The rain fell, lightning flared and thunder roared last Friday night at Sweetwater High School for the Metro-South Bay League opener between the Sweetwater and Hilltop football teams.
The host Red Devils led, 31-14, when officials called the game at halftime for safety precautions.
The teams resumed play with the second-half kick-off Saturday morning. While the rain and lightning had abated, the thunder continued to roll on the field as visiting Hilltop pulled off a remarkable comeback by scoring 36 unanswered points to stun the Red Devils by a final score of 50-38.
Both teams entered the game with disappointing 2-5 non-league records. Sweetwater, fueled by two interception returns for touchdowns in last Friday’s first half, appeared to set the tone in the league opener. But it was all washed away when the second half resumed the next day.
Hilltop (1-0 in league, 3-5 overall) will host Mar Vista (1-0 in league, 6-2 overall) in Friday’s homecoming game with a chance to set the tone for the remainder of league play.
Sweetwater (0-1 in league, 2-6 overall) will host Chula Vista (0-1 in league, 2-6 overall) in the renewal of the county’s longest-running rivalry contest on Friday.
Mar Vista also recorded a turnabout win in its resumed game at Chula Vista on Saturday. The Mariners trailed, 7-0, when the game was halted, then won 17-14 in Saturday’s continuation.
Hilltop played with a definite sense of urgency when resuming play on Saturday. The Lancers scored, recovered an onside kick and scored again to trim their deficit to 31-28. An 86-yard punt return for a touchdown by Dylan McCoy later hiked the score to 43-31 in Hilltop’s favor.
“We thought we had to be aggressive,” explained Hilltop head coach Drew Westling, whose team broke the game open with 29 third-quarter points. “With 24 minutes on the clock (on Saturday) and us being down 17 points, we thought if we could score and get the ball back that we could create some momentum.”
Hilltop moved the ball, racking up 580 all-purpose yards. The Lancers ran 63 total plays, recording 40 first downs.
Quarterback Joey Castillo passed for 264 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions, hitting Micaiah Faiive-Iuli (two catches, 24 yards) and Lai Zumstein (two catches, 20 yards) for scores. Meanwhile, Marcos Deanda rushed 11 times for 47 yards and scored four touchdowns.
Deanda had five catches for 69 yards to finish the game with 116 all-purpose yards, including a two-point conversion catch.
Jeremiah Serrano keyed the team with 131 all-purpose yards (48 rushing, 83 receiving) while McCoy collected 127 all-purpose yards (19 receiving, 22 rushing and 86 yards on punt returns).
Marko Aki contributed 100 all-purpose yards to the team effort (49 receiving, 51 on kick returns).
Castillo led all players on the field with 314 total offensive yards (264 passing, 50 rushing).
Defensively, Hilltop recorded eight tackles for a loss, led by Oscar Piceno with three. Piceno topped the Lancers with 17 tackles.
Sweetwater took a seemingly commanding lead in the first half by capitalizing on Lancer miscues as Jose Urenda and Mario Ruffier each scored on interception returns while Luciano Estopier rushed 23 times for 129 yards, breaking off one 63-yard run.
SuHi quarterback Adrian Gutierrez hit Jose Pina on an 81-yard scoring pass on the team’s last offensive play on Saturday to halt the Lancer scoring barrage.
The comeback win over Chula Vista has Mar Vista positioned as the prospective No. 4 seed in the upcoming Division IV playoffs; Hilltop is currently ranked 16th among Division III teams and desperately needs to win its final two games in order to make the playoffs.
“If we play well, we feel we can beat anybody; if we don’t play well, we can lose to anybody,” Westling said.
Castillo has passed for 1,613 yards with nine touchdowns and 12 picks. He leads the team with 1,840 total yards. Serrano leads the team with 782 all-purpose yards, followed by Deanda with 657 all-purpose yards.
Deanda leads the team with five touchdowns and three sacks on defense.
Estopier tops Sweetwater with 878 rushing yards and six touchdowns.
Extra points
Last Friday’s postponement was nothing new for Mar Vista head coach Tyler Arciaga and his team.
“We had a similar situation happen to us last year when we played Bonanza High School in Las Vegas,” Arciaga noted. “We had a lightning delay and we had to play our game Saturday morning (we ended up losing).
“With the ebb and flow of the game on Friday Night, Chula Vista had the momentum and the large crowd behind them (there was probably 300 or less people on Saturday). They were playing faster and more physical than us.
“The turning point on the resumption was getting the stop to end the half. Chula had the ball first and 10 (we were down 7-0) and our defense made a real nice stand and got a turnover right before the half. We got the ball the next series and Hassan Spruill broke an 81-yard run that really catapulted momentum into our favor.
