Aki had one interception.
The Lancers recorded four sacks in the game.
“We made improvements and stayed healthy,” Hilltop coach Drew Westling reported. “We are looking forward to another three-game stretch against upper division teams to help us prepare for league.”
The Lancers host Olympian (0-3) this Friday in a non-league game before taking on Granite Hills (2-0) and Bonita Vista (0-3) in road contests.
Olympian has been shut out in its last two games, losing 35-0 last Friday to top-ranked Torrey Pines.
Friday’s matchup at Hilltop looks intriguing for both teams.
“Obviously, we are not happy with an 0-3 start,” Olympian coach Paul Van Nostrand said. “It will take a solid team effort to get that first win.”
San Ysidro, which fell to 0-3, will aim to get in the win column for the first time this season when its hosts Crawford (1-1) in a non-league game on Friday.
Spartan Nation
There will not be an undefeated Metro Conference football team in 2018 after the Chula Vista Spartans suffered their first loss of the season by dropping a 30-7 non-league decision at Escondido last Friday.
Chula Vista (2-1) was limited to 83 rushing yards and 62 passing yards in the loss.
“We were beaten in all three phases of the game,” CVHS head coach Howard Bannister said. “We are still having a time getting our offense to click. We’ve just been inconsistent.
“However, we cannot dwell on a loss. We have a really tough opponent in an undefeated West Hills team (3-0) coming to our place. They present a great challenge on both sides of the ball. We will see how much we want to rebound come Friday. We will have them ready.”
Junior Carlos Serratos Jr. scored the lone Spartan touchdown in the setback to Escondido.
Despite the lopsided loss, Chula Vista did rack up some impressive numbers defensively: four sacks (including two by Faleapa Toilolo), one interception and four fumble recoveries.
Junior Dylan Sallee had one sack, one fumble recovery and three unassisted tackles.
Crusader State
Mater Dei Catholic came within 1:15 of posting its second consecutive win before Bishop’s sophomore Clay petry returned a punt 47 yards for a touchdown to boost the visiting Knights a 39-33 non-league victory.
The Crusaders (1-2) had rallied from a 33-7 deficit midway through the second quarter to deadlock the score 33-all in the closing moments of the game.
Mater Dei Catholic scored 26 unanswered points to tie the game.
Bishop’s improved to 2-1 with the dramatic victory.
San Diego Section unbeatens
Through Week 3, there were 18 undefeated team in the San Diego Section — five undefeated teams in Division I (Torrey Pines, La Costa Canyon, St. Augustine and San Marcos), three undefeated teams in Division II (Granite Hills, Lincoln and Mira Mesa), four undefeated teams in Division III (Monte Vista, Christian, Central Union and West Hills), one undefeated team (Kearny) in Division IV and five undefeated teams in Division V (Vincent Memorial, Francis Parker, Tri-City Christian, Army-Navy Academy and Orange Glen).
High School Scoreboard
Games of Friday, Aug. 31:
Eastlake 21, Santiago (Corona) 10
Otay Ranch 19, Point Loma 17
Hilltop 39, San Ysidro 0
Mar Vista 34, San Jose 0
Escondido 30, Chula Vista 7
Torrey Pines 35, Olympian 0
Rancho Verde 63, Bonita Vista 6
Bishop’s 39, Mater Dei Catholic 33
Francis Parker 42, Montgomery 0
Carlsbad 62, Sweetwater 0
Coronado defeated Castle Park by forfeit
Games of Friday, Sept. 7:
Sweetwater at Lincoln, 6:30 p.m.
Mater Dei Catholic at Kearny, 6:30 p.m.
Grossmont at Eastlake, 7 p.m.
Olympian at Hilltop, 7 p.m.
West Hills at Chula Vista, 7 p.m.
Fallbrook at Castle Park, 7 p.m.
San Diego at Montgomery, 7 p.m.
Coronado at Mar Vista, 7 p.m.
Crawford at San Ysidro, 7 p.m.
Maranatha Christian at Southwest, 7 p.m.
Otay Ranch vs. St. Augustine at Mesa College, 7 p.m.
Bonita Vista at Steele Canyon, 7 p.m.
San Diego Section Rankings
MaxPreps/Top 10
Division I: 1. Torrey Pines (3-0), 2. Helix (1-2), 3. La Costa Canyon (3-0), 4. Cathedral Catholic (2-1), 5. St. Augustine (3-0), 6. San Marcos (3-0), 7. Madison (3-0), 8. Eastlake (2-1), 9. Grossmont (1-1), 10, Otay Ranch (2-1)
Division II: 1. Ramona (2-1), 2. Granite Hills (2-0), 3. Lincoln (3-0), 4, Mira Mesa (3-0), 5. Bishop’s (2-1), 6. Vista (2-1), 7. Valley Cener (1-2), 8. Point Loma (1-2), 9. San Pasqual (2-1), 10. Poway (1-2). Others: 11. Mater Dei Catholic (1-2), 13. Bonita Vista (0-3), 14. Olympian (0-3)
Division III: 1. Monte Vista (3-0), 2. Christian (3-0), 3. Central Union (3-0), 4. Santa Fe Christian (2-1), 5. West Hills (3-0), 6. Brawley (2-1), 7. Morse (2-1), 8. University City (2-1), 9. Escondido (2-1), 10. La Jolla (1-2). Others: 12. Hilltop (1-2)
Division IV: 1. San Diego (2-1), 2. Chula Vista (2-1), 3. Kearny (2-0), 4. Santana (2-1), 5. La Jolla Country Day (1-2), 6. Del Norte (2-1), 7. Mar Vista (2-1), 8. Classical Academy (1-1), 9. Sweetwater (0-3), 10, Coronado (3-0). Others: 16. Montgomery (1-2)
Division V: 1. Vincent Memorial (3-0), 2. Francis Parker (3-0), 3. Palo Verde Valley (2-1), 4. Tri-City Christian (2-0), 5. Holtville (2-1), 6. Army-Navy Academy (2-0), 7. Orange Glen (2-0), 8. Maranatha Christian (2-1), 9. Mountain Empire (2-1), 10. Southwest (1-1). Others: 11. Castle Park (1-2), 14. San Ysidro (0-3)
