Olympian High School’s football team has suddenly won two games in a row and could be on the verge of repeating as Metro-South Bay League champions. Meanwhile, the Montgomery Aztecs have suddenly won three games in a row and the same could be said about them.
The teams will pair up Friday to determine the exact course this year’s league championship will take. Kickoff is 6:30 p.m. at Montgomery High School.
League play opened last Friday with Olympian stopping the visiting Hilltop Lancers by a score of 28-13 while Montgomery spoiled the Bonita Vista Barons’ homecoming with a 14-9 road win at Southwestern College.
The key victories placed both teams on a collision course for undisputed rights for first place in the league standings.
“Best game of the year so far for the Eagles,” Olympian coach Brad Carter said. “The defense led the way by stopping Hilltop’s run game. Looking forward to a league championship game versus Montgomery on Friday.”
Senior linebacker Ryan Claybon had 12 tackles, one rushing touchdown, one sack and a blocked field goal while sophomore defensive end JoJo Rivera had seven tackles and three sacks. Junior Sebastian Marquez had eight tackles and a fumble recovery while senior Miguel Rivera had 2.5 sacks.
Offensively, junior quarterback Jayden Fuentes passed for 184 yards and two touchdowns while junior Jonah Zamora rushed for 91 yards on 26 carries and scored one rushing touchdown.
Touchdown receptions were by senior Tyler Esqueda-Johnson (10 catches, 111 yards) and senior Jayden Sandoval (three catches, 53 yards). The Eagles are 1-0, 3-5.
Hilltop senior Kneko Vasquez passed for 169 yards and one touchdown in the loss, which snapped a three-game Lancer win streak.
Senior Andy Bautista rushed 16 times for 47 yards and one touchdown while senior Juan Matuz had five catches for 122 yards and one TD. Matuz finished the contest with 139 all-purpose yards while Vasquez had 206 total yards.
Freshman quarterback Isaiah Mena-Malijan passed for one touchdown and rushed for another to lead Montgomery past Bonita Vista. Mena-Malijan passed for 202 yards and rushed for 22 yards. Senior Jayden Cannon caught a 10-yard scoring pass.
Senior Zantez Thomas had three catches for 98 yards while senior Raul Moreno had two catches for 45 yards.
Key statistic: the Aztecs out-gained the Barons 300-130 in total yards.
Montgomery (1-0, 5-3) besieged the hosts with two sacks (junior Jeremiah Laoang and senior Victor Calderon), 22 tackles for losses and two interceptions (junior John Ingram and Moreno). Junior Viliamu Trollinger had five tackles for losses.
Bonita Vista (0-1, 3-5) scored on a rushing touchdown by senior quarterback Isyah Luna (89 passing yards) and a 26-yard field goal by senior Richie Rojas. Additionally, sophomore Cole Margets had three interceptions on defense.
Senior Hayden McMackin had one catch for 48 yards.
The Metro-South Bay League champion will secure a CIF playoff berth and so will the Metro-Pacific League champion.
Fireworks were in the sky and on the field as Southwest defeated visiting Castle Park, 15-7, in the teams’ Metro-Pacific League opener last Friday. It marked the first homecoming win for the Raiders since Domonic Cruz became head coach at Southwest High School.
Freshman Isaac Munoz passed for 112 yards and one touchdown to senior Jordan Cretain (five catches, 103 yards) while senior Conner Davis controlled the ground with 16 carries for 112 yards, with sophomore Reyes Molina rushing seven times for 45 yards and one touchdown.
Davis also had four tackles, a pass break-up and an interception on defense. Cretain also had an interception.
The Raiders (5-3, 1-0) amassed 329 total yards — 227 on the ground.
Seniors Nery Gomez (five carries, 44 yards) and Jorge Gastelum each recorded two sacks on defense.
Friday’s Battle for the Bell rivalry game against visiting Mar Vista (1-0, 3-5) takes on added significance as the potential league championship game after the Mariners edged host San Yisdro, 36-35, last Friday behind seniors Peter Thomas (one passing and two rushing touchdowns) and Ben Moya (one receiving and two rushing touchdowns).
