What Olympian quarterback Garry Cannon started, on a short touchdown run to give his team an early 7-0 lead in last Friday’s Metro-Mesa League football game at Eastlake High School, the host Titans finished in a flourish with 42 unanswered points.
Eastlake’s convincing 42-7 win over the east side rival Eagles came in front of a large and festive homecoming crowd, and maybe just woke up the league’s sleeping giant.
“It was a good win for the program,” explained EHS head coach Lee Price, whose team appeared to make amends for its 28-23 loss to Bonita Vista in the league opener for both teams the previous week. “The kids and coaches worked very hard for that one. I hope that we can continue the success against a very good Otay Ranch team.”
Eastlake (1-1 in league, 3-5 overall) travels to Otay Ranch on Friday for a game that stands crucial to both teams’ league championship aspirations.
Otay Ranch is 1-0 in league play after topping host Chula Vista, 34-14, last Friday. A win by the Titans would put them right back in the race for this year’s league title.
Against Olympian, the Titans got back to what they do best, which is to run the football. Eastlake piled up 331 rushing yards on 50 attempts and tacked on 73 passing yards for 404 total offensive yards.
Traylon Reed, who has held without a touchdown in the loss to Bonita Vista, gained 149 yards on 15 carries against Olympian and scored two touchdowns.
Jax Crawford (three carries, 14 yards) and Gary Graham (one carry, three yards) also scored rushing touchdowns for the victors.
Quarterback Izzack Morales completed a 13-yard scoring pass to Micah Pietila-Wiggs while Chris Olave, on a halfback pass option, threw a 60-yard touchdown pass to Milton Earls.
Greg Raby (10) and Buzz Akerlund (nine) paced Eastlake in total tackles. As a team, the Titans collected five sacks — one each by Jae Vitin, Reed, Declan Fernandez, Raby and Keanu Ojeda.
Cannon led Olympian with 179 total yards in the loss — 120 passing and 59 rushing yards while Andrew Whyte made a team-leading 12 tackles.
Reed leads the Titans with 681 rushing yards and six touchdowns despite missing two games this season. Josh Olave is next on the team list with five touchdowns (three receiving scores) while Sweat has three rushing TDs to his credit this season.
Raby and Fernandez each have a team-leading four sacks on defense.
Olympian (1-1 in league, 5-2 overall) hosts Bonita Vista (1-0 in league, 5-2 overall) in another key Metro-Mesa match-up of Friday. A win by the visiting Barons would keep them in first place while a win by the Eagles could jumble the league standings and set the stage for multiple teams to share this year’s league banner.
Season leaders for Olympian include Cannon with 599 passing yards and four touchdowns without an interception for a 114.0 quarterback rating. He’s also rushed for 434 yards and six TDs.
Noah Lacsina leads the team with 470 rushing yards with five rushing touchdowns while Michael Kipling (358 rushing yards) leads the team with seven rushing touchdowns (eight total).
Antonio Riggens tops the Eagles with eight sacks while Whyte tops the team with 69 total tackles.
METRO CONFERENCE
FOOTBALL STANDINGS
(Through Oct. 16)
Metro-Mesa League
Bonita Vista Barons 1-0, 5-2
Otay Ranch Mustangs 1-0, 4-3
Eastlake Titans 1-1, 3-5
Olympian Eagles 1-1, 5-2
Chula Vista Spartans 0-2, 1-7
Friday, Oct. 23
Bonita Vista at Olympian, 7 p.m.
Eastlake at Otay Ranch, 7 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 30
Bonita Vista at Chula Vista, 7 p.m.
Olympian at Otay Ranch, 7 p.m.
METRO-SOUTH BAY LEAGUE
Mater Dei Catholic Crusaders 0-0, 6-1
Mar Vista Mariners 0-0, 6-1
Hilltop Lancers 0-0, 3-4
Sweetwater Red Devils 0-0, 1-6
Friday, Oct. 23
Mater Dei Catholic at Hilltop, 7 p.m.
Sweetwater at Mar Vista, 7 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 30
Mater Dei Catholic at Sweetwater, 7 p.m.
Hilltop at Mar Vista, 7 p.m.
METRO-PACIFIC LEAGUE
Castle Park Trojans 0-0, 3-4
San Ysidro Cougars 0-0, 0-6
Southwest Raiders 0-0, 0-7
Montgomery Aztecs 0-0, 0-7
Friday, Oct. 23
San Ysidro at Castle Park, 7 p.m.
Southwest at Montgomery, 7 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 30
Castle Park at Montgomery, 7 p.m.
San Ysidro at Southwest, 7 p.m.
