All 13 Metro Conference teams were in action on Friday, Aug. 25, as the 2017 high school football season kicked off.
Eight local teams hosted contests while five teams started their seasons on the road.
Five teams won their season openers.
Hilltop played both a home game and road game on Friday by hosting the La Jolla Vikings in a non-league game played at Sweetwater High School.
The Lancers’ home stadium is being refurbished this season, forcing the football team to play all of its designated home games on foreign turf.
Hilltop, despite traveling to play a home game in National City, was still greeted by a robust “home” crowd at Gail Devers Stadium. The Lancers did not disappoint their fans, though the team had to overcome some self-made adversity to record a 24-14 win.
“When it came down to it, we did it,” Hilltop head coach Drew Westling said after the game.
The Lancers zoomed out to a quick 14-0 lead on touchdown runs by quarterback Daniel McPherren and running back Jeremiah Rivera.
Hilltop would not score again until the Vikings had stormed back with 14 points of their own to tie the game. La Jolla quarterback Trevor Scully figured in both scores. He passed 11 yards to Gabe Solis to trim the Lancer lead in half to end the first half and then scored on a quarterback keeper to tie the game in the third quarter.
Two interceptions by the Vikings helped fuel their comeback in the game.
But what the Lancers started, they finished as kicker Daniel Delgado split the uprights on a 27-yard field goal with 5:50 left in the fourth quarter and Rivera ripped off a key 44-yard run with 3:18 to play to seal with victory.
Rivera (18 carries, 150 yards) finished the game with two touchdowns. He credited his performance to his teammates. “Without my O-line, I wouldn’t be able to accomplish this,” he said.
A late interception by Max Ugarte allowed Hilltop to run out the clock. Westling was proud of how his team wrapped up the win.
“I’m really proud of how the guys finished when it was tough,” the Lancers head coach said. “We need to cut down on our mistakes and keep the momentum going. We play our next three games against Division I teams. We’re a Division III team. This is a great opportunity for us.”
The Lancers rolled up 311 yards in total offense — 184 rushing yards and 127 passing yards. La Jolla totaled 288 yards in offense.
Each team turned over the ball twice in the game.
The Lancers host Eastlake next Friday at Sweetwater High School. The Titans got off to a winning start on Friday by defeating host Rancho Bernardo 21-3.
Titanic win
Eastlake ran 63 plays against the Broncos. The Titans recorded 13 first downs. Rancho Bernardo ran 60 plays, recording nine first downs.
Eastlake led, 13-3, at halftime and outscored RB by an 8-0 margin in the second half.
Quarterback Daniel Amon (140 passing yards) finished the game with two touchdown passes, including 37-yarders to both Micah Pietila-Wiggs (three catches, 63 yards) and Darius Delos Reyes (two catches, 36 yards).
A 79-yard interception return for a touchdown by Bernard Coe put the capper on the Eastlake victory.
The Titans piled up 185 rushing yards, led by 85 yards from Roman Coe and 57 yards from Parker Merrifield. Jalyn Jackson had two catches for 60 yards in the game.
Pietila-Wiggs led Eastlake with 87 all-purpose yards. He also scored on a two-point conversion.
Josh McCurty (16 tackles) and Bernard Coe (13 tackles) led the Titans defensively. Alfonso Alvarado III, Merrifield and Donyal Thompson each recorded sacks.
The Broncos scored their only points in the game on a 30-yard field goal by Matt Ariaza. The Titans held Rancho Bernardo to 91 passing yards and 75 rushing yards.
Eastlake generaged 193 passing yards and 185 rushing yards by comparison in posting the victory.
“We felt like our offensive line worked well to provide holes for our backs and allowed time for our quarterbacks to throw,” EHS head coach Dean Tropp explained. “Our defense played outstanding by holding Rancho Bernardo to three points after three first-half turnovers.”
Amon completed seven of 12 passing attempts for a 138.9 quarterback rating while Ryzhon McCoy competed four of seven passing attempts with two interceptions. Amon’s longest pass of the night went for 50 yards.
