League champions are guaranteed a berth in the upcoming San Diego Section championship playoffs.
The Mater Dei Catholic Crusaders (Metro-Mesa League), Olympian Eagles (Metro-South Bay League) and Chula Vista Spartans (Metro-Pacific League) all will be out to record wins in Friday’s final regular season games to finish as outright champions in their respective leagues and sew up CIF playoff berths.
The Crusaders (36-14 over visiting Eastlake), Olympian (35-26 over visiting Sweetwater) and Chula Vista (49-13 over host Castle Park) all clinched no worse than league co-championships with wins last week.
There’s a lot to play for besides league titles. Chula Vista is ranked second among Division IV teams while Sweetwater is ranked second among Division V teams. Olympian has jumped up to No. 7 in Division IV while Mater Dei Catholic, winners of five straight, is holding steady at No. 11 among Division I teams but would like to finish higher.
Those are just some of the storylines for this weekend’s games.
The Crusaders (2-0 in league, 5-3 overall) scored three rushing touchdowns and two passing touchdowns to snap Eastlake’s three-game winning streak.
Junior Kartell Purvis (195 passing yards) completed two touchdown passes while rushing for one score. Senior Anthony McMillian Jr. (88 rushing yards, nine receiving yards) caught one scoring pass and rushed for another while senior Isaiah Buxton (three catches, 63 yards) had one receiving touchdown and senior Jordan Jackson (12 carries, 104 yards) had one rushing touchdown.
Photos by Jon Bigornia
Mater Dei Catholic out-gained Eastlake 377-224 yards in total offense. The Crusaders were fairly balanced — rushing for 182 yards and passing for 195 yards.
Jackson tallied 159 total yards (104 rushing, 55 receiving) for the hosts, who also received one sack and a team-high 14 tackles from junior Joey Castillo.
Junior Kingston Schaaf (eight carries, 44 yards) scored two rushing touchdowns for Eastlake. He also had one fumble recovery and one sack.
Junior William Schmitz led the visitors on the ground with 26 carries for 105 yards while sophomore quarterback Tyler Balko completed five of 12 passes for 75 yards. Junior Zivan Carranza caught one pass for 36 yards while senior Michael Martin had one catch for 30 yards.
The Titans played tough with four sacks on defense, including two by senior Anthony Hinojosa and another by senior Blake Schweer.
Junior Landon Albano led Eastlake with 14 tackles while Schwenke and Schweer both had 12 defensive stops.
Besides battling for the prize trophy in Friday’s Eastlake-Bonita Vista Battle for the Boot rivalry game at Southwestern College, host Bonita Vista (No. 6 in the Division IV rankings) will be scratching to gain a home game for the upcoming playoffs.
The Barons (1-1 in Mesa League, 6-3 overall) are coming off a key 23-14 win at Otay Ranch as senior Caden Ada-Tannehill rushed for 132 yards and two touchdowns.
“The game against Otay was a very physical game and I am proud of the resilience our team showed,” BV head coach Tyler Arciaga said. “Our defense played great once again, holding Otay to two touchdowns, blocking a PAT and recording an interception for a touchdown (senior Diego Bustamante).
“Our offense did a nice job controlling the clock starting in the second quarter and having several nice drives. Our special teams did a nice job with all of kickoffs going into the endzone, solid punts that flipped the field, and a crucial field goal that put us by 10 points in the third quarter.
“We have a tough matchup this week against Eastlake. They have played a tough schedule and rivalry games always bring out emotional play. I know Eastlake will be ready to play, so our team needs to have a great week of practice and preparation. We also have 34 seniors and five managers who we will be honored at Senior Night, so we look forward to honoring them with a great game.”
The Barons defeated the Mustangs with minus-3 passing yards on one completion (out of six attempts) by senior Antonio DiStefano. The visitors fared better on the ground with 204 rushing yards.
Senior Shawn Pomatto completed nine of 24 passing attempts for 83 yards for Otay Ranch while Oluwatolani Osinfolarin keyed the hosts with 77 rushing yards on 12 carries with one touchdown. Senior Kenyon Burnett had 12 carries for 43 yards and one TD.
The Mustangs owned a slight edge in total yardage: 231 to 201. Pomatto led Otay Ranch with 101 total yards (83 passing, 18 rushing).
Senior Jayden Peterson keyed Bonita Vista with 14 tackles. Junior Richie Rojas completed scoring with three successful PAT conversions and a 24-yard field goal for six kicking points.
Sophomore David Smith and junior Prince John Dumaran do-led Otay Ranch defensively with 13 tackles. Smith had one sack and one caused fumble.
