Never mind that the Sweetwater Red Devils and Chula Vista Spartans were originally scheduled to play the 74th game in the schools’ vaunted Legacy of Pride series last year. It didn’t matter the 2020 season was delayed seven months because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
When the teams finally took the field at Joseph Rindone Stadium last Friday night, the competitive juices were flowing and the hits for once were for real — not just against teammates in practice but against a live opponent.
Amid war woops and cheering fans, the Red Devils came out victorious 36-7 to claim their 40th victory in the longest continuous high school football rivalry series in the state.
“Honestly, I’m almost out of words,” first-year Sweetwater head coach Ervin Hernandez said after the emotional victory. “The kids have been through a lot. We went from not having a season to having a season. It means a lot to the seniors, all the hard work they put in.
“Then to coach your first game in a big rivalry game like this, and get your first win at the school, it’s exhilarating.”
The National City team never trailed in the season-opening game. Junior running back Javier Sanchez completed the first big play in the game when he broke into the Spartan secondary and rumbled for 56 yards to the Chula Vista three-yard line.
On third-and-goal, he scored the game’s opening touchdown and, following a successful two-point conversion by senior Jonathan Gonzales, Sweetwater led 8-0 on the scoreboard.
But the Spartans responded with a big play of their own just 16 seconds later as senior quarterback Omar Perez connected on a sideline pass to sophomore receiver Arbahl Saucedo-Franco that went for a 65-yard score.
The Spartans would not score again, however, as the Devils piled up 28 unanswered points in the second half.
Sweetwater, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary, dominated ball possession in the third quarter, with the hosts having only one brief possession. Senior quarterback Mario Villa opened the floodgates for the visitors on a 41-yard sideline scamper. Sanchez booted the successful PAT to put Sweetwater ahead 15-7.
Villa took off for the races on the first play of the fourth quarter to bolt 36 yards for another sideline special to push the Devils further ahead 22-7.
An injury to Villa brought senior Isaiah Atayde into the game, and he scored on a four-yard quarterback keeper with 6:44 to play in the final quarter to make the score 29-7 to the delight of the Sweetwater faithful.
The Devils closed out scoring two minutes later on a defensive touchdown as Carlos Rodriguez scored on a seven-yard fumble return.
Sweetwater amassed 455 total offensive yards in the game to 194 for Chula Vista.
Villa (165 rushing yards on 17 carries, 15 passing yards) keyed all players with 180 total yards while junior Carlos Hopper tacked on 148 rushing yards on 14 carries. Sanchez had 115 yards on eight carries.
The Devils had 44 carries for 440 rushing yards to control time of possession.
Perez completed 10 of 23 passes for 155 yards with one touchdown. The Spartans were unable to get a sustained running attack going, rushing just eight times for 39 yards.
Saucedo-Franco had two catches for 75 yards while senior Aaron Hernandez had three catches for 31 yards. Junior Anthony Venegas had three catches for 28 yards.
Perez paced Chula Vista with 163 total yards, adding eight yards on the ground on two carries.
The Devils recorded two sacks in the win — one each by senior Albert Vargas and sophomore Julian Ramos.
The Spartans won last year’s rivalry game 28-13. Sweetwater now leads the series 40-31-3.
“Our offensive line dominated the line of scrimmage,” said Villa, who led all players in the game with two rushing touchdowns. “It feels great winning as a senior after losing it last season on this exact field … getting it back, it feels amazing.”
“It wasn’t just me, it was a whole team effort,” Sanchez chimed in. “We’ve been practicing for this, getting ready for this. We gave it (all) on the field.”
“Growing up in National City, a lot of kids have to work besides having to cope with distance learning,” the new SuHi coach said. “It means the world to everyone. I’m smiling for our first win for the entire coaching staff.”
The Red Devils (1-0) turn around to host El Cajon Valley (0-1) in a non-league game this Friday while the Spartans (0-1) play a non-league game at Olympian (0-0). Both games start at 6:30 p.m.