Kicker Dino Del Fierro made one of two extra-point conversion attempts.
The Titans did not waste opportunites.
“The interception for a touchdown by Bernard Coe was a huge play that helped us in the win,” Tropp noted. “We played well but not to our full potential. Our coaches and players are excited to continue to work and get better week-by-week.”
Olympian grabs victory in high-scoring affair between teams nicknamed Eagles
In a game pitting teams with the same nickname — the visiting Santa Fe Christian Eagles and the host Olympian Eagles – it came down to junior place-kicker Erik Durate’s field goal in the second overtime period to give Olympian a 41-38 non-league victory.
Duarte’s thrilling OT winner came after the host Eagles stormed back to tie the game, 38-38, with two minutes to play in regulation on a long run by Rashaun Brown.
“It’s always good to win your home opener, especially against a quality team like Santa Fe Christian,” Olympian head coach Paul Van Nostand said. “Our players rallied back more than once from behind, a tribute to their conditioning and dedication.”
The scoreboard favored the visitors early with leads of 14-7 (first quarter) and 24-17 (halftime). The hosts scored the only touchdown of the third quarter to tie the game 24-24. Both teams scored two touchdowns in the final quarter.
Olympian played catch-up for most of the game. Mikael Tyler made the score 24-24 and Brown later scored to put Olympian up, 31-24. But the visiting SFC Eagles retaliated with two TDs of their own to go ahead, 38-31, in the high scoring contest.
The OT thriller featured 871 yards in total offense by both teams.
The Eagles amassed 454 yards in total offense in the marathon contest: 294 passing yards and 160 rushing yards.
Santa Fe Christian racked up 397 yards in total offense — 207 on the ground and 190 through the air.
Olympian quarterback Nico Mendoza passed for 294 yards with four touchdowns and one interception. He tossed an 80-yard score to Chris Osgood, and finished with a quarterback rating of 102.7.
Tyler had three catches for 43 yards – two of his catches went for touchdowns. Brown had three catches for 77 yards and one touchdown.
David Tirey led the ground attack with 137 rushing yards on 20 carries. His longest carry went for 22 yards.
Brown had eight carries for 27 yards and one touchdown.
Rock Gonzalez and Jared Desmond each recorded 17 tackles to lead the defense. Gonzalez had 12 solo stops while Desmond made 10 unassisted tackles. Tirey accumulated 15 tackles in the contest.
The Eagles recorded four sacks: two by Gonzalez and one each by Angel Huerta and Sergio Marquez.
Gonzalez and Tirey each made one fumble recovery in the game.
Duarte was successful on all five point-after-touchdown conversions he attempted while also hitting on both field goal attempts, including one from 41 yards, to collect 11 kicking points in the game.
He emphasized the need to put everything into “that last kick,” never knowing when it might turn out to be the game-winner.
Luke Sanders led Santa Fe Christian with two receiving touchdowns while teammates Michael Linguadoca and Jack Miles each scored one rushing touchdown. Joe Burich also scored on a 90-yard kick-off return.
Linguadoca paced SFC with 275 total yards — 190 passing and 85 rushing.
Brent Hewitt hit on all five PAT conversions but made just one of three field goal attempts to finish the game with eight kicking points.
SFC registered five sacks in the matchup of teams nicknamed Eagles, including two each by Demitri Washington and Chase Baptista. Washington led the visitors with 13 tackles.
Olympian next plays at Grossmont (0-1) on Friday, Sept. 1. The Foothillers are coming off a 22-13 non-league loss to the Bishop’s Knights in last Friday’s season opener.
In other season openers involving Metro Conference teams on Friday:
- Otay Ranch blanked visiting Mt. Carmel, 33-0, as Alfredo Garcia staked the host Mustangs to an early 9-0 lead on a 30-yard scamper. Puka Stewart later tossed a 75-yard touchdown pass to Josh Lira to continue the scoring.