Mater Dei Catholic will visit Otay Ranch on Thursday to close out the regular season with the host Mustangs hanging precariously at No. 12 in the Division III rankings.
Soaring Eagles
Olympian (2-0 in league, 5-4 overall) clinched a share of the Metro-South Bay League title, the school’s first title in 11 years.
Sophomore quarterback Jayden Fuentes threw three touchdown passes, with the longest being to senior receiver A.J. Cadriel (three catches, 87 yards) for 60 yards.
Senior Jake Marcial also had a outstanding game while running (three carries, 26 yards) and catching the football (five catches, 93 yards with one touchdown).
Senior defensive lineman/fullback Matt Latimer had one sack, six tackles, one touchdown catch, and, according to head coach Brad Carter, “an exceptional one-handed catch to seal the game for the Eagles in the second half.”
Senior Amir Abdulkadir and senior linebacker CeeJay Clavier co-led Olympian with 11 tackles.
“We will try to clinch the outright league title on Friday night on the road at Montgomery High School,” the Eagles coach said. “They have some solid position players who we will have to prepare for. We are excited for the challenge and opportunity that lies ahead.”
SuHi senior Carlos Delgado (11 carries, 112 yards) scored two rushing touchdowns while junior Zaryan Crews (six carries, 87 yards) scored once.
The Red Devils racked up 340 total offensive yards in the game, including 318 yards on the ground. Senior Xzavier Crews had 11 carries for 63 yards while senior Izell Wright had 13 carries for 56 yards.
Zaryan Crews completed three passes for 22 yards — 20 yards on two catches to his older brother. Delgado recorded a team-high 13 tackles on defense.
“It was a tough loss but we had opportunities and Olympian outplayed us,” said Sweetwater coach Ervin Hernandez, whose team finishes up at Hilltop. “We need to stick to our identity in running the ball and playing tough defense. Our focus is finishing the regular season strong, as we can’t worry about the rest.”
Sweetwater is 3-6 overall, 1-1 in league play, heading to play the Lancers (0-2 in league, 3-6 overall). Hilltop needs a season-closing win to make the playoffs after coming up on the short end of a 23-14 score last week at Montgomery (1-1 in league, 4-5 overall).
Sophomore Andie Deanda passed for 244 yards and two touchdowns while rushing seven times for 85 yards and one touchdown to key the host Aztecs with 329 total yards. Senior Aerek Brown had five catches for 114 yards and one touchdown while junior Zantez Thomas had two catches for 77 yards and one touchdown.
Senior Mike Mohr had two sacks to pace the Montgomery defense while junior Marcus Trujillo had one sack. The Aztecs recorded three interceptions — one each by Trujillo, senior Diego Villanueva and junior Raul Moreno.
Senior Dalaias Garcia had five kicking points on two extra-point conversions and a 37-yard field goal.
For the visiting Lancers, seniors Rio Nava (five catches, 77 yards) and Nick Moore (three catches, 65 yards) each caught scoring passes while senior Isaac Meza corraled six passes for 82 yards. Moore’s catch and carry measured 46 yards while Nava and Meza both had 40-yard catches.
Senior Isaac Nones passed for 205 yards but was intercepted three times.
Montgomery retains an outside chance of making the playoffs with a win over Olympian to finish regular season play.
Star power
Junior Izaac Baca passed for four touchdowns — three to junior Elijah Gillespie — and junior La’Darrione Perkins rushed for 165 yards and two scores to lead Chula Vista (7-2 overall, 3-0 in league) past Castle Park (4-5, 2-1) in a game played on Thursday, Oct. 19, between league unbeatens.
“We were simply the more physical team,” said CV head coach Howard Bannister III, whose team hosts San Ysidro (1-8, 0-3) on Friday. “We knew that with their starting quarterback out, they were going to run the ball all night, so we had to play big in the trenches .. and we did.
“In terms of playoffs, we have to continue having great practices that will allow us to execute in games. When it comes to playoffs, usually the team the makes the least mistakes is the team that comes out on top. The Sweetwater loss was a wakeup call and practices have intensified since.”
Chula Vista led 14-0 after the first quarter and 28-7 at halftime. The stadium lights were turned off for homecoming ceremonies and it took some time to warm them up and get the field fully lit for play to resume. The Spartans wasted no time in putting the game away with a 21-6 scoring edge in the third quarter.
Baca completed 10 of 15 passing attempts for 147 yards. Gillespie had five catches for 89 yards, including one for 33 yards. Senior Paul Alvarez rushed 10 times for 75 yards and one touchdown while senior Jacob Davidson had two catches for 15 yards and one score.
