South County high school football fans will likely see a different Bonita Vista team this Friday at Hilltop High School than the one that took the field Sept. 9 at Southwestern College. The Barons, playing in their home opener before an expectant crowd, appeared not quite ready for prime time action in handing the visiting Steele Canyon Cougars a 34-10 non-league victory.
But much has changed in the ensuing three weeks — most notably, the team’s win-loss record. Head coach Greg Raby’s team has gone undefeated in its last three non-league contests — all played on the road — to even its record at 2-2-1 at the midpoint of regular season play.
Bonita Vista’s conquest of the host Scripps Ranch Falcons last Friday might have been the team’s most impressive so far.
Keyed by another dominating performance by John Matranga on both sides of the football, the Barons chalked up a well-deserved 14-7 win.
Matranga rushed for 117 yards on 10 carries and scored two touchdowns — the first on a five-yard run in the second quarter to tie the teams at 7 at halftime, and the second on a 77-yard scamper in the fourth quarter to, in Raby’s words, “put the game out of reach.”
Matranga also had a rather acrobatic interception to hike his pick count to five on the season. He has scored eight rushing touchdowns.
The Barons bruising rushing game ground out 234 yards while quarterback Johnathan Manjarrez completed four of 12 passing attempts for 61 yards.
Chris Moore caught a 36-yard pass while Adrian Gutierrez, Atal Khaliq and Parker Brisebois also each had one grab.
Josh Santos had 10 carries for 58 yards, Manny Vasquez had seven carries for 28 yards and Gutierrez had six carries for 34 yards.
The BVHS offensive line, led by all-league lineman Sean Fuimaono’s standout run blocking, has been “awesome over the past two weeks,” according to Raby.
Fuimaono had five pancake blocks to de-cleat Scripps Ranch defenders.
Since taking over at quarterback, Manjarrez has thrown for 418 yards and four touchdowns in four games. Moore has caught 13 passes for 228 yards and two TDs.
Matranga has rushed 59 times for 368 yards, averaging 6.4 yards per carry.
The Hilltop Lancers are coming off their first victory of the season — a 30-29 non-league decision over the visiting El Capitan Vaqueros last Friday — and the Division II match-up may prove critical for each team’s playoff positioning.
Kick-off is 7 p.m.