- Jahmon McClendon rushed for four touchdowns, including a 74-yard run to record the game-winning score, as visiting Monte Vista slipped past Mar Vista 28-21.
- Bonita Vista fell, 39-7, to Poway in a game played at Southwestern College. The Barons, playing their first game under new head coach Aaron Jones, cut into an early Poway lead on a 17-yard scoring pass from Franklin Forbes to Ricky Torres. The Titans, however, pulled away from there.
- Southwest generated 183 yards in rushing in a 28-7 loss to visiting San Diego. Leonard Hoar led the Raiders with 82 yards while Josh Sanchez rushed for 54 yards and scored one touchdown.
- Chula Vista rushed for 235 yards in its 54-20 non-league loss at Lincoln. Senior Victor Agraz rushed for 91 yards and sophomore Kajahan Duncan rushed for 76 yards. Quarterback Darrion Hamilton also rushed for 42 yards.
New CVHS head coach Howard Bannister said he found positive things in his team’s season debut. “Not bad for a Division IV program against arguably a top 10 team,” the Spartan sideline boss said. “We struggled with their athleticism on defense.”
Cougars claw Islanders 41-14, win season debut in smashing fashion
The San Ysidro Cougars defeated the visiting Coronado Islanders, 41-14, last Friday to kick off the 2017 high school season in high gear.
Alejandro Bonneau scored three touchdowns in the second half while teammate Jeremiah Martinez rushed for 99 yards and scored one touchdown.
Jazz Gill scored two touchdowns — one on a 27-yard catch and another on a 14-yard run.
Junior Bueno, a transfer from Serra, connected with Gill on the passing score.
“I was really proud how the kids took our motto and put it into play,” SYHS head coach Robert Hatchett explained. “Our motto is practice how we play. There were no surprises (in the game).
“It’s taken me three years to get the kids to believe in that. It was really nice to see the kids putting what they practiced into the game.”
The Cougars led 21-0 after the first quarter and 21-6 at halftime. San Ysidro added three more touchdowns in the second half.
Jiovanni Castillo and Marcos Vargas each made interceptions to key the winner’s defensive showing; Castillo returned his pick 40 yards.
Sebastian Medina had one sack and made several unassisted tackles.
Hatchett singled out two other players — free safety Christian Macias and wide receiver Christopher Macias — for their strong play in the season opening win.
“The downfield blocking by our wide receiver was one of the reasons we had over 300 yards rushing,” Hatchett said.
Hatchett is looking to the team’s strong practice ethic for future success.
“We’re looking forward to good things happening from practice,” he said.
Trojans continue to look for improvement following season opening setback
The Castle Park High School football team endured an uncharacteristic 1-9 season in 2016. After winning consecutive Metro-Pacific League championships, the Trojans had to settle for a 1-2 record in league play.
There are signs the pendulum could start swinging the other way.
“We feel we’re going to be an improved football team,” interim head coach/athletic director Bernard Ansolabehere explained. “I think we will be very competitive. Basically, all we’re going to ask our kids is to fight every play, fight every game and finish every game we start.”
With leadership from Enrique Varlea and Justin Tolbert and a host of others on the perimeter, Ansolabehere believes his team can turn the corner – and pick up some wins over the course of the season.
“We just want to keep building, keep better better every week,” Ansolabehere said. “We always talk to the kids about getting better every rep, every practice, every day, every week. We feel when it comes time for league that we’ll be ready to go.”
The Trojans definitely showed some flashes of brilliance in last Friday’s season opener against the visiting Santana Sultans.
Castle Park accumulated 247 yards in total offense — 160 passing yards and 87 rushing yards.
Joel Torres made an impact on the field with seven receptions for 164 yards. He finished the game with 189 all-purpose yards to lead the Trojans.
Airrien Smith had two catches for 46 yards. He was next on the list with 91 all-purpose yards in the game for Castle Park.
Two quarterbacks played for Castle Park.