On the defensive side, senior Ke’Andre Davis had one sack while senior Santiago Macias blocked a field goal attempt.
CP junior Christian Haynes (eight carries, 65 yards) scored on an 80-yard kickoff return to end the first half while senior Sebastian Lozano (13 carries, 65 yards) scored the Trojans’ other touchdown.
CP senior Josiah Buggs did his best behind center with four carries for 36 yards, though his lone pass attempt in the game fell incomplete.
Trojan coach Paco Silva said his team continued — as it has all season — to play short of players.
Castle Park faces a must-win game at Southwest on Thursday in a bid to qualify for the final berth in the Division V playoffs. The host Raiders are 1-2 in league, 5-4 overall, and also need a win in the regular season finale for any chance of making the playoffs.
Mar Vista recorded its second league win by trimming visiting San Ysidro, 21-14, on Thursday. Senior quarterback Lucious Ordaz passed for 150 yards with one touchdown while senior Keegan Flohr (four carries, nine yards) and Jahsaiah Hyneman (12 carries, 67 yards) both scored rushing touchdowns.
Sophomore Cionte Fewell had 98 receiving yards on five catches, including one for a touchdown for the Mariners (2-2 in league, 3-6 overall).
Senior Omar Vargas (10 carries, 68 yards) and sophomore Dario Garcia (18 carries, 214 yards) each had one rushing touchdown for the Cougars (0-3 in league, 1-8 overall). San Ysidro’s defense registered five sacks, including 2.5 by junior Jaiden Dominguez.
San Diego Section Football Rankings
(Through Oct. 21)
Division I: 1. Lincoln (10-0), 2. Carlsbad (9-0), 3. Granite Hills (9-0), 4. Helix Charter (8-1), 5. Mission Hills (5-3), 6. Torrey Pines (6-3), 7. Cathedral Catholic (3-6), 8. El Camino (6-3), 9. La Costa Canyon (5-4), 10. St. Augustine (5-4), 11. Mater Dei Catholic (5-3), 12. San Marcos (7-2), 13. Madison (3-6), 14. Poway (3-6), 15. Ramona (4-4), 16. Mira Mesa (3-6)
Division II: 1. Del Norte (8-1), 2. La Jolla (7-2), 3. Rancho Bernardo (4-5), 4. Oceanside (6-3), 5. Pt. Loma (6-4), 6. Scripps Ranch (6-3), 7. Brawley (8-1), 8. Central Union (7-2), 9. Bishop’s (6-3), 10. Steele Canyon (5-4), 11. Eastlake (3-6), 12. University City (1-8), 13. Mt. Carmel (3-6), 14. San Pasqual (5-4), 15. Christian (4-5), 16. Rancho Buena Vista (1-8)
Division III: 1. Mission Bay (7-2), 2. Fallbrook (4-5), 3. Santa Fe Christian (5-4), 4. La Jolla Country Day (6-3), 5. West Hills (5-4), 6. Patrick Henry (4-5), 7. Grossmont (5-4), 8. Imperial (6-3), 9. El Capitan (5-4), 10. Valley Center (4-5), 11. Morse (4-5), 12. Otay Ranch (2-7), 13. Palo Verde Valley (4-6), 14. Montgomery (4-5). 15. San Diego (3-6), 16. Vista (0-9)
Division IV: 1. Mt. Miguel (8-1), 2. Chula Vista (7-2), 3. Santana (4-5), 4. Westview (5-4), 5. Crawford (5-3), 6. Bonita Vista (6-3), 7. Olympian (5-4), 8. Calexico (5-4), 9. Escondido (2-7), 10. Escondido Charter (3-6), 11. Coronado (3-6), 12. Hilltop (3-6), 13. Francis Parker (2-7), 14. Orange Glen (5-4), 15. Classical Academy (2-7), 16. Canyon Hills (0-9)
Division V: 1. Vincent Memorial (6-3), 2. Sweetwater (3-6), 3. El Cajon Valley (5-4), 4. Hoover (6-3), 5. Southwest El Centro (2-7), 6. Monte Vista (3-6), 7. Valhalla (2-8), 8. Kearny (6-3), 9. Castle Park (4-4), 10. Clairemont (4-5), 11. Southwest (5-4), 12. Mar Vista (3-6), 13. San Ysidro (1-8)
Division V-AA: 1. Holtville (6-2), 2. Army-Navy Academy (6-3), 3. Tri-City Christian (8-1), 4. Rock Academy (4-4), 5. Maranatha Christian (3-6), 6. Calipatria (3-6), 7. Mountain Empire (1-9), 8. O’Farrell Charter (0-9)