Olympian is coming off a 24-0 scrimmage win over visiting Hilltop last Friday while ECV dropped a 21-13 Grossmont Valley League game to visiting Mount Miguel.
Warrior Bowl
The Montgomery Aztecs topped neighborhood rival Castle Park, 40-0, to win last Friday’s Warrior Bowl. It was a first test for the Aztecs, who claimed last season’s Metro-Pacific League championship but move up to the Metro-South Bay League this season.
“We are going to have to play with great effort, be tough and play smart to win the South Bay League championship,” Montgomery head coach Freddy Dunkle said.
Seniors Jaheem Williams and Alexander Dixie both scored two touchdowns in last Friday’s non-league win over the Trojans.
Dixie caught four passes for 64 yards, including two for touchdowns, while Williams (five rushes, 31 yards) scored one rushing touchdown and one touchdown on a punt return.
Williams totaled 120 all-purpose yards in the game, adding 89 yards on punt returns, while Dixie followed with 117 all-purpose yards (35 rushing, 64 receiving and 18 on punt returns).
The Aztecs collected 280 total offensive yards in the victory (186 rushing and 94 pass yards) and 460 yards in all-purpose yardage, including 145 yards on kick-offs and punt returns.
Junior Ansel Flanagan completed four of six passing attempts for 56 yards with two touchdowns while junior Nathan Roble-Cristobal completed three of eight attempts for 38 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Flanagan also broke off a 20-yard run to finish the game with a 136.1 quarterback efficiency rating.
The visitors snapped off eight running plays of more than 10 yards in the game, including four for 20 or more yards. Sophomore Jordan Benton rushed twice for 17 yards with one touchdown while senior Alex Flores caught one scoring pass for five yards.
Montgomery’s defense totaled 10 tackles for a loss, two quarterback sacks, one interception and three fumble recoveries.
Senior Benjamin Larsen led the Aztecs defensively with 11 tackles, including five tackles for a loss, while seniors Daniel Sandoval and Zach Pearson both had one sack. Senior Isiah King had one interception for 35 yards.
Larsen, Sandoval and Christian Venegas all had fumble recoveries.
Montgomery, ranked second among Division IV teams, plays at Mater Dei Catholic, the top-ranked team in Division III, in a non-league game this Friday.
The Crusaders are riding high after coming off a 19-2 non-league win at sixth-ranked Helix last Friday as senior quarterback Trevor Appelman (184 passing yards) completed three touchdown passes — one each to sophomore Chris Snyder (29 yards) and seniors Darren Barkins (49 yards) and Jacob Cannon (30 yards) — while sophomore Vincent Friend recorded two sacks.
Senior Raymond Romero had three catches for 67 yards, including one for a 61-yard gain, while senior Mauricio Reyes and junior Brian Dukes both had interceptions while senior Asiel Rodriguez recovered a fumble.
“Trevor played very well,” MDCHS head coach John Joyner said. “The offensive line protected him the whole night and he made great decisions with the football.”
But Joyner said it was the team’s defense that “stole the show.”
“They played so fast and physical all night — creating turnovers, big sacks and very few mental mistakes and they dominated all night,” Joyner said. “We knew we had a special defense, but it was so much fun to watch them fly around all night.”
Joyner and the Crusaders were obviously elated at the outcome of Mater Dei Catholic’s first-ever matchup against Helix, the 2019 San Diego Section Open Division champion.
“Any time you get a chance to play such a great program like Helix it is an honor,” Joyner said. “We are glad we represented the South Bay well and now need to focus on Montgomery.”
Helix’s lone points in the game came on a safety with six seconds to play when a punt snap sailed out of the end zone.
Junior Christian Washington paced the Highlanders with 109 rushing yards on 26 carries but was held without a touchdown. Washington did break through for one 35-yard gain.
Senior Aleandro Van Holten gained 52 yards on two carries, breaking off a 48-yarder.
Freshman Ryland Jessee and junior Cameron Tarling combined to complete four of 14 passes at the quarterback position for just 15 yards with two interceptions.
