It’s not exactly ancient history but it’s been seven years since the last time Sweetwater High School’s football team won a league championship.
During that interval, the Red Devils posted some rather non-championship numbers with a pair of 1-9 seasons, two 2-8 campaigns and a 3-8 record that included a first-round playoff loss.
The 2014 SuHi edition finished 10-1 and capped its season with a 12-0 loss to the Morse Tigers in the Division III quarterfinals.
The previous season the Red Devils won the Division IV title with a 7-0 victory against the Monte Vista Monarchs.
Sweetwater returned to the championship circle this spring, albeit in a shortened season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Red Devils earned note as the lone Metro Conference team to post a 5-0 record. The team’s 3-0 showing in Metro-Pacific League contests was good enough to earn distinction as league champions.
“You can’t write a better story as a first-year head coach than this,” SuHi sideline boss Ervin Hernandez said. “Much credit goes to our coaching staff who worked seven days a week finding ways to make us better. I am blessed with a great group of guys who put our kids to succeed on the field. Our kids bought into our vision and ‘we, us, ours.’ I am so happy for our seniors and what they got to experience having a perfect season.”
The National City team out-scored its three league opponents 132-39, capping the season with lop-sided 50-14 and 56-12 victories against San Ysidro and Mar Vista, respectively.
Senior Mario Villa rushed 17 times for 258 yards and scored two touchdowns to pace the Devils past Mar Vista (0-3) last Friday.
Overall, Sweetwater, ranked third in Division IV, scored seven rushing touchdowns in the game, with junior Carlos Hopper scoring three times while rushing for 135 yards and junior Javier Sanchez (eight carries, 91 yards) and freshman Xzavier Crews (two carries, 15 yards) both scoring once.
Senior Isaiah Atayde completed his lone pass of the game for a 37-yard touchdown to senior Martin Campas.
Sweetwater rolled up 540 total offensive yards in the win, including 503 on the ground.
Hopper led the team defensively with nine tackles. Atayde and junior Fabian Venegas both recorded interceptions while junior Nicholas Jenkins recovered a fumble.
The Devils had 4.5 sacks, with Sanchez leading the charge with 1.5 sacks.
Sweetwater led, 28-6, at halftime. The teams duplicated the first half score in the second half.
Villa rushed for 175 yards and scored three touchdowns while junior Sanchez rushed for 125 yards and scored two touchdowns in the preceding week’s win over San Ysidro (1-3).
Villa led Sweetwater offensively with four touchdowns and 215 total yards. Sweetwater scored a total of six rushing touchdowns.
Villa finished the season with 871 rushing yards and 13 rushing touchdowns. He also caught a touchdown pass to finish with 934 total yards and 14 total touchdowns.
Sanchez rushed for 437 yards and scored four touchdowns while Hopper (68 carries, 572 rushing yards) led the team defensively with 4.5 sacks.
The spring season is appropriately timed to launch off-season practices that will lead into the upcoming fall season.
“The future is bright as we have great underclassmen coming up and more kids will come out post-COVID,” Hernandez said. “We are already planning off-season workouts and I’m beginning to meet with staff on ways to improve the program.
“This 5-0 season really shows that work wins always. One of my players said it best — that he learned we don’t win on Friday night but on Monday through Thursday putting the grind in practice. That is a culture of chasing greatness and Sweetwater football will continue to find ways to compete.
“Next season starts now!”
