Last Friday’s 75th edition of the Legacy of Pride trophy game between the host Sweetwater Red Devils and Chula Vista Spartans — the state’s longest-running rivalry contest — featured 38 points between the gridiron combatants who were battling for first place in the South Bay League standings.
“We made some halftime adjustments because our offense wasn’t working the way we wanted it to go,” said SuHi head coach Erwin Hernandez, of his team’s eventual 35-3 victory. “The second half worked out a lot better for us.”
The Red Devils received a gift possession in the opening seconds of the game on a fumble by the visitors at their own 20-yard line. Junior Gilbert Garcia made the recovery for Sweetwater, the first of his two fumble recoveries on the night. A few plays later senior Javier Sanchez got into the end zone for the first touchdown of the game on a five-yard run.
Senior Fabian Venegas bulled into the end zone for the ensuing two-point conversion to thrill the large homecoming crowd with an early 8-0 lead for the Devils.
Sweetwater was back in the end zone for a 14-0 lead as Sanchez scored on a four-yard run.
The Spartans finally gained good field position near midfield and junior quarterback Jacob Pedroza (42 passing yards, 33 rushing yards) broke off a 20-yard gain to the SuHi 35-yard line. Chula Vista inched the ball closer to the 24-yard line before settling for a 42-yard field goal from senior Daniel Montes with three seconds left in the half.
The game moved swiftly with mostly running plays. The 14-3 score in favor of the hosts didn’t seem so insurmountable.
But Sweetwater, braced by a 318-yard running attack in the game, did all the scoring in the second half following the homecoming fireworks extravaganza.
Sophomore Xzavier Crews (10 carries, 39 yards) scored on an 11-yard end-around play early in the third quarter to boost the lead to 21-3 following the extra-point conversion by senior Josue Delgado.
Sanchez (15 carries, 101 yards) scored his third touchdown of the game on an eight-yard run after Venegas (15 carries, 111 yards) had made a 45-yard run.
A blocked punt by sophomore Cesar Guerra set up the Devils’ final score by Venegas on an eight-yard run. Delgado once again supplied the PAT.
The win was the fourth consecutive for Sweetwater (3-0 in league, 4-3 overall) and snapped an impressive four-game winning streak by Chula Vista (4-1 in league, 4-3 overall).
“It was a team effort,” Sanchez said. “We stayed focused and kept telling the guys not to give up, saying positive things. Every time in practice we give 110 percent, we work hard. On Friday’s we have fun.”
The Devils have steadily crawled up the Division IV power rankings during their current winning streak and enter this week at No. 6. The Spartans are ninth in the 17-team division — in a virtual tie in rankings points with No. 10 Montgomery, a 35-22 winner over visiting Mar Vista in a league game last Friday.
Montgomery is 2-1 in league, 4-3 overall. The Aztecs’ lone league loss was 26-19 in overtime to Sweetwater on Oct. 8.
The Red Devils play at Mar Vista (1-2, 4-5) this Friday and close out regular season play at Castle Park (0-4, 0-8) on Oct. 29.
Montgomery remains in the league banner chase with a game this Friday at San Ysidro (1-2, 4-3) and an Oct. 29 game at Chula Vista. The Spartans, who have a scheduled bye this week, remain in the championship mix depending on the outcome of Sweetwater’s game this Friday against the host Mariners and Montgomery’s game against the host Cougars.
Mar Vista hosts San Ysidro to close out regular season play
Hernandez said the team’s goal is to keep the flame burning.
San Ysidro 14, Foothills Christian 3
The visiting Cougars may have salvaged a Division V playoff berth with the non-league win as McKai Jackson and J1’Marcus Jiles both scored touchdowns to brace a 245-yard rushing effort.
Foothills was doing a good job controlling the ball,” SYHS coach Keith Aguon said. “They held us to three possessions and zero points in the first half.
“We decided to make the switch at quarterback and Matthew Jaime put a spark in our offense and we scored touchdowns on our first two possessions in the second half. We still believe in Ja’ Marcus at quarterback; it was just one of those games where we needed to throw them a curve because our fastball wasn’t working.
“Matthew helps us at other positions but they both will get quarterback reps moving forward. We have a big homecoming game versus Montgomery; we will have to bring our A-game because we all know they are well -coached bunch.”
Montgomery 35, Mar Vista 22
Senior Juan Estrada rushed 19 times for 166 yards and scored four touchdowns to lead the Aztecs, who compiled 267 rushing yards.
Sophomore Arath Leyva led Montgomery defensively with eight tackles while classmate Mike Mohr had one sack. Junior Jordan Benton had one interception. The Aztecs recovered five fumbles, two by senior Christian Venegas.
