The high school football season actually consists of three seasons: non-league play, league play and the post-season playoffs.
The first part of the 2023 season didn’t end too badly for the Chula Vista Spartans with a 4-2 non-league record.
The Spartans kicked off the second part of their season last Friday as Metro-Pacific League play commenced. That also didn’t go too badly with a 48-0 win over the host Mar Vista Mariners as Chula Vista officially opened defense of its league title.
The Spartans enter their next game — Oct. 13 against the visiting Southwest Raiders — with a 5-2 overall record, including a 1-0 mark in league play. Chula Vista is joined on top of the league standings by the surprising Raiders, who defeated the host San Ysidro Cougars, 26-19, last Friday to kick off league play and, in the process, improve their overall record to 5-2.
It should be an interesting second part of the season for both teams.
Chula Vista currently holds down the No. 4 ranking among the section’s Division IV teams while Southwest is ranked 10th among Division V teams.
The top 12 seeded teams in Division IV advance to the playoffs while the Division V playoffs are split into two sub-divisions.
CVHS junior Izaac Baca passed for 184 yards and three touchdowns while senior Paul Alvarez rushed for 101 yards and two touchdowns to key the visitors.
Chula Vista scored seven touchdowns — four passing and three rushing.
Junior Elijah Gillespie had five catches for 110 yards and three touchdowns while junior La’Darrione Perkins (nine carries, 68 yards) and senior Nathan Houck (two carries, 26 yards) each scored one rushing touchdown.
Gillespie also had one interception on defense while Alvarez had one two-point rushing conversion.
Southwest is scheduled to host Mar Vista (1-5) on Thursday in the teams’ annual Battle for the Bell rivalry game. Kick-off is 6:30 p.m.
“The guys are slowly but surely coming together.,” Raiders coach Domonic Cruz said. “We have a few new players added to the mix who are contributing.”
The primary one is senior quarterback Justice Pigee, who contributed 218 total offensive yards last Friday to Southwest’s victorious effort — 104 passing yards and two touchdowns and one rushing touchdown to go with 114 yards on the ground.
He completed 10 of 13 passing attempts while rushing 17 times to finish the game with a 139.1 quarterback rating.
Senior Andrew Moreno received the team’s player of the game award with 11 total tackles, a half sack, a fumble recovery and four catches for 67 yards and a touchdown on offense.
Junior Jaylen Garcia also made a 17-yard touchdown grab while senior Issak Tapia scored on a fumble recovery.
Southwest led 12-0 through the opening quarter and 26-7 at halftime while weathering 12 second-half points by the Cougars (1-6).
The Raiders and Mariners were both primed for Thursday’s game, which also is Senior Night for Southwest. “It’s been 16 years since the last time we’ve had the bell,” Cruz said.
San Diego Section Fall Sports Rankings
PREP FOOTBALL
MaxPreps through Oct. 2
Division I: 1. Carlsbad (6-0), 2. Lincoln (7-0), 3. Helix (6-0), 4. Granite Hills (6-0), 5. Mission Hills (3-2), 6. La Costa Canyon (5-1), 7. Cathedral Catholic (2-5), 8. Torrey Pines (4-2), 9. Mater Dei Catholic (2-3), 10. St. Augustine (3-3), 11. El Camino (4-2), 12. Madison (2-4), 13. Poway (3-3), 14. Ramona (3-2), 15. San Marcos (4-2), 16. Mira Mesa (2-4)
Division II: 1. Del Norte (5-1), 2. Rancho Bernardo (3-3), 3. La Jolla (4-2), 4. Scripps Ranch (4-2), 5. Oceanside (4-3), 6. Pt. Loma (4-3), 7. Eastlake (1-5), 8. Central Union (5-2), 9. Bishop’s (3-3), 10. Christian (4-3), 11. Brawley (5-1), 12. Mt. Carmel (3-3), 13. University City (0-6), 14. San Pasqual (2-4), 15. Steele Canyon (3-3), 16. Rancho Buena Vista (0-6)