Helix, which stumbled out of the game with a 21-13 non-league loss to visiting St. Augustine in the teams’ season opener on March 12, has lost back-to-back home games for the first time in more than 20 years.
Helix head coach Robbie Owens said the Highlanders are missing 12 players who have started but opted not to play this season, including several seniors who are Division I college recruits. He added the team has had to provide significant playing time to 18 freshmen and sophomores to help fill that void.
The Highlanders will seek to pick up their first win of the season at Steele Canyon (1-1) this Friday as Grossmont Hills League play kicks off.
Cougars contained
San Ysidro saw a change in venue and opponents for last Friday’s game. The Cougars were originally supposed to host Metro-Pacific League rival Mar Vista but that game was canceled, reportedly due to COVID-19 concerns on Mar Vista’s behalf.
Instead, San Ysidro was able to substitute a non-league game at Crawford. The Colts defeated the Cougars 27-6.
Despite the setback, Mckai Jackson earned recognition as San Ysidro’s offensive player of the game while linebacker/fullback Sal Samano was spotlighted as the team’s defensive player of the game. Offensive/defensive lineman Daniel Placencia was named the overall player of the game for the Cougars.
San Ysidro led 6-3 at the end of the first quarter but Crawford did all the scoring in the next three quarters. The Colts added another field goal to tie the game, 6-6, at halftime. However, the Colts took control of the scoreboard in the second half with 14 third quarter points and the lone touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Eagles soar in scrimmage
Last Friday’s scrimmage at Olympian High School did include a “game-like atmosphere” in the second half, according to Olympian coach Ryan Van Nostrand.
“Our team played really well defensively,” Van Nostrand said. “Senior Tai Manalo had an interception and a 60-yard touchdown reception. Quarterback Christian Spraggins had three passing touchdowns. Running back Alijah Robinson led our ground attack with more than 60 yards rushing.”
Hilltop coach Bryan Wagner said his team will use the matchup as a preparation for Friday’s non-league game against the Otay Ranch Mustangs, ranked sixth among the section’s Division II teams.
“We had a lot of little mistakes here and there,” Wagner assessed. “All correctable things. I was proud of the way that we played defensively overall. Offensively, we just need to put together some drives and eliminate mental mistakes. Overall effort was good.”
Olympian is ranked 16th among Division II teams while Hilltop is ranked 14th among Division III teams.
As teams begin to play more games, the division rankings should come more into focus.
Eastern exposure
Could the Granite Hills Eagles be the top-ranked team in East County this season?
The Eagles have certainly made a good case for that after dominating their opening two non-league opponents in this shortened season.
Granite Hills defeated neighborhood rival Valhalla, 56-7, on March 13 and came back to post a 48-21 win over El Capitan last Friday. Granite Hills has out-scored its two opponents 104-28 to kick off its six-game season.
Senior quarterback Justus McComb threw three touchdown passes while rushing for a pair of scores to lead the Eagles to a 2-0 start to the season.
McComb’s first TD run was set up by a fumble recovery by junior Zach Burton. Junior Angel Almazon caught two of McComb’s touchdown passes, including a 67-yard sideline catch and carry.
McComb also passed four yards to senior Matt Keeley while junior Jaquayle Hodges and senior Austin McVey scored on short running plays.
Xavier Peace broke the goose egg for the Vaqueros (0-2) on a 97-yard kick-off return while quarterback Savigon Yokley later scored on a zigzag 22-yard run.
El Capitan (0-2) has been outscored 83-33 in two games.
Granite Hills head coach Kellan Cobbs called the victory against the Vaqueros a “good team win.”
“The offense moved the ball well and we were able to play a bunch of kids,” Cobbs said. “The defense caused some turnovers early, so that always helps us get off to a good start.”
Granite Hills will get a better idea of where it stacks up among Grossmont Hills League teams when the Eagles host the undefeated Grossmont Foothillers (1-0) this Friday in the teams’ league opener. Kick-off is 7 p.m.