Diego Martinez completed eight of 21 passing attempts for 73 yards and two touchdowns. Eleazar Cruz completed five of 11 passing attempts for 87 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
Chris Arana led the hosts on the ground with 42 yards on six carries. Cruz gained 20 yards on one scramble.
But the Sultans, coming off a runner-up finish in last year’s San Diego Section Division IV championship game, showed they have enough holdover power to make some noise again in steam rolling to a 56-19 non-league victory.
The Trojans played hard to the end but fell behind 28-0 in the second quarter. It was too much of a hill to climb, though the hosts did rally with 13 points in the second half.
Castle Park hosts Mar Vista in Friday’s non-league matchup. That should give a better indication of where both teams are at this point this season. The Mariners lost, 28-21, to visiting Monte Vista in their season opener last Friday and in the words of Mar Vista head coach Tyler Arciaga, are in a bit of a rebuilding process after losing several impact players to graduation.
Santana, in fact, entered the 2017 campaign in a bit of a “rebuilding year,” according to head coach Tim Estes.
“We lost nine offensive starters off last year’s squad and six on defense but we’ve got our quarterback back, our slot receiver and our best linebackers, so that’s a really good thing,” explained Estes, who is in his sixth year as Santana head coach.
“The guys who are replacing the guys we lost last year — we had three 800-yard receivers — we definitely got a good group of guys who came up, and I think they’ll really contribute to the team.”
Santana racked up 36 passing touchdowns and 28 rushing touchdowns last season. In last Friday’s opener, the Sultans accumulated five rushing scores and three passing TDs – not too much of a drop-off in the scoring department.
“We’ll be pretty well balanced,” Estes explained. “Even though Josh (quarterback Josh Oedewaldt) threw for nearly 3,000 yards, we also had a 1,700-yard rusher (Bobby Wallace), so we were pretty balanced last year throughout the whole season. We hope to do that again this year.”
Ian Litten scored on a two-yard run to ignite the scoring for the visitors early in the game and teammates Colton Snipes and Davon Chestnut hauled in touchdown passes from Oedewaldt to lift Santana to a 21-0 advantage on the scoreboard midway through the second quarter.
The Sultans piled up an impressive 516 yards in total offense in the rout, including 233 rushing yards.
Odewaldt completed 20 of 30 passing attempts for 283 yards and three touchdowns. He threw one interception.
Chestnut had nine catches for 133 yards, including touchdown receptions of 16 and 10 yards.
Snipes hauled in a 10-yard scoring pass as the Sultans took an early 14-0 lead in the game.
The Sultans played well in the first half but allowed three second-half turnovers as Castle Park scored 13 of its 19 points after intermission.
Santana built a commanding 28-0 lead and led 35-6 at halftime.
Cameron Kane’s 25-yard interception return set up Chestnut’s first TD catch.
Litten rushed 13 times for 74 yards in the season opener. He scored his second touchdown of the game, again on a short run, in the second quarter. Dale Genschaw (five carries, 76 yards) scored on a six-run run in the second quarter and Chestnut scored his second TD of the game in the third quarter to push the visitors to a 42-6 edge in the contest.
Rahzel Wilson (six-yard run) and Sean Iverson (45-yard run) scored Santana’s final two touchdowns in the game.
Timmy Tischer was perfect on all eight point-after-touchdown conversions.
The Santana defense held the Trojans to 247 total yards, including just 87 rushing yards.
Genschaw led the Sultans with seven tackles while Kane and Dylan Haslick each turned in six defensive stops. Santana recorded five sacks, including 1.5 by Brayden Nieto and one each by Genschaw, Landon Wood and Luke Simanek. Jose Chairez was credited with one-half sack.
Odewaldt, Chestnut and Kane are the team’s impact returners on offense. Odewaldt passed for 2,934 yards and 33 touchdowns in 2016 while Chestnut averaged 16.9 yards per catch with three touchdown receptions. Kane averaged 16.8 yards per catch and scored two touchdowns.
