There are eight teams sequestered in the Division V-II tier this season — six which will qualify for the playoffs. Victory Christian Academy sits somewhere in the middle to lower half of the pack three weeks into the season.
The Knights have five other section Division V-AA teams on their schedule this season, so they pretty much control their own postseason destiny.
VCA has already beaten one of its division rivals — 36-6 at O’Farrell Charter on Aug. 30 — and have another one looming on the horizon this Friday against visiting Maranatha Christian (2-1).
Other teams in the division include Coastal Academy, Mountain Empire, Calipatria, Tri-City Christian and Rock Academy.
Among Division V-AA schools, No. 1 Coastal Academy (3-0) is ranked ahead of No. 2 Calipatria (3-0) and No. 3 Maranatha Christian, followed by No. 4 TCC (2-1), No. 5 Rock Academy (0-3), No. 6 VCA, No. 7 Mountain Empire (2-1) and No. 8 O’Farrell Charter (0-3).
The Knights won their second consecutive game in their return to 11-person play last Saturday by out-pointing visiting Temecula’s Saint Jeeanne De Lestonnac Catholic School by a score of 62-38 as the teams combined for 100 points.
“We’re slowing picking up the dubs (victories) but we have a tough one coming up,” VCA head coach Earl Benson said.
The Knights led innocently enough, 6-0, after the opening quarter on a hot day. The game was pushed back an hour because of the 90-degree temperature. But once the game got under way, things really started to get hot.
The hosts pushed their lead to 18-6, then 26-12 at halftime after the Mustangs (0-3) had narrowed the score to 18-12 at one point in the second quarter. Both teams marched up and down the field exchanging scores. The hosts just managed to tack on an extra touchdown each time to hold onto a safe lead.
A 16-6 scoring output in the third quarter gave VCA a 48-18 lead and the confidence to close out the win despite 20 fourth-quarter points by the visitors.
VCA junior quarterback Austin Dill tied a single-game school record at the 11-person level with six touchdowns. He completed 13 of 17 passes for 352 yards and was intercepted once to finish the non-league game with a 133.0 quarterback-efficiency rating.
Junior Gabriel Aguirre led the hosts on the ground with 103 rushing yards and one touchdown. Junior Alejandro Rodriguez (one carry, three yards) also scored one rushing touchdown.
Dill spread his passes around to five receivers. Junior Ben Cordova had five catches for 153 yards and two touchdowns while junior Jayden Gray had four catches for 130 yards and one touchdown. Junior Forest Partch had one catch for a 12-yard touchdown while junior Andres Sanchez caught an 11-yard scoring strike. Junior Max Gardner had two catches for 46 yards and one touchdown. Cordova (67 yards) and Gray (61 yards) each broke away with long scores.
The Knights scored nine touchdowns in the game while the Mustangs scored six — 15 touchdowns between the two teams. SJSLCS actually out-gained VCA 457-455 in total yards.
Junior Luke Ludwig rushed for 222 yards and scored twice for the Temecula visitors while senior Braeden Dietterle rushed for 197 yards and scored four times on the ground. Ludwig led all players on the field with 316 total yards (222 rush, 21 receiving and 73 kick returns) while Ditterle had 314 all-purpose yards (197 rush, 19 receiving, 98 kick-returns).
Photos by Phillip Brents
Olympian Eagles post first win of 2024 season
The Olympian Eagles traveled to suburban Phoenix amid a scorching heatwave last weekend and came home with a 40-7 non-league victory against Trivium Prep to record the the team’s first win of the 2024 season.
“The offense started slow but got into a good rhythm in the second half,” Olympian head coach Bradley Carter said.
Senior quarterback Tyler Powell threw for five touchdowns to tie a school record. Senior tight end Tyler Esqueda-Johnson (seven catches, 89 yards) and senior receiver Arnold Mora (five catches, 121 yards) each had two receiving touchdowns.
Powell completed 14 of 25 passing attempts for 245 yards, including a 36-yard touchdown strike to sophomore Jordan Sandoval.
Junior Jonah Zamora rushed 15 times for 86 yards and one touchdown and returned a kickoff 68 yards.
Mora had one 62-yard catch while Esqueda-Johnson had one 42-yard catch. Senior kicker Gustavo Cinco converted four of six extra-point attempts.
The Eagles recorded three sacks on defense — one each by senior Ryan Claybon, junior Mikey Talavera and sophomore Jack Faucher.
Sophomore Jeremiah Faucer led the team with six tackles, including two for losses.
Olympian hosts the Santana Sultans (2-1) on Friday in a bid to get to the 0.500 level. Kick-off is 6:30 p.m.
The Sultans are coming off a 37-14 non-league win against visiting Hilltop last Friday as senior Kaedyn Hallman rushed for 210 yards and scored three touchdowns (six on the season). Sophomore Denton Goar (receiving) and freshman Julian Mayers (rushing) also scored touchdowns.
CV Spartans 35. El Capitan 21
Quarterback Izaac Baca and receiver Elijah Gillespie both recorded minimal yardage in the Spartans’ 28-0 non-league victory over the visiting Bonita Vista Barons on Aug. 31 as Chula Vista scored its first win of the season. Both seniors had big games last Friday as the Spartans recorded their second win of the season – 35-21 in non-league ply at El Capitan High School in Lakeside.
Gillespie caught six passes for 203 yards and three touchdowns while Baca passed for 295 yards and three scores.
Additionally, senior La’Darrione Perkins scored one rushing touchdown while senior Ahman Mitchell returned the opening kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown. Defensively, junior nose tackle Julio Andrade had seven tackles and forced two fumbles while classmate Diego Frisson-Gaither logged three tackles for losses, including one sack. Senior Blake Franco had one interception.