Thomas passed 30 yards to Moya for the game-winner.
Crusaders roll past Mustangs, 45-6, all but wrap up Metro-Mesa League title
The Metro Conference football standings continue to take shape as league play progresses and, in so doing, the post-season playoff picture continues to come into better focus.
The Metro-Mesa League standings are now down to one undefeated team — Mater Dei Catholic Crusaders — and two teams with one loss each after the Crusaders topped the visiting Otay Ranch Mustangs, 45-6, and Eastlake Titans shaded the host Sweetwater Red Devils, 21-17, in a pair of games last Friday.
Mater Dei Catholic improved to 3-0 in league play with their fifth consecutive win to improve to 5-3 overall with two regular season games remaining, including one league game. Otay Ranch is 2-1 in league, 5-4 overall, after having their five-game winning streak snapped. The Mustangs have one league game remaining.
Meanwhile, Eastlake snapped a six-game losing streak to improve to 1-1 in league play, 2-6 overall, with two league games remaining.
League newcomers Sweetwater and Chula Vista are both 0-2 in league play, 4-4 overall, with two league games remaining, including one against each other.
At present, the Crusaders would rate for inclusion either near the bottom of the Division I playoff cut-off or at the top of Division II. Otay Ranch would rate sixth among Division III teams, Eastlake 10th among Division III teams, Chula Vista fourth among Division IV teams and Sweetwater third among Division V teams.
The postseason has the potential to be very rewarding for several Metro0-Mesa teams.
However, Mater Dei Catholic first-year head coach Rashard Cook is mindful not to get ahead of himself.
“We are focusing on the basics daily and weekly,” said Cook, whose team hosts the Grossmont Foothillers (4-4) this Friday in a non-league game. “Blocking and tackling are at the forefront for all practices.
“The offensive passing game has really taken off the past three games with 15 touchdowns passes over that span. Matt Carr, Mekhi Oluwa, Isaiah Cook, Julian Cromartie, Larell Parker have all collected touchdowns during league play and is one of the top receiving groups in the county.
“Kartell Purvis is making throws that only a few quarterbacks can make. After he went down last week, Reagan Nicanor stepped in a took control of the offense and we did not miss a beat.
“Defense has been very good getting off with turnovers and stops during league play the defense has now forced 10 turnovers.”
Purvis completed 12 of 14 passes for 225 yards and three touchdowns while Nicanor passed for 22 yards and three scores.
Carr had three catches for 134 yards and two TD while Parker (six catches, 70 yards), Diego Mendoza (one catch, 53 yards), Oluwa (three catches, 30 yards) and Julian Cromartie (two catches, 18 yards) each had one touchdown catch.
Carr had a 90-yard catch while Cook had five catches for 120 yards but did not score in the game.
