It’s the midpoint of the high school football season and the Eastlake Titans, owners of a 3-3 overall mark, sit pretty in the grand scheme of things. The Titans have proven to be a solid top 10 team within the boundaries of the San Diego Section, and would qualify for this year’s Elite Eight Open Division playoffs if the season ended now.
But the season doesn’t end now. Eastlake has four more games left on its schedule against Metro-Mesa League opposition.
The Titans open defense of their league title Oct. 17 at Chula Vista High School.
Eastlake may have recorded a moral victory of sorts in last Friday’s 17-14 home field loss to Cathedral Catholic, which the current power rankings denote as the section’s No. 1 team.
The Titans led 14-7 at halftime before the Dons (5-1) cranked up their game and out-scored the hosts 10-0 in the fateful second half.
Cathedral grabbed the dramatic win on a 37-yard field goal by Tim Semenza with 2.1 seconds remaining on the clock.
The hosts were unable to capitalize on turnovers in the high-profile game.
EHS coach Lee Price said his team has proven it can play with the best, now it just needs to find a way to beat the best. He remains optimistic about the rest of the season.
“Most of those games come down to who makes the least mistakes and who makes plays and we haven’t shown that we can do that yet,” Price said. “We will continue to work on finishing games and hopefully we will find success in league.”
The Titans grabbed their touchdown lead on the Dons on a 28-yard scoring pass from Izaack Morales to Dean Klaser and an 80-yard kick-off return for a touchdown by Isaiah Strayhorn (14 carries, 104 yards).
Eastlake piled up 244 rushing yards against Cathedral against 71 passing yards.
Strayhorn enters the Titans’ bye week with 903 rushing yards. Defensively, the Titans have amassed 22 sacks, seven interceptions and six fumble recoveries in six games.
