Suffice it to say there’s no comparing this year’s Bonita Vista High School football team and those of the previous two seasons.
However, the Barons still have quite a bit of work to do to challenge for this year’s Metro-Mesa League championship.
“Our goal is to win the month of September,” BVHS head coach Sam Kirkland said following last Friday’s 35-14 non-league victory against the Sweetwater Red Devils at Southwestern College. “If we can win the month of September, we feel we can do well in league.”
The Barons improved to 1-0 in September, 2-1 overall, after last Friday’s win over Sweetwater in a match-up of teams both coming off their first victories of the season.
Bonita Vista rushed out to a 28-0 halftime lead on the strength of three second-quarter touchdowns — a three-yard run by John Inzunza on fourth-and-goal, a 56-yard punt return by Ron Vann Jr. and a 39-yard touchdown catch by Vann with 1:39 left in the opening half.
Vann had opened scoring in the first quarter by catching a 37-yard touchdown pass that he had initially tipped to himself.
Vann finished the game with three touchdowns to increase his season total to six in three games, including five in the past two games.
The Devils used a long kickoff return by Rej Sarabia to open second-half scoring when Nico Salazar scored on a short run after a catch by a teammate had placed the ball at the four-yard line.
The hosts roared to a 35-7 lead, however, when Kane scored a rushing touchdown on a busted play.
The visitors closed out scoring with 1:59 left in the game when Salazar made a touchdown catch.
Chris Kane finished with two touchdown passes for the Barons on the night while Nathan Roble Cristobal connected for one aerial score.
Vann and Kane received player of the game honors for Bonita Vista.
“I had challenged the senior class specifically and the team to play a whole game of four quarters,” Kirkland said. “Those two players led the charge in the first half.”
Kane received the game ball.
The Barons have outscored their last two opponents 92-14.
“The last two games we played very good football,” Kirkland said. “We played very opportunistic on offense, getting our hands on the football. But we have some work to do. We need to be more opportunistic on defense. But we’re 2-0 the last two weeks. That’s all that matters.”
Bonita Vista dropped its season opener, 37-7, to second-ranked St. Augustine. The Barons will host seventh-ranked Steele Canyon this Friday at SWC.
Steele Canyon (2-0) defeated visiting Eastlake, the defending Metro-Mesa League champion, 17-6, in its season opener.
“It will be a good challenge for us,” Kirkland admitted.
Despite coming up short by 21 points in the setback to the Barons, the Devils (1-2) did not embarrass themselves by any means on the gridiron. Sweetwater looks to contend for the Metro-South Bay League championship and a berth in the San Diego Section Division IV playoffs.
Mario Villa rushed 19 times for 70 yards while Salazar had six carries for 19 yards.
Quarterback Isaiah Atayde completed six of 10 attempts for 75 yards. Salazar had three catches for 31 yards, including one touchdown.
Sarabia had three kick returns for 119 yards.
“I thought going into the game that we had a chance if we played a perfect game but we didn’t,” SuHi head coach Bryan Wagner said in regard to last Friday’s match-up against the Barons. “We need to clean up a few things. It doesn’t get any easier this week because Santana (the top-ranked team in Division IV, the Devils’ opponent this Friday) is throwing the ball all over the place. But after that we should be in every game.”
Sweetwater hosts Mt. Miguel in a non-league game on Sept. 27, followed by three additional home games against Vincent Memorial (Oct. 4), Montgomery (Oct. 11) and Mar Vista (Oct. 18).
Game sites are yet to be announced though the Devils will play their homecoming game against Mar Vista at Southwestern College.
Sweetwater finishes league play with road games at Hilltop (Oct. 25) and Chula Vista (Nov. 1).
Santana (3-0) is coming off a 41-0 non-league win over visiting Mar Vista (1-2).
Mustangs top Pointers, earn No. 1 ranking among Division II teams
The Otay Ranch High School football team will get a measure on its success so far this season when it hosts second-ranked St. Augustine this Friday.
Kickoff is 7 p.m.
