Eastlake High School football coach Lee Price admitted his team’s opening six games would be a physical grind and the first four certainly have been as the defending Metro-Mesa League champion Titans have played to a 2-2 standoff against some of the top teams in Southern California.
Last Friday’s 37-36 overtime win over visiting Madison, however, had to give the team a big emotional lift. The game went into overtime after the sixth-ranked Warhawks missed a potential game-winning 22-yard field goal in the dying seconds of regulation. The hosts then matched the visitors with a touchdown in the overtime tie-breaker before winning the contest on a dramatic two-point conversion catch by Kaleb Dueitt.
“It was a big win for the program over a high quality team,” explained Price, whose team moved up to the section’s No 8 ranking this week while Madison dropped out of the top 10. “We are getting a few players back but we are losing a couple of others, so the health issue continues.”
The Titans built a 22-7 lead early in the game only to see Madison out-score the host team 22-0 in the second half to take a 29-22 lead. The Warhawks took a 36-29 lead on a touchdown and extra-point conversion on their overtime possession.
An acrobatic one-handed touchdown catch by Josh Olave allowed Eastlake to draw within one point, 36-35, on the scoreboard in the OT tie-breaker. Before running out of real estate, Titan quarterback Izzack Morales then tossed a short pass to Dueitt just inside the near pylon for the successful two-point conversion.
“After battling that long against Madison and knowing that we were hurting a little, I decided to end it once and for all, for good or bad,” Price said in regard to his decision to go for the two-point conversion. “I did the same against La Serna and will continue to go for wins whenever possible. Our kids played so hard to get that win and showed a lot of leadership on the field.”
The dramatic ending was a turnaround for the Warhawks, who defeated visiting Bonita Vista, 29-28, on a late touchdown and two-point conversion in a key non-league encounter on Sept. 11.
Eastlake now turns around to face third-ranked St. Augustine in a prime time match-up Friday at San Diego Mesa College, starting at 7 p.m. The Saints (3-1) are coming off a 41-14 win at Otay Ranch last Friday.
“It doesn’t get any easier this week against a fantastic Saints team, so wish us luck and we will continue to work hard to be ready for these games,” Price said.
Eastlake rushed for 416 yards against Madison, though no player exceeded 100 yards. Nate Sweat (13 carries, 80 yards), Morales (nine carries, 57 yards), Josh Olave (six carries, 46 yards) and Jae Vitin (nine carries, 39 yards) each scored rushing touchdowns. Traylon Reed led the Titans with 93 yards on 13 carries while Dueitt rushed 10 times for 63 yards.
Buzz Akerlund led the Titans with 13 tackles, including 12 solo stops, while Sweat and Manny Velarde each recorded sacks. Akerlund also caused a fumble while Velarde recovered a fumble.
Jax Crawford also had a two-point conversion earlier in the game.
Reed leads Eastlake with 412 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns through four games. The Titans are averaging 256 rushing yards per game. Defensively, the Titans have collected seven sacks, three interceptions and four fumble recoveries.
Elijah Preston rushed for 228 yards and scored three touchdowns last week for the Saints, who piled up 435 total yards in offense. Preston has rushed for 733 yards and eight touchdowns in four games.