“Our defense got a couple more turnovers and we were able to hit one more big play — a 65-yard touchdown pass to Damon Thomas — that helped put us over the top.
“It was a huge win for us. Chula Vista is a solid and very physical team. They are in our division — along with our league — so it really helps us with playoff positioning. I feel that it gave our kids confidence that we can persevere through adversity and the find a way to win a big ball game.
“We have a tough challenge ahead of us this week with Hilltop, which can really sling the ball around the field. We need to have a great week of practice and put the Chula Vista game behind us with tunnel vision on Hilltop.”
Spruill had 16 carries for 157 yards) while Cesar Macias kicked a 38-yard field goal to put the Mariners ahead 10-7. The score by Thomas capped a run of 17 unanswered points to push the visitors ahead 17-7.
Dylan Sallee (four catches, 67 yards) scored both Spartan touchdowns on passes from Moses Contreras (89 passing yards). Two fumbles inside Mar Vista territory stymied a CV comeback.
Sweetwater and Chula Vista first met on the gridiron in 1947 in their long-standing rivalry series. The Red Devils lead the series 38-30-3, though the Spartans have won 13 of the last 15 meetings.
Chula Vista won last year’s match-up by a score of 17-14.
Metro-Mesa League
Eastlake 49, Bonita Vista 7
Richard Colmenero III passed for 189 yards and three touchdowns while Roman Coe (10 carries, 82 yards) scored two rushing touchdowns to lead the Titans, who amassed 294 rushing yards, four rushing touchdowns and 490 total offensive yards in the game. A.J. Hernandez had two TD catches. Defensively, Eastlake recorded three interceptions and seven tackles for a loss. Josh McCurty led the Titans with 14 tackles.
The win allowed Eastlake (7-1 overall) to tie Otay Ranch (5-3 overall) for first place in the Metro-Mesa League standings with a 2-0 league record. Bonita Vista dropped to 0-3 in league play, 2-7 overall.
Colmenero has passed for 1,584 yards and 17 touchdowns against six interceptions in eight games for a cumulative 127.5 quarterback rating. Coe tops the Titans with 442 rushing yards and a co-leading five rushing touchdowns, matching teammate Parker Merrifield (424 rushing yards). De Los Reyes paces the team’s receiving corps with 550 yards and six touchdowns. De Los Reyes also tops the team with 755 all-purpose yards.
Defensively, McCurty has accumulated 127 total tackles, including six sacks four tackles for a loss and two fumble recoveries for touchdowns.
Olympian 35, Mater Dei Catholic 7
Lukas Hamilton passed for 127 yards and one touchdown while the visiting Eagles scored four rushing touchdowns to record a key Division II win over the Crusaders. Olympian (1-1 in Metro-Mesa League, 2-6 overall) moved up to the No. 10 slot in the division rankings while Mater Dei Catholic (1-2 in Metro Mesa League, 3-6 overall) dropped to No. 12.
Blake Yamamoto (28 carries, 124 yards), Damarian Thornton (11 carries, 80 yards), Arnold Escano (five carries, 15 yards) and Hamilton (three carries, six yards) each scored rushing touchdowns. Thornton (three receptions, 84 yards) also caught one touchdown pass as the Eagles ran 81 plays and racked up 434 yards, including 307 rushing yards.
Defensive highlights included Jared Desmond with nine tackles (one for a loss) and three assists, Diego Sanchez and Thornton with one interception each and sacks by Jonah Guerrero and Robert Pagan.
“For sure it was a big win with playoff implications,” Olympian head coach Paul Van Nostrand said. “It was nice to get some of our key players back from injury.”
Offensive leaders through eight games include Blake Yamamoto with 319 rushing yards, Hamilton with 778 passing yards and four touchdowns and Anthony Gilpin Jr. with 412 receiving yards.
Thornton leads the Eagles with five touchdowns (three rushing and two receiving) while Escano has four touchdowns (three rushing TDs).
Metro-South Bay League
Mar Vista 17, Chula Vista 14
Hasan Spruill (16 carries, 157 yards) scored on an 81-yard run while Cesar Macias kicked a 38-yard field goal and Damon Thomas scored on a 65-yard pass reception to account for 17 unanswered points as the visiting Mariners recovered from a 7-0 first-half deficit.
Dylan Sallee (four catches, 67 yards) scored both Spartan touchdowns on passes from Moses Contreras (89 passing yards). Two fumbles inside Mar Vista territory stymied a CV comeback.
