It is the longest continuous rivalry in the San Diego Section and possibly among the fiercest in the state. It was played for the 77th time last Friday and the host Sweetwater Red Devils came out on top, 23-21, in a thrilling finish over the Chula Vista Spartans to claim this year’s bragging rights to the massive Legacy of Pride trophy.
Sweetwater now leads the long-running series 42-30-5.
The Red Devils regained the trophy after Chula Vista won last year’s gridiron battle, 19-6, on its home turf. Prior to that, Sweetwater had put together a two-game winning streak in the series.
The Red Devils appear to be moving in the right direction at the right time of the season in recording their second consecutive non-league win. Sweetwater defeated the visiting Monte Vista Monarchs, 39-0, in advance of last Friday’s rivalry game.
The loss was bitter for the Spartans (4-2), who entered the Legacy of Pride contest riding a three-game winning streak while moving up the section’s Division IV rankings.
The two-game win streak has boosted the Devils (2-4) up the Division V rankings.
Sweetwater, plagued by self-inflicted wounds for most of the first part of the season, seemed to settle down and play within its abilities in last Friday’s game.
The Devils scored two rushing touchdowns, one receiving touchdown and a field goal in cobbling together their 23 points.
Senior Xzavier Crews put his fleet feet to good use by rushing 10 times for 135 yards and two touchdowns. Running the ball is what the National City team does best and the hosts certainly didn’t deviate too much from their game plan with 53 carries for 329 rushing yards.
Junior quarterback Zaryan Crews completed one of just two passes in the game, but it went for a 21-yard touchdown reception by sophomore Alberto Mariscal. The SuHi signal-caller also rushed 17 times for 33 yards.
Senior Izell Wright rushed 20 times for 113 yards while senior Carlos Delgado carried the ball five times for 51 yards.
Junior Jacob Gonsalves converted two of three extra-point attempts while also splitting the uprights for a field goal to finish the memorable night with five kicking points. Gonsalves also recorded a fumble recovery on defense along with junior teammate Andrew Jones.
Junior Izaac Baca completed five of 15 passing attempts for 141 yards and two touchdowns to key Chula Vista. Junior Elijah Gillespie (two catches, 83 yards) reeled in both scores.
The Spartans gained 96 rushing yards — 57 by junior La’Darrione Perkins on nine carries with one touchdown and 39 by senior Paul Alvarez on eight carries.
Junior Michael Marquez had one catch for 48 yards while junior Aizik Rodriguez collected three kicking points.
Junior Joshua Gogue-Rios led the Spartans defensively with 11 tackles. Overall, the visitors recorded nine tackles for a loss.
Sweetwater never trailed, leading 13-0 before Chula Vista narrowed the score to 16-14 on a 58-yard TD catch by Gillespie and a 10-yard scoring run by Perkins.
Xzavier Crews later scored on a 71-yard reverse to excite the fans while Gillespie later scored for the Spartans to once again narrow the score to two points.
Winning is a process, according to Sweetwater head coach Ervin Hernandez.
“We talk about winning the day and going 1-0 for the week,” Hernandez explained. “The kids had a great week of practice and they were ready for this rivalry game. It was a challenging preseason for us but we beat ourselves with penalties and turnovers. This was our second game in a row without a turnover on offense, so we’ve done a great job fixing that.
“We’re looking to win the day in practice and go 1-0 versus Otay Ranch. We can see Division V begin to take shape, but we can only control on getting better ourselves and preparing for our next game.”
Sweetwater takes its modest two-game winning streak into an Oct. 6 non-league match-up against visiting Otay Ranch.
Meanwhile, Chula Vista kicks off defense of its Metro-Pacific League championship with a game at Mar Vista (1-4) on Friday. Kick-off is 6:30 p.m.
Otay Ranch is coming off a 22-15 loss at Olympian in the teams’ budding Battle of the O’s rivalry game while Mar Vista came out on the short end of a 37-6 score at Coronado in the teams’ Battle of the Strand rivalry game that was played for the 54th time.
The Mariners are mired in a four-game losing streak.
Metro-South Bay League play is shaping up to be quite interesting with all four teams now sporting at least two wins in non-league play and three teams with three wins.
The Hilltop Lancers (3-3) won their second consecutive game by defeating the visiting Castle Park Trojans, 42-7, last Friday.
Senior Isaac Nones passed for 226 yards with one touchdown while rushing seven times for 65 yards and two rushing touchdowns. He finished the game with 291 total yards, including a 90-yard scoring pass to senior Isaac Meza and a 46-yard rushing score.
Seniors Jose Cabrera (18 carries, 100 yards) and Gio Chavez (one carry, 21 yards) each scored once on the ground. Meza had four catches for 153 yards through the air.
Junior Juan Matuz scored on an 80-yard interception return while sophomore Manny Pablos tacked on six kicking points.
“It was another complete game,” Hilltop coach Bryan Wagner said. “We have won two in a row, but they were against Division V teams. We have to prove ourselves to teams in our division. Eastlake next week will be a good test and how we perform and compete in that game will be a good measurement of us as a team.”
Battle of the O’s
Olympian ran its record to 3-3 by corralling the visiting Mustangs, who were coming off their first win of the season. It was the first time that Olympian had beaten Otay Ranch since 2016.
Eagles senior receiver Jake Marcial had 10 catches for 156 yards and one touchdown while senior Ethan Roberts sealed the game with an interception in the end zone.