The Sultans had three receivers — all seniors – each total 800 or more yards last season. Kane and Chestnut are expected to help take up the slack this season.
Genschaw recorded four sacks and 44 tackles last year.
“If we can stay healthy, I think we can score some points and keep people out of the end zone,” Estes offered optimistically.
Santana next preps for its annual crosstown battle against West Hills on Friday, Sept. 1. Kick-off is 7 p.m. at West Hills High School.
West Hills enters the game 0-1 after dropping its season opener last Friday, 36-17, to visiting Southwest El Centro.
Pigskin preview: Mar Vista (0-1) at Castle Park (0-1)
Arciaga said his team “lost a hard-fought battle with Monte Vista.”
“Coach (Ron) Hamamoto does a really good job with his program and they took advantage of some mistakes we made early,” Arciaga explained. “We had a lot of penalties and didn’t play well in the first half offensively. Our defense kept us in the game and we were able to come out the second half and play solid football.
“The problem is that we are not good enough to play well in a single half and win ballgames. We have some guys who are stepping in for injured players, so we hope they continue to improve over the next couple of weeks.
“We have Castle Park this week and I know both teams will be hungry for a win, so we need to have a great week of practice and get ready for a dog-fight.”
Jacob Beck completed 11 of 18 passing attempts for 243 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions to finish with a 105.1 quarterback rating.
The Mariners generated three rushing touchdowns — one each by Jacob Galeana, Da’von Peterson and Sebastian Burke.
Galeana totaled 56 yards on six carries while Burke had 40 yards on two carries and Peterson had 30 yards on two carries.
Mar Vista rushed for 275 yards in the game. Senior Kyle Denney led the Imperial Beach team with 58 yards on eight carries.
Peterson also made four catches for 125 yards to lead the team’s receivers. He finished the game with 155 all-purpose yards.
Niko Figueroa led the MV defense with 12 tackles while Jared York made 10 stops.
Metro Conference
Football Scoreboard
Friday, Aug. 25
Non-League
Eastlake 21, Rancho Bernardo 3
Hilltop 24, La Jolla 14
San Ysidro 41, Coronado 14
Olympian 41, Santa Fe Christian 38 (2OT)
Otay Ranch 33, Mt. Carmel 0
Poway 39, Bonita Vista 7
Santana 56, Castle Park 19
Monte Vista 28, Mar Vista 21
San Diego 28, Southwest 7
University City 47, Sweetwater 12
Lincoln 54, Chula Vista 20
Ramona 41, Mater Dei Catholic 7
Pioneer (Whittier) 41, Montgomery 13
Thursday, Aug. 31
Non-League
Ocean View Christian Academy at San Diego Jewish Academy, 3:30 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 1
Non-League
Southwest vs. Crawford at Lincoln, 6:30,p.m.
Eastlake vs. Hilltop at Sweetwater, 7 p.m.
Mar Vista at Castle Park, 7 p.m.
San Marcos vs. Bonita Vista at Southwestern College, 7 p.m.
El Capitan at Mater Dei Catholic, 7 p.m.
Classical Academy at Montgomery, 7 p.m.
Mountain Empire at San Ysidro, 7 p.m.
Chula Vista at Mt. Miguel, 7 p.m.
Olympian at Grossmont, 7 p.m.
Otay Ranch at Valley Center, 7 p.m.
San Diego Section Playoff Tracker
Division I
Eastlake Titans 1-0
Olympian Eagles 1-0
Bonita Vista Barons 0-1
Division II
Otay Ranch Mustangs 1-0
Mater Dei Catholic Crusaders 0-1
Division III
Hilltop Lancers 1-0
Mar Vista Mariners 0-1
Division IV
Castle Park Trojans 0-1
Chula Vista Spartans 0-1
Sweetwater Red Devils 0-1
Division V
San Ysidro Cougars 1-0
Montgomery Aztecs 0-1
Southwest Raiders 0-1
Eight-Man
Ocean View Christian Academy 0-0
Victory Christian Academy 0-0