CALPREPS FOOTBALL RANKINGS/San Diego Section
- Lincoln 6-2, 2. La Costa Canyon 8-0, 3. Cathedral Catholic 6-2, 4. Mission Hills 6-2, 5. Granite Hills 6-2, 6. San Marcos 7-1, 7. Carlsbad 6-2, 8. El Camino 5-3, 9. Rancho Bernardo 7-1, 10. Mt. Miguel 6-2, 11. Torrey Pines 3-5, 12. Scripps Ranch 7-0, 13. Oceanside 6-3, 14. Del Norte 5-3, 15. La Jolla 6-2, 16. Mater Dei Catholic 5-3, 17. Santa Fe Christian 7-1, 18. Helix 3-5, 19. Bishop’s 5-2, 20. Poway 3-5, 21. Imperial 8-0, 22. Mt. Carmel 5-3, 23. University City 7-1, 24. Brawley 7-1, 25. Christian 6-2, 26. Madison 4-4, 27. Pt. Loma 4-4, 28. Central Union 7-2, 29. Holtville 8-0, 30. Valley Center 6-2, 31. San Diego 6-2, 32. Escondido 5-3, 33. Patrick Henry 6-3, 34. Otay Ranch 5-4, 35. La Jolla Country Day 4-4, 36. San Pasqual 3-5, 37. St. Augustine 0-9, 38. Eastlake 2-6, 39. Steele Canyon 4-4, 40. Ramona 1-7, 41. El Capitan 5-3, 42. Grossmont 4-4, 43. Army-Navy Academy 6-2, 44. Chula Vista 4-4, 45. Mira Mesa 0-8 46. Westview 3-6, 47. Mission Bay 2-6, 48. Vincent Memorial 6-2, 49. Montgomery 5-3,50. Hoover 6-2, 51. Calexico 3-4, 52. Vista 2-6, 53. Rancho Buena Vista 1-7, 54. Coronado 4-4, 55. Sweetwater 4-4, 56. Bonita Vista 3-5, 57. Francis Parker 4-4, 58. Fallbrook 0-8, 59. Santana 5-3, 60. Classical Academy 4-4, 61. West Hills 4-4, 62. Calipatria 6-1, 63. Hilltop 4-4, 64. Monte Vista 4-4, 65. Olympian 3-5, 66. Crawford 3-5, 67. Palo Verde Valley 2-7, 68. Kearny 5-3, 69. Escondido Charter 1-7, 70. Morse 1-7
Others: 72. Southwest 4-4, 79. Castle Park 2-5, 80. Mar Vista 2-6, 81. San Ysidro 2-6, 84. Victory Christian Academy 3-6
Girls flag football scoreboard
Southwest 30, Montgomery 6
San Ysidro 27, Mar Vista 0
San Ysidro 47, Montgomery 6
Bonita 39, San Ysidro 6
Bonita Vista 26, Mater Dei Catholic 14
Otay Ranch 46, Eastlake 7
Otay Ranch 16, Olympian 6
Chula Vista 34, Sweetwater 20
CVLCC 26, Chula Vista 14
Hilltop 32, Chula Vista 12
EHS alum Trey White named midseason All-American, ranks among nation’s defensive leaders
Trey White was the proverbial man among boys while playing football at Eastlake High School. Now he’s playing among other men as a sophomore at San Diego State University and continuing to stand out in the crowd.
An edge player, White has been named a midseason All-American by multiple media outlets, including a first-team selection by the Associated Press and College Football Network and second-team recognition by The Athletic, Sporting News and Athlon Sports.
In six games for the Aztecs this season, the former Titan has logged 32 tackles, including 24 unassisted stops, 15 tackles for a loss, 11 sacks, six quarterback hurries, two pass breakups and one forced fumble.
In other words, he’s been a one-man wrecking crew.
The Chula Vista native is averaging 1.83 sacks per game, which would be a FBS record for most sacks per game in a single season (NCAA defensive statistics date back to 2000). He rates just ahead of Arizona State’s Terrell Suggs (1.71 in 2002), Louisville’s Elvis Dumervil (1.67 in 2005) and Syracuse’s Dwight Freeney (1.46 in 2001).
White is already seventh on the all-time SDSU single-season sacks list, trailing only Mike Douglass (21 in 1976), Brett Faryniarz (13 in 1987) , Andy Coviello (12.5 in 1991), Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila (12 in 1997 and 1999) and current Kansas City Chief Cameron Thomas (11.5 in 2021).
White leads the country in sacks (11), sacks per game (1.83), tackles for a loss (15), tackles for a loss per game (2.5), tackles for a loss yards (91) and is tied for second in sack yards (60).
The sophomore captain was recently added to the Chuck Bednarik Award midseason watch list, which charts honors for the outstanding defensive player of the year in college football.
SDSU (3-3, 2-0 in Mountain West play) returns to action following a bye with Saturday’s non-conference home game against Washington State (6-1). Kick-off is 7:30 p.m. at Snapdragon Stadium.
The Cougars defeated Hawaii, 42-10, last Saturday to near consideration for a Top 25 AP national ranking.
