The Battle for the Boot rivalry trophy is back in the hands of the Eastlake Titans after Friday’s 55-0 victory over the Bonita Vista Barons at Southwestern College.
The Titans reclaimed the trophy after a two-year possession by the Barons.
“It feels good,” EHS head coach Dean Tropp said. “It’s been absent at our school for two years. Our kids fought hard (to reclaim it). Those kids who have played the last two years in the rivalry game know what it means. They all played hard and gave a great effort.”
The teams first played for the trophy in 1993 and Bonita Vista won that first game by a score of 52-0. The Barons won the second game in the series as well before the Titans recorded their first of many subsequent wins.
Over the years, the trophy has changed hands multiple times, though Eastlake did run off a nine-game winning streak at one point.
Bonita Vista, under first-year head coach Aaron Jones, did their best to retain possession of the trophy. The winless Barons played equally hard and did move the ball up and down the field but just couldn’t find the finishing touch.
It’s been a familiar story for much of the season.
Eastlake scored first on a field goal by D.J. Del Fierro, though the Titans led just 3-0 through much of the first quarter. Micah Pietila-Wiggs caught a 61-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Daniel Amon to hike the visitors’ advantage on the scoreboard to 10-0.
The floodgates then opened.
Roman Coe scored on a nine-yard run to increase the Titan lead to 17-0 at the end of the first quarter. Another field goal by Del Fierro made the score 20-0.
Two more touchdowns in the second quarter spiked the Eastlake lead to 34-0 at halftime.
Overall, the Titans scored seven touchdowns in the game and tacked on two field goals.
Darius DeLos Reyes scored two touchdowns while Parker Merrifield, Ryzhon McCoy, Rayshawn Parks-Price and Coe each scored one touchdown.
McCoy rushed for one touchdown and passed for another.
The Titans recorded their second shutout of the season on defense.
“We just played our game and tried to minimize our mistakes,” Tropp said. “But there were too many penalties on our part in that first half.”
This year’s game was full of pre-game and post-game pageantry and awards.
The 2017 Battle for the Boot rivalry game was also designated as part of the national Great American Rivalry Series presented by the U.S. Marines.
Scholar-athlete awards were presented to one deserving player from each school — Tanner Moulton from Eastlake and Vince Cruz from Bonita Vista. Each player received a scholarship award besides a commemorative plaque.
Two players in the long-running rivalry game series were inducted into the Great American Rivalry Series Hall of Fame: Tony Jefferson for Eastlake and Anthony Posada for Bonita Vista.
Eastlake’s Billy Dunkle received the game’s MVP award.
“It’s a great opportunity,” Moulton said of his award. “I’m grateful my coach nominated me for the honor.”
Moulton said he still hasn’t made a decision on where he will attend college but said BYU and Stanford are leading choices.
For those players who were competing in their first Battle for the Boot rivalry game, it was a memorable experience.
“It feels really good (to win),” Titan junior safety Quintin Johnson said. “It was super exciting; I can’t wait until next year.”
With the win, Eastlake improved to 7-2 on the season, 2-1 in Metro-Mesa League play.
With the loss, Bonita Vista finished regular season play 0-10, 0-4 in Metro-Mesa League play.
However, both teams will advance to post-season play, likely in the Division I field.
Eastlake will host Olympian (2-1 in Metro-Mesa League play, 5-4 overall) in next Friday’s regular season finale that will also double as Eastlake’s homecoming game.
Olympian defeated visiting Mater Dei Catholic, 46-14, on Friday in a bid to earn home field advantage in the opening round of the Division I playoffs.
Isaiah Williams scored three touchdowns to lead the Eagles’ scoring parade.
Otay Ranch (3-0 in Metro-Mesa League, 6-3 overall) will end regular season play with a game next Friday at Mater Dei Catholic (1-2 in Metro-Mesa League, 4-5 overall). With a win on foreign soil, the Mustangs can wrap up sole possession of this year’s league title — and the school’s first uncontested Metro-Mesa League championship overall.
Both Metro-Mesa League final regular season games will impact not only the league standings but seeding for the upcoming playoffs.
“Eastlake is currently ranked higher than we are — a win might get us a first week bye,” Olympian head coach Paul Van Nostrand said.
The Eagles led 40-7 at halftime of last Friday’s game — 24-0 at the end of the first quarter.
Williams rushed seven times for 51 yards, scoring two rushing touchdowns. He added an 85-yard touchdown catch to finish the game with 136 all-purpose yards.
Olympian quarterback Nico Mendoza completed two passes for a pair of touochdowns — the 85-yarder to Williams and a 48-yard touchdown to Mikael Tyler.
Treyvion Davies (seven carries, 93 yards) and Trent Jackson (three carries, 45 yards) each rushed for touchdowns.
In nine games, Mendoza has passed for 1,561 yards with 15 touchdowns and six interceptions.