Sophomore Jayden Fuentes passed for 174 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He also rushed nine times for 30 yards to finish the game with 204 total offensive yards.
Senior Coby Dunn rushed 13 times for 36 yards and scored one rushing touchdown while junior Josue Vargas had six carries for 18 yards and scored one touchdown.
Seniors Jacob Frijas and Matthew Latimer each recorded one sack while senior A.J. Cadriel had one 35-yard kickoff return.
Sophomore David Smith logged a team-high 15 tackles for Otay Ranch (1-5) while junior Diego Martinez had one sack.
Aztec territory
Defending Metro-South Bay League champion Montgomery evened its record at 3-3 following last Friday’s 42-14 non-league win at Canyon Hills. Sophomore Andi Deanda passed for 274 yards and five touchdowns – all to senior Aerek Brown (six catches, 124 yards).
The Aztecs racked up 503 total offensive yards. Senior Mike Mohr keyed the visitors defensively with 12 tackles, including five stops for losses, four sacks and four quarterback hurries.
Senior Diego Villanueva and sophomore Sam Paliza each had one interception while senior Dalaias Garcia had one fumble recovery and six extra-point kick conversions.
Senior Jose Guadalupe (five carries, 78 yards) rounded out the scoring with one rushing TD.
Southwest improved to 4-2 after defeating host O’Farrell Charter, 22-6, last Friday in non-league play. Junior Nery Gomez rushed for 129 yards and two touchdowns.
The Raiders made three interceptions and three fumble recoveries on defense. Junior Jorge Gastelum scored on a 66-yard fumble return.
San Diego Section Football Rankings
Division I
1. Carlsbad 5-0, 2. Lincoln 6-0, 3. Helix 5-0, 4. Granite Hills 5-0, 5. Mission Hills 3-1, 6. El Camino 4-1, 7. Cathedral Catholic 1-5, 8. La Costa Canyon 4-1, 9. Mater Dei Catholic 2-3, 10. St. Augustine (3-3), 11. Madison (2-3), 12. Torrey Pines 3-2, 13. Poway 3-2, 14. San Marcos 3-2, 15. Ramona 2-2, 16. Mira Mesa 2-3
Division II
1. Del Norte (4-1), 2. Rancho Bernardo (3-2), 3. Oceanside (3-3), 4. La Jolla (3-2), 5. Scripps Ranch (3-2), 6. Eastlake (1-5), 7. Pt. Loma (3-3), 8. Central Union (4-2), 9. Mt. Carmel (3-2), 10. Brawley (5-0), 11. Christian (4-2), 12. Steele Canyon (3-2), 13. Bishop’s (2-3), 14. University City (0-5), 15. San Pasqual (2-3), 16. Rancho Buena Vista (0-5)
Division III
1. La Jolla Country Day (5-1), 2. Mission Bay (5-1), 3. Fallbrook (3-2), 4. Patrick Henry (3-2), 5. West Hills (4-1), 6. Imperial (5-1), 7. Santa Fe Christian (2-4), 8. El Capitan (3-3), 9. Montgomery (3-3), 10. Morse (2-3), 11. Grossmont (3-2), 12. Otay Ranch (1-5), 13. Valley Center (1-5), 14. Palo Verde Valley (2-4), 15. Vista (0-6), 16. San Diego (0-5)
Division IV
1. Mt. Miguel (5-1), 2. Santana (4-1), 3. Chula Vista (4-2), 4. Westview (3-2), 5. Crawford (3-2), 6. Escondido Charter (3-2), 7. Coronado (3-3), 8. Escondido (2-4), 9. Calexico (4-1), 10. Olympian (3-3), 11. Bonita Vista (4-2), 12. Hilltop (3-3), 13. Classical Academy (2-4), 14. Canyon Hills (0-6), 15. Francis Parker (0-6), 16. Orange Glen (1-4)
Division V
1. El Cajon Valley (4-1), 2. Vincent Memorial (4-2), 3. Sweetwater (2-4), 4. Valhalla (2-4), 5. Hoover (3-2), 6. Kearny (4-1), 7. Southwest El Centro (2-3), 8. Clairemont (3-3), 9. Monte Vista (1-5), 10. Castle Park (2-3), 11. Southwest (4-2), 12. Mar Vista (1-4), 13. San Ysidro (1-5)
Division V-AA
1. Army-Navy Academy (4-1), 2. Holtville (3-2), 3. Rock Academy (2-2), 4. Maranatha Christian (2-3), 5. Tri-City Christian (4-1), 6. Calipatria (3-3), 7. Mountain Empire (0-6), 8. O’Farrell Charter (0-5)
Eight-Man
1. St. Joseph Academy (3-1), 2. Foothills Christian (4-1), 3. Calvin Christian (3-2), 4. Coastal Academy (2-2), 5. Victory Christian Academy (1-3), 6. San Pasqual Academy (3-3), 7. Borrego Springs (1-3), 8. Horizon Prep (1-3), 9. West Shores (1-3), 10. Warner Springs (0-3)
METRO CONFERENCE RANKINGS
1. Mater Dei Catholic
2. Eastlake
3. Chula Vista
4. Montgomery
5. Sweetwater
6. Otay Ranch
7. Olympian
8. Bonita Vista
9. Hilltop
10. Castle Park
