While there are two weeks left in regular season play, it appears that a championship game has already been set up in the Metro-Mesa League for this Friday.
On Halloween, the Olympian Eagles are slated to host the Eastlake Titans. Both teams are 2-0 in Metro-Mesa League play following key victories last Friday.
“This is the game for the season, it’s the league title right now, though obviously, we have another game after that,” Olympian head coach Paul Van Nostrand said. “It all comes down to that game for both teams right now.”
The Eagles chalked up 35 points in the first half to dampen the spirits of Chula Vista’s large homecoming crowd. However, the home folks had plenty to cheer for as the Spartans made a late second quarter run on the scoreboard with back-to-back touchdowns to trim the score to 35-21.
Olympian quarterback Gary Cannon got his team going with a 13-yard touchdown run and sophomore Noah Lacsina broke off a 55-yard scoring run for the Eagles’ second touchdown. Will Lampkin scored on two runs and Bryan Ordille caught a 29-yard TD pass to round out scoring for the visitors in the opening half.
Brandon Cabrera scored twice for Chula Vista and Tahir Montiero followed with a two-yard run in the final minute before halftime to narrow the scoreboard deficit to two touchdowns.
Ade Gills scored the only touchdown of the second half on a 10-yard catch to allow the Eagles to double the score on their opponent.
“We started off a little slow, picked it up and played very well right up to the end of the first half when we had a couple breakdowns,” Van Nostrand explained. “But we played much better in the second half. We were a lot more consistent.
“We’ve got to play well for Eastlake now.”
The significance of the win over the Spartans was not lost on any of Olympian’s players. “Last week we had a tough loss to Madison (48-13), and needed to find a way to get back,” Lacsina said. “It didn’t hurt us in league, and it was a big win. It was a set-up game for us to have the potential to win the championship game this year.”
Boot stays put
The Titans raced out to an early 14-0 lead on the visiting Bonita Vista Barons in the teams’ vaunted Battle for the Boot rivalry game. But the Barons stormed back to make it closely contested at halftime 17-13.
However, the second half was decidedly in Eastlake’s favor as the hosts piled up a 28-7 scoring margin.
“Bonita was a hard fought game with emotions on both sides,” EHS head coach Lee Price explained. “We had a great home crowd and Bonita brought a large away crowd which brought energy to both sides. Both teams made mistakes — we had five turnovers and Bonita had four — but we settled down in the second half and made some big plays that helped us win the game.”
Traylon Reed scored touchdown runs of one, 34 and 23 yards and teammate Dean Klaser caught a 30-yard scoring pass from quarterback Izzack Morales while also adding a seven-yard touchdown run.
Aeden Johnson kicked a 25-yard field goal to serve to separate the bitter rivals in the first half.
Atoa Fox caught a 37-yard touchdown pass on a fake punt trick play while Kennan Ellis and Ethan Williams also scored touchdowns for the Barons.
Eastlake improved to 5-3 overall while Olympian evened its record at 4-4.
Meanwhile, the loss was the first in league for Bonita Vista, which dropped to 2-1 in league play, 3-5 on the season.
Chula Vista suffered its fourth consecutive defeat to fall to 2-7 overall, 0-3 in league play, in its final regular season home game of the season.
Price called Olympian a “very talented and well-coached team.”
“They have speed and size on offense with an incredibly gifted quarterback and fast running backs and receivers,” Price noted. “Bing Dawson is one of the best coaches in all of football and he will have their defense ready to play us. It should be a very good game on Halloween and I expect both teams to come out fired up.”
Stat attack
Lacsina rushed for 176 yards on 16 carries to lead Olympian’s ground attack against Chula Vista while Lampkin had seven carries for 54 yards. Cannon completed three of six passing attempts for 45 yards and also rushed eight times for 85 yards. Bradley Erickson led the Eagles defensively with eight tackles and two sacks.
For the season, Cannon has passed for 708 yards and 10 touchdowns while rushing for 585 yards and four scores. Lacsina has rushed for 459 yards while Ed Galloway has rushed for 412 yards and notched 309 receiving yards.
Reed rushed 15 times for 178 yards against Bonita Vista while making one pass grab for 41 yards. Klaser rushed 11 times for 36 yards while team touchdown leader Isaiah Strayhorn rushed 19 times for 160 yards despite behind held off the scoreboard. Strayhorn leads the Titans with 1,141 rushing yards and 10 rushing TDs while Reed has rushed for 511 rushing yards and five rushing TDs and Klaser has rushed for 368 yards and has scored nine touchdowns (seven rushing, two receiving).
Metro-Mesa League Standings
(Through Oct. 24)
Eastlake Titans 2-0, 5-3
Olympian Eagles 2-0, 4-4
Bonita Vista Barons 2-1, 3-5
Otay Ranch Mustangs 0-2, 4-4
Chula Vista Spartans 0-3, 2-7
Friday, Oct. 31
Eastlake at Olympian, 7 p.m.
Chula Vista at Otay Ranch, 7 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 24
Eastlake 45, Bonita Vista 20
Olympian 42, Chula Vista 21
Friday, Oct. 17
Bonita Vista 14, Otay Ranch 13
Eastlake 45, Chula Vista 0
Metro-South Bay League Standings
(Through Oct. 24)
Sweetwater Red Devils 1-0, 8-0
Mater Dei Catholic Crusaders 1-0, 4-4
Mar Vista Mariners 0-1, 5-3
Hilltop Lancers 0-1, 2-6
Friday, Oct. 31
Mar Vista at Sweetwater, 7 p.m.
Mater Dei Catholic at Hilltop, 7 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 24
Sweetwater 62,Hilltop 7
Mater Dei Catholic 31, Mar Vista 14
Metro-Pacific League Standings
(Through Oct. 17)
Castle Park Trojans 1-0, 5-3
Montgomery Aztecs 1-0, 2-6
San Ysidro Cougars 0-1, 2-6
Southwest Raiders 0-1, 1-7
Friday, Oct. 31
Castle Park at San Ysidro, 7 p.m.
Montgomery at Southwest, 7 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 24
Castle Park 48, Southwest 0
Montgomery 42, San Ysidro 7
Prep Football Records
Metro Conference
(Through Oct. 24)
Sweetwater Red Devils 8-0
Eastlake Titans 5-3
Castle Park Trojans 5-3
Mar Vista Mariners 5-3
Otay Ranch Mustangs 4-4
Olympian Eagles 4-4
Mater Dei Catholic Crusaders 4-4
Bonita Vista Barons 3-5
Hilltop Lancers 2-6
Montgomery Aztecs 2-6
Chula Vista Spartans 2-7
Southwest Raiders 1-7
Prep Football Playoff Ticker
Division I
Eastlake Titans 5-3
Olympian Eagles 4-4
Note: top eight teams advance to Open Division
Division II
Otay Ranch Mustangs 4-4
Chula Vista Spartans 2-7
Division III
Sweetwater 8-0
Mar Vista 5-3
Bonita Vista 3-5
Hilltop 2-6
Division IV
Castle Park 5-3
Mater Dei Catholic 4-4
Montgomery Aztecs 2-6
San Ysidro Cougars 2-6
Southwest Raiders 1-7