Davies leads the Eagles with 635 rushing yards and has scored seven touchdowns while Williams tops the team’s receivers with 698 yards and eight TDs and has a team-leading 11 TDs overall.
Rock Gonzalez tops Olympian’s defense with 11 sacks.
Pietla-Wiggs leads Eastlake with 10 touchdowns — six rushing and four receiving. He also has four interceptions on defense. He leads the team with 798 all-purpose yards.
Donyal Thompson helps key the Titan defense with 10 sacks; Josh McCurty leads the team with 129 tackles.
Metro-South Bay League
The Hilltop Lancers earned no worse than a share of this year’s league title by advancing their league record to 2-0 after defeating the Sweetwater Red Devils, 28-6, in a game played Friday at Chula Vista High School.
Jeremiah Rivera rushed for 311 yards and scored four touchdowns for the Lancers, including one on an 80-yard sprint. Brandon Sweeney threw a 63-yard touchdown pass to account for Sweetwater’s lone score in the game,
Hilltop (5-4 overall) can wrap up sole possession of this year’s league championship with a win next Friday at Mar Vista.
Chula Vista (1-1 in Metro-South Bay League play, 5-4 overall) will host Sweetwater (1-1 in Metro-South Bay League play, 1-8 overall) next Friday with a chance to earn a share of the league banner with a win over the Devils and a Hilltop loss to Mar Vista (0-2 in Metro-South Bay League, 5-4 overall).
The same applies for Sweetwater — a win over Chula Vista, coupled with a Hilltop loss, would enable the Red Devils to share the league title.
Kajahan Duncan scored both Chula Vista touchdowns in Friday’s game against the host Mariners – the first on a 24-yard interception return and the second on a 20-yard run from scrimmage. Cesar Macias opened scoring in the game with a 35-yard field goal for Mar Vista.
Metro-Pacific League
Montgomery remained unbeaten in league play following a 42-14 victory against visiting Castle Park in the teams’ annual Warrior Bowl rivalry game on Friday. Hunter Joseph keyed the victorious Aztecs (2-0 in Metro-Pacific League play, 6-3 overall) by scoring on four touchdown runs, including scampers of 71 and 47 yards.
Castle Park (0-2 in Metro-Pacific League, 0-9 overall) cut the early Montgomery lead to 13-7 with an arcing touchdown pass from Eleazar Cruz to Joel Torres.
Southwest may have sidelined defending champion San Ysidro’s chances of earning a championship repeat by defeating the visiting Cougars, 50-38, in Friday’s homecoming game.
Leonard Hoar got the Raiders (1-1 in Metro-Pacific League, 3-6 overall) rolling on a 15-yard touchdown run.
San Ysidro (1-1 in Metro-Pacific League, 4-5 overall) hosts Montgomery next Friday in the Metro-Pacific League championship game. With a win, the Aztecs will claim this year’s league banner outright; the Cougars can force a co-championship with a win.
Prep Football Scoreboard
Metro-Mesa League
Friday, Oct. 27
Eastlake 55, Bonita Vista 0
Olympian 46, Mater Dei Catholic 14
League standings: Otay Ranch 3-0, Eastlake 2-1, Olympian 2-1, Mater Dei Catholic 1-2, Bonita Vista 0-4
Metro-South Bay League
Friday, Oct. 27
Hilltop 28, Sweetwater 6
Chula Vista 14, Mar Vista 3
League standings: Hilltop 2-0, Chula Vista 1-1, Sweetwater 1-1, Mar Vista 0-2
Metro-Pacific League
Friday, Oct. 27
Montgomery 42, Castle Park 14
Southwest 50, San Ysidro 38
League standings: Montgomery 2-0, Southwest 1-1, San Ysidro 1-1, Castle Park 0-2
Eight Man
Friday, Oct. 27
Ocean View Christian Academy 55, Borrego Springs 8
Victory Christian Academy 45, St. Joseph Academy (San Marcos) 6
San Diego Section
Playoff Tracker
Division I
Eastlake Titans 7-2
Olympian Eagles 5-4
Bonita Vista Barons 0-10
Division II
Otay Ranch Mustangs 6-3
Mater Dei Catholic Crusaders 4-5
Division III
Mar Vista Mariners 5-4
Hilltop Lancers 5-4
Division IV
Chula Vista Spartans 5-4
Sweetwater Red Devils 1-8
Castle Park Trojans 0-9
Division V
Montgomery Aztecs 6-3
San Ysidro Cougars 4-5
Southwest Raiders 3-6
Eight-Man
Ocean View Christian Academy 5-3
Victory Christian Academy 3-4
San Diego Section
Unbeaten Teams
Division I
Mission Hills Grizzlies 9-0
Division II
Ramona Bulldogs 9-0
Bishop’s Knights 8-0
Division III
Southwest El Centro Eagles 9-0
Division IV
San Diego Cavers 9-0