Chula Vista rang up 351 yards in total offense. Junior Carlos Echeverria was successful on all five extra-point conversions.
“We’re starting to find our way offensively,” CV head coach Howard Bannister III said. “We struggled our first two games of the year. Our special teams performed excellently. All three phases of our game were excellent.”
The Spartans (2-1) will host Hilltop (1-2) in the teams’ annual Kiwanis Bowl game this Friday. Kick-off is 6:30 p.m. Chula Vista leads the series. The Spartans won last year’s rivalry match-up 48-27.
El Capitan dropped to 1-2 on the season. Hilltop has lost its last two games (32-26 to visiting Temescal Canyon on Aug. 31 and 37-14 at Santana last Friday) after kicking off the season with a 22-14 win at Coronado on Aug. 23.
Sweetwater 31, Clairemont 0
The Red Devils remained undefeated on the season after recording a shutout win on the road at Clairemont High School.
Senior quarterback Zaryan Crews accumnulated 256 yards in total offense (175 rushing and 81 rushing) to lead the National City visitors to their third consecutive win on the young season.
Sweetwater crushed the Chieftains (1-2) with 248 rushing yards. Junior Christian Corpus rushed for 37 yards and scored two rushing touchdowns while Crews scored once on the ground.
Crews also logged one sack and two tackles for losses on defense and tackled on a 36-yard punt.
Junior Alberto Mariscal had one interception for 32 yards while junior Juan Alvarez had one fumble recovery. Alvarez also had 54 receiving yards on offense in the non-league game.
Senior Giovanni Aceves had seven kicking points on four extra-point conversions and a field goal.
Sweetwater will host Bonita Vista (0-3) on Friday, Sept. 13, in a bid to start the season 4-0. The Barons came up on the short end of a 48-15/16 score to visiting University City last Friday.
Through three games, Crews has rushed for 477 yards and scored four rushing touchdowns.
Southwest 34, Tri-City Christian 33
The host Raiders improved to 2-1 on the season after holding off a potential two-point attempt in the closing minutes of last Friday’s non-league contest.
Sophomore Leo Holguin passed for 218 yards with three touchdowns and one interception while senior Jordan Cretain (five receptions, 152 yards) caught three scoring passes to key the Raiders’ offense. Senior Nery Gomez and Holguin (10 carries, 22 yards) each scored on touchdown runs.
Holguin connected with Cretain on one 82-yard pass play in the game. Cretain finished with 172 all-purpose yards by adding 20 yards on kick returns.
Holguin tallied 240 yards in total offense (rushing and passing).
Seniors Alex Kibodeaux and Jorge Gastelum each recorded sacks while junior Diego Valencia and senior Jaylen Garcia each made interceptions. Kibodeaux and Necali Rodriguez each had fumble recoveries.
Garcia and Gomez each caught two-point passing conversions.
Tri-City (2-1) recorded five touchdowns in the match-up, including two rushing scores by senior Joel Valverde (nine carries, 67 yards) and single scores by senior Sam Denning (six carries, 25 yards; one catch, 16 yards), freshman Gary Dillard III (three catches, 60 yards) and senior Ian Johnson (two catches, 67 yards). Valverde had one successful two-point rushing conversion.
Valverde, the team’s quarterback, passed for 116 yards to complete the game with 183 total yards.
Senior Meo Laurenceau paced the TCC defense with 10 tackles, including six for losses and four sacks. Dillard and Valverde each had interceptions on defense.
CalPreps Top 50 Rankings
San Diego Section Week 3
- Lincoln (2-1), 2. Cathedral Catholic 3-0, 3. Carlsbad 2-1, 4. La Costa Canyon 3-0, 5. Granite Hills 2-1, 6. San Marcos 3-0, 7. Mission Hills 2-1, 8. La Jolla 3-0, 9. El Camino 2-1, 10. Helix 1-2, 11. Rancho Bernardo 3-0, 12. Mt. Miguel 3-0, 13. Del Norte 2-1, 14. Oceanside 1-2, 15. Central Union (3-0), 16. Poway (2-1), 17. Bishop’s (1-1), 18. Mater Dei Catholic (0-3), 19. Torrey Pines (1-2), 20. Madison (1-2), 21. St. Augustine (0-3), 22. La Jolla Country Day (2-1), 23. Scripps Ranch (3-0), 24. Santa Fe Christian (2-1), 25. Brawley (2-0), 26. University (3-0), 27. Steele Canyon (2-1), 28. Mt. Carmel (3-0), 29. Pt. Loma (1-2), 30. Imperial (3-0), 31. Christian (2-1), 32. Patrick Henry (2-1), 33. Valley Center (2-1), 34. Ramona (1-2), 35. Holtville (3-0), 36. Grossmont (2-1), 37. Sweetwater (3-0), 38. Chula Vista (2-1), 39, Eastlake (1-2), 40. San Pasqual (0-3), 41. El Capitan (1-2), 42. Army-Navy Academy (2-0), 43. Mira Mesa (0-2), 44. Westview (1-2), 45. San Diego (3-0), 46. Escondido (1-1), 47. Crawford (2-1), 48. West Hills (1-2), 49. Vincent Memorial (2-1), 50. Santana (2-1)
Others: 52. Otay Ranch (0-3), 55. Olympian (1-2), 61. Montgomery (1-2), 62. Bonita Vista (0-3), 64. Hilltop (1-2), 73. Southwest (2-1), 81. Castle Park (1-2), 82. Mar Vista (1-2), 84. San Ysidro (0-3), 85. Victory Christian Academy (2-1)