Spruill tops Mar Vista with 842 rushing yards and has scored nine rushing touchdowns in seven games while Jacob Galena has rushed for 674 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns in eight games.
Diego Garza leads the Mariners on defense with 63 tackles while Thomas has recorded 10 sacks. Galenana has three picks as a defender.
For Chula Vista, Contreras has passed for 485 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions while Alex Guzman has made 24 catches for 285 yards. Sallee has 20 catches for 236 yards and two touchdowns.
Faleapa Toilolo has six sacks to lead the Spartan defense while Lorenzo Matos has logged two interceptions.
Metro-Pacific League
Castle Park 10, Montgomery 6
Diego Martinez scored one rushing touchdown while Nicolas Magana kicked a field goal and extra-point conversion to lift the host Trojans, who recorded three sacks and one interception on defense, to the come-from-behind win.
Martinez has thrown for 676 yards this season with 13 touchdowns and two interceptions. Christian Bustos has six receiving touchdowns to his credit while Joel Torres has caught five touchdown passes. Torres has recorded four interceptions on defense.
Southwest 44, San Ysidro 3
The visiting Raiders rushed for 438 yards and scored six rushing touchdowns. Jo’vahn Young (11 carries, 190 yards) scored three touchdowns (two rushing, one receiving).
On the season, Daniel Belton has rushed for 705 yards and scored 15 touchdowns to lead the Raiders while Young has rushed for 506 yards and scored six touchdowns.
Blast from the past: It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature
Mother Nature spoke loud and clear last Friday night as a strong storm passing through San Diego County played havoc with high school football games.
It wasn’t just the rain, heavy at times in some places, but the associated lighting that caused delays, postponements and cancellations.
Some games where one team was clearly in the lead were decided by game officials and school administrators to be counted as final while other games were suspended at halftime, with the suspended games resuming on Saturday.
Some games were completed in their entirety while others weren’t even started. A few others were declared “no contests” and will not be made up.
San Diego Section Commissioner Jerry Schniepp held a conference call with school officials on Saturday detailing concerns and solutions.
Many suspended games were finalized on Saturday, including all Metro Conference games, while games in other conferences were completed on Monday.
Schniepp left the ultimate decision to school officials from varying athletic conferences to determine what was fair for their own conference.
All of last Friday’s Avocado League schedule was declared no contest and will not be played.
Coastal League games between La Jolla Country Day-Orange Glen and Santa Fe Christian-Bishop’s were also declared no contests.
No-contest games will reduce the number of games played by some teams from 10 to nine games, which will be used in the seeding for the upcoming playoffs.
City Conference games between Patrick Henry-Scripps Ranch and St. Augustine-Madison were rescheduled for Monday.
The Grossmont Conference elected to count games as finals at the point in which they were called last Friday.
Teams in the Imperial Valley were not affected by the weather.
For schools holding homecoming ceremonies last Friday, the storm proved exceedingly unwelcome.
Chula Vista High School annually puts on a showcase event. However, when the game was called off by officials with time still left on the clock in the first half, in effect it also called off the lavish halftime spectacle.
The game resumed at 10 a.m. Saturday morning but, with other events scheduled for Saturday afternoon, the game resumed sans spectacle.
Instead, Chula Vista High School will hold its homecoming during the halftime of the school’s annual powder-puff football game on Wednesday, Oct. 24. Kick-off for the gridiron tilt pitting the schools’ juniors and seniors is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
The resumption of games also played havoc with momentum.
Chula Vista was leading visiting Mar Vista, 7-0, in the team’s Metro-South Bay League opener when play was halted due to safety concerns.
Mar Vista out-scored Chula Vista, 17-7, on Saturday to post a 17-14 victory.
Sweetwater was leading visiting Hilltop by a 31-14 margin when play was suspended at halftime. However, the Lancers returned to the field with a renewed sense of urgency and out-scored the Red Devils 36-7 to check off a key 50-38 win in the teams’ Metro-South Bay League opener.
The momentum shifts weren’t solely reserved for the two Metro-South Bay League openers. Castle Park and Montgomery also experienced a turnaround in their Metro-Pacific League opener.
Host Castle Park trailed, 6-0, when the game between neighborhood rivals was suspended but returned the next day to record a 10-6 victory.
Olympian was leading host Mater Dei Catholic, 14-0, when play was suspended but managed to maintain the momentum in posting a 35-7 Metro-Mesa League win that had playoff implications written all over it.
In the other Metro Conference game scheduled last Friday, visiting Southwest defeated San Ysidro, 44-3, in the teams’ Metro-Pacific League opener.