Grossmont 44, West Hills 3
Senior quarterback Justin Brown passed for 194 yards and two touchdowns while also rushing four times for 41 yards and another score to lift the host Foothillers past the Wolf Pack last Friday in the season opener for both teams.
“We played really well and I enjoyed seeing our players excited again about the team and their school,” Grossmont head coach Tom Karlo said. “It was a great night.”
Brown, who led the Foothillers with 235 total yards, completed 16 of 21 passing attempts while junior Trenton Giles completed nine of 13 attempts for 82 yards with two touchdowns.
Juniors Nathan Acevedo (six catches, 100 yards) and Jawad Rivera (four catches, 29 yards) both caught two touchdown passes.
Grossmont racked up 472 total offensive yards in the victory. Acevedo led the Foothillers with 169 all-purpose yards, adding 69 yards on punt returns, while senior Robert Tucker tacked on 81 rushing yards and one returned one punt 32 yards.
Acevedo averaged 34.5 yards on two punt returns.
Defensively, seniors Kyle Zoellner and Blake Keeling both had fumble recoveries while senior Matt Knight and sophomore Brayden Armstrong each had one sack.
Junior Joseph Garcia tallied 14 kicking points on five successful point-after-touchdown conversions and three of four field goals, including a long of 42 yards.
Monte Vista 35, Valhalla 0
The Monarchs kicked off defense of their Grossmont Valley League championship with a shutout win against the host Norsemen.
“It was a good win for us,” Monte Vista coach Ron Hamamoto said. “We ran the ball well — 313 yards rushing and five touchdowns — and played good defense with a shutout and three interceptions. We look forward to a very good West Hills team. It’s great to be playing again.”
Senior Lamonta Jenkins keyed the Monarchs, who will visit West Hills (7 p.m. kick-off), with 125 rushing yards.
Mount Miguel 21, El Cajon Valley 13
The Mount Miguel Matadors started out 1-0 in Grossmont Valley League play after defeating host El Cajon Valley, 21-13, last Friday.
Senior quarterback Jacob Laverdiere earned offensive player of the game honors for the Matadors by rushing 26 times for 206 yards with two touchdowns and one two-point conversion. He also completed eight passes for 91 yards for a team-leading 297 total yards in the game.
Senior Joseph Castillo, who had two interceptions, earned honors as the defensive player of the game for Mount Miguel, which hosts Valhalla (0-2) on Friday at 7 p.m.
The Matadors led, 7-6, at halftime before out-scoring the Braves (0-1) by a 14-7 margin in the second half.
Mount Miguel rolled up 351 yards in total offense. Junior Ruben Hernandez had 11 carries for 54 yards and one rushing touchdown while senior Daelen Hayden caught six passes for 72 yards.
Junior Jayden Barnett led the Braves with 128 all-purpose yards on 100 receiving yards and 28 rushing yards while senior Joe Malone topped the team with 149 total yards on 121 passing yards and 28 rushing yards.
Barnett led ECV with two touchdowns in the game — one rushing and one receiving. Malone threw one touchdown pass and one interception. Malone also led the Braves defensively with 10 tackles.
Freshman Eric White had one fumble recovery for Mount Miguel while sophomore Yasir Blair had one interception for El Cajon Valley.
Senior Clarence Johnson averaged 27 yards on two kick-off returns for the Braves while Castillo punted twice for a 34-yard average.
El Cajon Valley plays a non-league game at Sweetwater High School on Friday (6:30 p.m. start).
Santana 49, Kearny 16
The Santana Sultans — the runner-up in the 2019 San Diego Section Division IV championship game — kicked off their shortened 2021 season with a 49-16 non-league win at Kearny High School last Friday.
Junior Kayvion Jones rushed for 160 yards and scored three touchdowns while Michael Richter rushed for 118 yards and scored twice to pace the visitors. Senior receiver Jared Forster caught nine passes for 140 yards and one touchdown while senior quarterback Drew Temple completed 11 of 20 passing attempts for 181 yards and one touchdown.