The Mustangs are coming off one of their biggest wins to kick off the 2019 season after defeating the host Point Loma Pointers, 39-26, last Friday.
The win over the highly regarded Pointers boosted Otay Ranch’s early season record to 2-1 and, in the process, elevated the Mustangs to the top raking among Division II schools.
St. Augustine is ranked second among all section schools, trailing only Cathedral Catholic, which has risen to No. 3 in the state rankings and No. 8 in the nation.
The Saintsmen are ranked 17th in the state.
Otay Ranch head coach Lance Christensen called the win over Point Loma “a great game to be a part of.”
“Both teams competed and played hard,” Christensen said.
Quarterback Paco Puentes passed for 188 yards and three touchdowns with one interception while D.J. Meno rushed 19 times for 122 yards (6.4 yards per rush).
Tight end Dylan Baca had three catches for 95 yards and two touchdowns.
The Mustangs piled up 389 yards in total offense, scoring three passing touchdowns, one rushing touchdown and one touchdown on a punt return.
Carl Addy rushed 10 times for 53 yards and scored one touchdown while Joseph Firebaugh had two catches for 55 yards, including one touchdown.
A 57-yard touchdown strike to Baca put the visitors ahead 24-20 on the scoreboard while a 25-yard scoring run by Addy upped the lead to 32-20.
Miles Brotschi scored on a punt return to further buttress Otay Ranch in the scoring column.
Manuel Martinez was successful on all four extra-point conversions he attempted and added a 23-yard field goal for seven kicking points in the game.
Inside linebacker Aiden Arguilla had 17 tackles, eight assists and two sacks to lead the Otay Ranch defense that collected three sacks, one interception and two fumble recoveries overall.
Firebaugh and Julianny Marquez both had one fumble recovery while Tre Mills had one interception. Marquez also had one sack.
On the season, Puentes has passed for 466 yards with five touchdowns and three interceptions while racking up 505 total yards. Ethan Knight leads the Mustangs with 359 all-purpose yards, including 203 yards on kick returns.
Arguilla tops Otay Ranch with 44 tackles. Defensively, the Mustangs have netted eight sacks, four interceptions and three fumble recoveries through three games.
Otay Ranch has scored 10 touchdowns in three games.
Escondido 19, Chula Vista 12
The Chula Vista Spartans did not go down quietly in their non-league match-up last Friday to the visiting Escondido Cougars. The Spartans out-gained the North County visitors 282-212 in total offensive yards despite coming up short by the margin of a touchdown.
The Spartans (0-3) piled up 218 passing yards on the arm of quarterback Omar Perez while rushing 26 times for 66 yards. Perez completed 15 of 35 attempts, including a 57-yard pass to Karlos Jimenez.
Alex Guzman caught six passes for 63 yards, including one for a touchdown. Jimenez had two catches for 63 yards, including the 57-yarder. Dylan Sallee had four catches for 62 yards, including one catch for 30 yards.
Jorge Villa kicked two field goals to account for six kicking points, adding to the six points scored by Guzman for Chula Vista’s final point total.
The Spartan defense held record-setting Escondido quarterback Robbie Ramos to 131 yards and no touchdowns as Ramos completed just seven of 21 passes. The Cougars rushed 11 times for 81 yards.
Raymond Cruz led the CV defense with eight tackles while Andrew Marquez recorded two tackles for a loss. Overall, the Spartan defenders recorded 10 quarterback hurries, including five by Marquez and four by Daniel Fonseca.
The Cougars, who had piled up 91 points in their previous two games, improved to 2-1.
Friday Night Lights
Friday, Sept. 6
Bonita Vista 35, Sweetwater 14
Otay Ranch 39, Point Loma 26
Hilltop 43, San Ysidro 3
Castle Park 33, Francis Parker 28
Montgomery 35, Crawford 7
Lincoln 35, Eastlake 24
Torrey Pines 10, Olympian 7
Escondido 19, Chula Vista 12
Santana 41, Mar Vista 0
Gabrielino 29, Southwest 20
Saturday, Sept. 7
Bishop’s 71, Mater Dei Catholic 42