Division III: 1. Mission Bay (6-1), 2. La Jolla Country Day (5-2), 3. West Hills (4-2), 4. Fallbrook (3-3), 5. Patrick Henry (3-3), 6. Imperial (6-1), 7. Santa Fe Christian (3-4), 8. El Capitan (4-3), 9. Grossmont (4-2), 10. Morse (3-3), 11. Valley Center (2-5), 12. Montgomery (3-3), 13. Otay Ranch (1-5), 14. Palo Verde Valley (2-5), 15. Vista (0-7), 16. San Diego (0-6)
Division IV: 1. Mt. Miguel (6-1), 2. Santana (4-2), 3. Westview (4-2), 4. Chula Vista (5-2), 5. Crawford (3-2), 6. Escondido Charter (3-3), 7. Escondido (2-4), 8. Calexico (4-2), 9. Coronado (3-3), 10. Olympian (3-3), 11. Bonita Vista (4-2), 12. Hilltop (3-3), 13. Classical Academy (2-5), 14. Orange Glen (2-4), 15. Canyon Hills (0-7), 16. Francis Parker (0-6)
Division V: 1. Vincent Memorial (5-2), 2. El Cajon Valley (4-2), 3. Sweetwater (2-4), 4. Hoover (4-2), 5. Valhalla (2-5), 6. Southwest El Centro (2-4), 7. Kearny (4-2), 8. Clairemont (4-3), 9. Monte Vista (1-6), 10. Southwest (5-2), 11. Castle Park (2-3), 12. Mar Vista (1-5), 13. San Ysidro (1-6)
Division V-AA: 1. Holtville (4-2), 2. Army-Navy Academy (5-1), 3. Rock Academy (2-3), 4. Tri-City Christian (5-1), 5. Maranatha Christian (2-4), 6. Calipatria (3-3), 7. Mountain Empire (1-6), 8. O’Farrell Charter (0-6)
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
Division I: 1. Cathedral Catholic (23-3), 2. Westview (13-3), 3. Bishop’s (23-7), 4. Otay Ranch (31-2), 5. Torrey Pines (9-5), 6. El Capitan (16-4), 7. Francis Parker (13-7), 8. San Marcos (23-9), 9. Del Norte (11-5), 10. San Dieguito Academy (18-7), 11. Poway (17-10), 12. Rancho Bernardo (14-10), 13. Carlsbad (17-7), 14. Sage Creek (19-15), 15. La Jolla (5-8), 16. La Jolla Country Day (12-17), 17. Eastlake (15-9), 18. Pt. Loma (3-7), 19. Santa Fe Christian (7-12), 20. Granite Hills (5-7). Others: 22. Bonita Vista (7-11)
Division II: 1. Pacific Ridge (12-5), 2. Helix (13-5), 3. Christian (12-5), 4. Our Lady of Peace (15-6), 5. Mission Vista (16-10), 6. Fallbrook (13-7), 7. University City (19-7), 8. Scripps Ranch (7-5), 9. Vista (10-11), 10. Maranatha Christian (13-5), 11. Mater Dei Catholic (15-7), 12. Mt. Carmel (13-15), 13. Patrick Henry (13-15), 14. Coronado (15-11), 15. Valhalla (6-8). Others: 16. Chula Vista Learning Community Charter (8-6), 18. Olympian (9-18)
Division III: 1. San Pasqual (22-6), 2. Rancho Buena Vista (12-10), 3. Mission Bay (21-8), 4. Central Union (14-6), 5. Santana (10-7), 6. Steele Canyon (15-8), 7. West Hills (11-12), 8. Mira Mesa (15-12), 9. High Tech High San Diego (10-8), 10. Horizon Prep (9-6). Others: 17. Montgomery (6-14)
Division IV: 1. Oceanside (15-6), 2. Ocean View Christian Academy (11-0), 3. Valley Center (14-10), 4. Victory Christian Academy (10-3), 5. Hilltop (10-13), 6. Grossmont (9-8), 7. Coastal Academy (12-5), 8. San Diego Jewish Academy (5-4), 9. San Diego (18-9), 10. Cambridge School (10-11), 11. Mar Vista (6-15), 12. Southwest (8-17), 13. Hoover (3-6), 14. Liberty Charter (8-6), 15. Mountain Empire (4-16). Others: 17. High Tech High Chula Vista
Division V: 1. Lincoln (21-4), 2. Southwest El Centro (13-9), 3. Gompers Prep (8-2), 4. San Ysidro (9-13), 5. Orange Glen (8-8), 6. Palo Verde Valley (5-15), 7. Madison (8-11), 8. Health Sciences (3-2), 9. Kearny (6-11), 10. O’Farrell Charter (8-11). Others: 12. Chula Vista (5-11), 13. Bayfront Charter (3-6), 14. Castle Park (2-15), 18. Sweetwater (11-11)
BOYS WATER POLO
Division I: 1. La Jolla (9-2), 2. Santana (9-2), 3. Helix (11-5), 4. Cathedral Catholic (6-3). Others: 17. Mar Vista (5-5)
Division II: 1. Classical Academy (10-2), 2. Patrick Henry (10-3), 3. Oceanside (12-3), 4. Pt. Loma (8-1). Others: 6. Eastlake (10-6), 14. Hilltop (4-5)
Division III: 1. LJCD (18-3), 2. Castle Park (8-1), 3. Bonita Vista (6-4), 4. Olympian (3-0). Others: 10. Southwest (4-5), 13. Mater Dei Catholic (3-9), 14. Otay Ranch (3-9), 17. CVLCC (1-6)