Santana (1-0) hosts El Capitan (0-2) in a Grossmont Valley League game on Friday (7 p.m. kick-off).
“I am glad to see the kids out there playing and having fun,” Sultans coach Tim Estes said. “The win was bittersweet because of a car accident that took the lives of two young people after our game.
“This year we are not playing for a league title. We are focusing on each and every game we get to play.”
San Diego Section rankings
Top 25 teams
- Cathedral Catholic (2-0)
- Lincoln (1-0)
- Carlsbad (1-0)
- St. Augustine (2-0)
- Mission Hills (1-0)
- Oceanside (0-1)
- El Camino (1-0)
- Bishop’s (1-0)
- La Jolla (1-0)
- Mater Dei Catholic (1-0)
- Steele Canyon (1-1)
- Helix (0-2)
- San Marcos (2-0)
- Madison (0-1)
- Torrey Pines (0-2)
- Eastlake (0-0)
- Granite Hills (2-0)
- Serra (0-0)
- Rancho Bernardo (1-0)
- Vista (0-1)
- Grossmont (1-0)
- Santa Fe Christian (2-0)
- La Costa Canyon (0-2)
- Patrick Henry (1-0)
- Christian (1-0)
Division I
- Cathedral Catholic (2-0)
- Lincoln (1-0)
- Carlsbad (1-0)
- St. Augustine (2-0)
- Mission Hills (1-0)
- Oceanside (0-1)
- El Camino (1-0)
- Steele Canyon (1-1)
- Helix (0-2)
- San Marcos (2-0)
- Madison (0-1)
- Torrey Pines (0-2)
- Eastlake (0-0)
- Granite Hills (2-0)
- Grossmont (1-0)
- La Costa Canyon (0-2)
Division II
- Bishop’s (1-0)
- La Jolla (1-0)
- Rancho Bernardo (1-0)
- Vista (0-1)
- Christian (1-0)
- Otay Ranch (0-0)
- Scripps Ranch (0-1)
- Poway (1-0)
- Central Union (1-0)
- Morse (0-1)
- San Pasqual (0-1)
- Mira Mesa (0-1)
- Valley Center (1-0)
- San Diego (0-0)
- Point Loma (0-1)
- Olympian (0-0)
Division III
- Mater Dei Catholic (1-0)
- Serra (0-0)
- Santa Fe Christian (2-0)
- Ramona (1-0)
- Westview (1-0)
- Brawley (2-0)
- Escondido (1-0)
- Santana (1-0)
- Mt. Carmel (0-1)
- Imperial (1-0)
- Orange Glen (1-1)
- El Capitan (0-2)
- Monte Vista (1-0)
- Hilltop (0-0)
- Bonita Vista (0-0)
- West Hills (0-1)
- Kearny (0-1
Division IV
- Patrick Henry (1-0)
- Montgomery (1-0)
- Mount Miguel (1-0)
- Del Norte (0-1)
- Coronado (0-1)
- La Jolla Country Day (0-1)
- Castle Park (0-1)
- Valhalla (0-2)
- Vincent Memorial (2-0)
- Francis Parker (1-1)
- Rancho Buena Vista (0-1)
- Sweetwater (1-0)
- University City (0-1)
- Chula Vista (0-1)
- Southwest El Centro (0-2)
- Classical Academy (0-1)
- Mar Vista (0-0)
Division V
- Holtville (0-2)
- Tri-City Christian (1-0)
- El Cajon Valley (0-1)
- Mission Bay (0-0)
- Crawford (1-0)
- Foothills Christian (0-0)
- Clairemont (0-0)
- Fallbrook (0-1)
- Palo Verde Valley (0-0)
- Calexico (0-1)
- San Ysidro (0-1)
- Southwest (0-0)
- Escondido Charter (0-1)
- Maranatha Christian (1-0)
- Hoover (0-0)
- Mountain Empire (0-2)
- Calipatria (0-0)
- O’Farrell Charter (0-0)
- Army-Navy Academy (0-0)