Sweetwater head coach Bryan Wagner, a Hilltop alumnus, previously coached football in Ohio and had encountered weather delays there.
“It’s not easy for any team that has to wait out weather delays and/or play the next day,” Wagner explained. “I have been part of many weather delay games ranging from just a half hour wait up to two hours wait and postponement until the next day.
“I do not like coming back the next day to finish the game because usually the team that is leading the night before ends up losing. They lose all the momentum that they had and the mindset of the team ahead is that they have already won the game, which was the case of a few of the games.
“I have never heard of games being called no contest, though!”
Prominent among the no-contest games was the Avocado League match-up between sixth-ranked San Marcos and undefeated Torrey Pines. San Marcos held a 10-7 lead when the game was called. Officials from both schools agreed to wipe out the game in the best interests of both teams.
Torrey Pines remains undefeated at 7-0 heading into its final two regular season games.
Christian, meanwhile, saw its undefeated 7-0 record tarnished last Friday at top-ranked Cathedral Catholic. The non-league game was not resumed and the host Dons, leading 21-0 at halftime, were awarded the victory.
Metro Conference coaches cited the need for safety as the overriding factor in postponing games.
Eastlake’s annual Battle for the Boot rivalry game against Bonita Vista was suspended Friday with the host Titans leading 35-0. The game resumed Saturday morning with three touchdowns scored between the teams — two by Eastlake in an eventual 49-7 Metro-Mesa League victory.
“I think it all worked out well, luckily we had no injuries on Saturday,” EHS head coach John McFadden said. “We finished the Friday night at 35-0, after Saturday we won 49-7, there was a running clock in the fourth quarter. I was OK with playing on Saturday to make sure all of our kids played a lot.
“I left the decision up to (Bonita Vista) coach (Sam) Kirkland and he decided to continue. Joe Heinz (the Sweetwater district’s athletic co-ordinator) did a great job coordinating all games in the South Bay. This was a very strange situation that really never happens.
“The officials were very good about giving me the information. I understand that safety is the No. 1 thing. I have been involved in games where the lighting was a lot closer and we continued. Airing on the extreme side of safety is the new policy. I don’t have a say in it, so I do what I’m told.
“Our principal and athletic director did a great job of working with the officials to coordinate the postponement and finishing up on Saturday. It was incredible to get everyone back on Saturday, the clock person, announcer, chain crew, film crew and fans. I really appreciate them.”
The one downturn to the postponement came in that the oversize boot trophy was unavailable for the awards ceremony following the game.
The weather delay helped reverse course for Castle Park, which now have a chance to win a league title after forfeitting two games earlier this season.
Castle Park (1-0 in Metro-Pacific League play, 4-4 overall) hosts Southwest (1-0 in Metro-Pacific League play, 4-4 overall) on Friday in a match-up of league unbeatens. The Trojans close out regular season play Oct 26 at San Ysidro (0-1 in Metro-Pacific League play, 0-8 overall).
“Friday night’s postponement was a first for me,” noted CPHS head coach Bernard Ansolabehere. “I’m very grateful that we were able to resume the game on Saturday, and I’m very proud of our players for being able to handle a strange situation and come in ready to go.
“It’s great to start league 1-0 but we still have two tough opponents ahead of us, so we need to continue to work, prepare and grow as a team. If we do that I am confident that we can accomplish our goals.”
In leagues where teams will not play the same number of league games, Schniepp said each athletic conference will be responsible for determining the criteria for declaring a league champion.
Game on!
Prep Football Standings
Metro-Mesa League
League/Overall
School W-L W-L
Eastlake 2-0 7-1
Otay Ranch 2-0 5-3
Olympian 1-1 2-6
Mater Dei Catholic 1-2 3-6
Bonita Vista 0-3 2-7
Friday, Oct. 12
Eastlake 49, Bonita Vista 7
Olympian 35, Mater Dei Catholic 7
Friday, Oct. 19
Eastlake at Olympian, 7 p.m.
Mater Dei Catholic at Otay Ranch, 7 p.m.
Metro-South Bay League
League/Overall
School W-L W-L
Mar Vista 1-0 6-2
Hilltop 1-0 3-5
Chula Vista 0-1 2-6
Sweetwater 0-1 2-6
Friday, Oct. 12
Hilltop 50, Sweetwater 38
Mar Vista 17, Chula Vista 14
Friday, Oct. 19
Mar Vista at Hilltop, 7 p.m.
Chula Vista at Sweetwater, 7 p.m.
