The Eastlake Titans, Bonita Vista Barons and Olympian Eagles all find themselves with undefeated Metro-Mesa League records through the opening two weeks of league play. But the teams do not look to be tied for long.
Eastlake (1-0 in league play, 4-3 overall) hosts Bonita Vista (2-0, 3-4) in the teams’ annual Battle for the Boot rivalry match-up Friday. The winner remains undefeated and in the proverbial driver’s seat for the league title.
Meanwhile, Olympian (1-0, 3-4) plays at Chula Vista (0-2, 2-6) in a bid to also remain undefeated in league play, and in the championship race as well.
The Titans collected their first league win last Friday by defeating host Chula Vista 45-0.
Dean Klaser and Isaiah Strayhorn each scored two touchdowns while Traylon Reed and Austin Gurule each scored one touchdown and Aeden Johnson tacked on a field goal to account for Eastlake’s scoring.
“A league win is always fantastic,” EHS head coach Lee Price said. “Chula is a little banged up right now but the coaching is good and their kids played hard.”
The opening of last Friday’s game featured some trickery but not necessarily treats in the pre-Halloween contest.
The Titans won the coin toss and elected to receive, but the Spartans elected to try an onside kick and recovered the ball.
Chula Vista managed to move the ball inside the Eastlake 20-yard line but was not able to punch it across the goal line. The Spartans attempted a field goal but it was blocked and the ball recovered by Titan defender Ronnie Sallee.
From there out, it was pretty much all Titans, though late in the game the Spartans did score an apparent touchdown. However, it was called back because of a penalty.
Klaser scored on runs of four and 45 yards while Strayhorn opened scoring on a four-yard run and Gurule scored on a 16-yard run to close out scoring in the game.
Johnson split the uprights from 32 yards out.
Eastlake led 35-0 at halftime.
Klaser rushed for 98 yards on just four carries while Strayhorn rushed for 78 yards on 10 carries and Reed gained 46 yards on four carries.
On the season, Strayhorn has rushed for 981 yards and 10 rushing touchdowns. He is averaging 7.3 yards per carry and 140.1 yards per game.
Bonita Vista enters Friday’s battle for first place, or at least a share of it, after escaping with a hard-fought 14-13 win at Otay Ranch (0-2, 4-4) last Friday. The Barons built a 14-0 lead on touchdowns by Ethan Williams and Barrington Miller before the Mustangs responded with 13 unanswered points.
Otay Ranch then lined up for a potential game-winning field goal in the dying seconds. However, the ball sailed wide of the upright to preserve the BVHS victory.
“I am really excited for the kids, as it’s been a long time since Bonita has won two league games,” BVHS head coach Chris Thompson said. “This game was a statement game for our program in our goal to re-establish Bonita as a football team to be reckoned with.”
The game was scoreless through the opening three quarters before the teams combined for 27 points in the final quarter.
“Our defense did a great job in the first half keeping us in the game,” Thompson noted.
Bonita Vista’s first touchdown came at the beginning of the fourth quarter. After being dealt back-to-back sacks by the Mustang defense, the Barons were facing third down-and-21 from midfield when BV quarterback Anthony Posada connected with Ethan Williams on a deep crossing route for a 49-yard touchdown catch and carry.
“Willis Faalogo made two great blocks to get Ethan in for the score,” Thompson said.
The Baron coach called the team’s second touchdown — a 67-yard scoring jaunt by Miller — “a thing of beauty.”
“The O-line blew open a big hole down the middle for Barrington Miller to put it in the bank,” Thompson explained.
Thompson said there were two “huge” plays that did not show up in the box score that were critical in his team’s win.
“Atoa Fox tackled the Otay defender who scooped up our blocked field goal attempt,” the BVHS coach noted. “It should have been a scoop-and-score. Chris Boguille had a great punt down to the 15-yard line that set up great field position for our first score.”
Extra points by Lloyd Alexander on both TD plays gave the visitors a 14-0 lead.
The hosts responded with a fumble return for a touchdown by Sergio Ayon. However, the extra-point conversion was unsuccessful, leaving the Barons with a 14-6 lead.
Sam Stephens then scored on an 11-yard touchdown run and the successful extra-point conversion by Alec Cortez reduced the BVHS lead to one point.
But the missed field goal as time expired blunted the Mustang comeback. Otay Ranch has a bye this week and next hosts Chula Vista on Oct. 31.
The Barons are riding a two-game winning streak after opening the season with a 1-4 record in non-league play. Bonita Vista collected 145 passing yards and 129 rushing yards in the win over the Mustangs.
Boguille led the Barons with 95 rushing yards on 13 carries while Miller had two carries for 68 yards. Williams had three catches in the game for 88 yards while Keenan Ellis had two catches for 30 yards.
Posada completed seven of 18 passes for 145 yards and one touchdown.
In his last two games, Miller has rushed for 145 yards and two touchdowns while, in seven games, Posada has passed for 741 yards and six touchdowns. Williams has seven catches for 148 yards in the last two games, both BVHS wins.
Meanwhile, Eastlake is averaging 271 rushing yards per game. The Titans rolled up 326 total yards in offense in last week’s win over Chula Vista, including 295 rushing yards.
The Titan defense remains a juggernaut on the field with 35 sacks and eight interceptions in seven outings.
However, Price cautioned his team must not be overconfident when meeting the surging Barons.
“Bonita is a very good team with momentum from two big wins in league,” the EHS coach noted. “We are going to have to play well to beat them. We will work hard all week in practice to prepare for them. It is senior night and youth football night at our stadium this week as well as the Battle for the Boot. This is a rivalry game and we are excited to play it. Should be a big crowd so everyone should get there early.”
Eagles grounded
Olympian, which defeated visiting Otay Ranch, 37-30, to open league play on Oct. 10, is coming off a 48-13 non-league loss to visiting Madison last Friday.
Madison quarterback Kareem Coles rushed for 164 yards and scored four touchdowns; he also passed for 210 yards and two TDs. Coles finished the game with a QB rating of 147.3 for the Warhawks (4-3).
In statistics compiled through seven games, Ed Galloway led Olympian in scoring with six touchdowns, including four receiving scores, while quarterback Gary Cannon had passed for 663 yards and eight touchdowns. Cannon also led the Eagles with 500 rushing yards, followed by Galloway with 365 rushing yards.
Cannon was the team leader with 1,163 total yards, followed by Galloway with 674 total yards.