Metro-Pacific League
League/Overall
School W-L W-L
Castle Park 1-0 4-4
Southwest 1-0 4-4
Montgomery 0-1 3-5
San Ysidro 0-1 0-8
Friday, Oct. 12
Castle Park 10, Montgomery 6
Southwest 44, San Ysidro 3
Friday, Oct. 19
Southwest at Castle Park, 7 p.m.
San Ysidro at Montgomery, 7 p.m.
San Diego Section
MaxPreps Rankings
Division I: 1. Cathedral Catholic (7-1), 2. Torrey Pines (7-0), 3. La Costa Canyon (6-1), 4. Eastlake (7-1), 5. Helix (5-3), 6. San Marcos (6-1), 7. Madison (6-2), 8. Carlsbad (4-3), 9. St. Augustine (5-3), 10. Rancho Bernardo (6-2), 11. Mission Hills (2-5), 12. Oceanside (4-4), 13. Steele Canyon (6-2), 14. Otay Ranch (5-3), 15. El Camino (1-6), 16. Grossmont (2-6)
Division II: 1. Granite Hills (8-0), 2. Point Loma (5-3), 3. Poway (7-2), 4. Vista (6-2), 5. Ramona (5-2), 6. Valley Center (5-3), 7. Lincoln (6-2), 8. Mira Mesa (5-2), 9. San Pasqual (4-4), 10. Olympian (2-6), 11. Bishop’s (4-3), 12. Mater Dei Catholic (3-6), 13. Westview (1-7), 14. Mt. Carmel (0-8), 15. Bonita Vista (2-7), 16. Valhalla (0-8), 17. Southwest El Centro (3-5)
Division III: 1. Christian (7-1), 2. Monte Vista (7-1), 3. Central Union (8-0), 4. Brawley (7-1), 5. Morse (4-3), 6. Santa Fe Christian (4-3), 7. Imperial (4-4), 8. El Capitan (2-6), 9. West Hills (7-1), 10. University City (4-4), 11. La Jolla (3-5), 12. Rancho Buena Vista (3-5), 13. Scripps Ranch (5-3), 14. Escondido (3-5), 15. Mount Miguel (3-5), 16. Hilltop (3-5), 17. Patrick Henry (1-7)
Division IV: 1. Kearny (8-0), 2. San Diego (6-1), 3. Del Norte (4-4), 4. Mar Vista (6-2), 5. Santana (4-5), 6. Chula Vista (2-6), 7. Serra (5-3), 8. Coronado (6-2), 9. Classical Academy (5-3), 10. La Jolla Country Day (2-5), 11. Calexico (3-5), 12. Fallbrook (2-5), 13. Montgomery (3-5), 14. Sweetwater (2-6), 15. Mission Bay (1-7), 16. Crawford (3-5), 17. El Cajon Valley (0-8)
Division V: 1. Tri-City Christian (7-1), 2. Vincent Memorial (6-1), 3. Orange Glen (5-2), 4. Francis Parker (7-1), 5. Holtville (5-2), 6. Palo Verde Valley (4-4), 7. Mountain Empire (5-3), 8. Maranatha Christian (5-4), 9. Castle Park (4-4), 10. Southwest (4-4), 11. Army-Navy Academy (2-6), 12. Calipatria (3-5), 13. Hoover (1-7), 14. Escondido Charter (1-7), 15. Clairemont (0-8), 16. San Ysidro (0-8)
Eight-man football
CITRUS LEAGUE
League/Overall
School W-L W-L
Borrego Springs 4-0 7-1
St. Joseph Academy 4-0 4-2
Horizon Prep 2-2 3-3
Victory Christian 2-3 2-5
Rock Academy 1-3 1-5
Ocean View Christian 1-2 1-5
Warner 0-4 2-6
Friday, Oct. 5
St. Joseph Academy 64, Victory Christian 24
Friday, Oct. 12
Horizon Prep 68, Victory Christian 30
Ocean View Christian Academy 28, Rock Academy 6
Friday, Oct. 19
Victory Christian Academy vs. Rock Academy at Mt. Miguel, 7 p.m.
Ocean View Christian Academy at Borrego Springs, 7 p.m.
Ocean League
League/Overall
School W-L W-L
Foothills Christian 3-0 5-2
Calvin Christian 3-0 5-3
Julian 2-2 3-6
SD Jewish Academy 2-2 4-2
Calvary Christian 0-3 4-3
West Shores 0-3 2-5
Friday, Oct. 12
San Diego Jewish Academy 72, Calvary Christian Academy 6
Friday, Oct. 19
Calvary Christian Academy vs. West Shores at Eastlake High School, 7 p.m.
