Area high school football teams are starting to fill in their schedules for the upcoming 2020-21 season.
Eastlake High School recently released its 2021 schedule with a regular season start date of Jan. 8 against St. Augustine High School in a high profile away game.
The Titans will hit the road again for a non-league game at San Marcos on Jan. 15 before hosting San Jacinto on Jan. 22 and Ramona on Jan. 29. It’s then back on the road at El Camino on Feb. 5.
Eastlake has five home games this season — three of them in Metro-Mesa League play.
The Titans kick off league play with a Feb. 12 home game against east side rival Olympian. It’s quickly back on the road again for games at Hilltop (Feb. 19) and Mater Dei Catholic (Feb. 26).
Eastlake finally seems to catch a break in its schedule by hosting its final two league games: March 5 against “boot” rival Bonita Vista and March 12 against Otay Ranch.
The final two home games for the Titans look particularly appealing. Eastlake and Bonita Vista have a long and intense rivalry that dates back decades now. The Titans defeated Otay Ranch, 25-10, in last year’s regular season finale to claim the league championship.
Eastlake enters the season as the highest-ranked South County team, rating No. 17 among the section’s 85 11-man squads, according to the MaxPreps algorithm.
The Titans play a trio of preseason top 20 teams: St. Augustine at No. 8, El Camino at No. 9 and San Marcos at No. 19.
Current EHS head coach Jason Texler coached seven seasons at San Marcos and will enjoy a personal homecoming when his new team ventures northward in Week 2.
Rankings roulette
Helix is the section’s top-ranked team, followed by No. 2 Mission Hills, No. 3 Lincoln, No. 4. Oceanside, No. 5 Carlsbad, No. 6 Cathedral Catholic, No. 7 Steele Canyon, No. 8 St. Augustine, No. 9 El Camino, No. 10 Torrey Pines, No. 11 Bishop’s, No. 12 La Jolla, No. 13 Scripps Ranch, Vista and Madison in a tie for No. 14, No. 16 La Costa Canyon, No. 17. Eastlake, No. 18 Serra, No. 19 San Marcos and No. 20 Granite Hills.
Mater Dei Catholic (21st), Grossmont (22nd), Christian (23rd), Otay Ranch (24th) and San Pasqual (25th) round out the section’s top 25-ranked teams, according to MaxPreps.
Closer to home, Hilltop comes in at a tie for 38th with Valley Center while Montgomery is ranked 46th, Castle Park ranked 51st, Olympian ranked 52nd, Bonita Vista ranked 54th, Chula Vista ranked 63rd, Sweetwater ranked 70th, Mar Vista ranked 76th, San Ysidro ranked 77th and Southwest ranked 78th.
With so many local teams hovering near the bottom of the section rankings it’s apparent that South County squads will have a lot to prove this season.
The Metro Conference’s split into two leagues this season appears on paper, at least, to be fairly competitive.
The six Mesa League teams are ranked as follows: Eastlake, Mater Dei Catholic, Otay Ranch, Hilltop, Olympian and Bonita Vista.
The seven South Bay League teams are ranked as follows: Montgomery, Castle Park, Chula Vista, Sweetwater, Mar Vista, San Ysidro and Southwest.
Seven Metro teams qualified for last year’s section playoffs: Eastlake (Division I), Otay Ranch (Division II), Hilltop (Division III), Mater Dei Catholic (Division III), Montgomery (Division IV), Castle Park (Division V) and San Ysidro (Division V).
Hilltop, Mater Dei Catholic and Montgomery all ended their seasons in the quarterfinal playoffs while Castle Park advanced to the Division V championship game, recording a runner-up finish to Francis Parker.
Montgomery defeated Castle Park for last year’s Metro-Pacific League championship. Both will be favored to clash for the 2021 South Bay League title.
Mater Dei Catholic finished runner-up to Eastlake in the 2019 Mesa League standings while Hilltop ended a run of three consecutive South Bay League championships before earning promotion to the Mesa League this season.
Many schools have scheduled scrimmage games on Dec. 30, so there will be high school football played during the 2020 calendar year after all.
There was an abundance of shockers in last year’s section finals.
Ninth-seeded Oceanside defeated second-seeded Lincoln, 28-10, to win last year’s Division I championship while seventh-seeded El Camino stunned top-seeded Bishop’s, 75-59, to claim the Division II title.
In a trio of other upsets, third-seeded La Jolla edged top-seeded Scripps Ranch, 17-10, to capture the Division III banner, second-seeded Serra man-handled top-seeded Santana, 37-7, in the Division IV final while fourth-seeded Francis Parker slipped past second-seeded Castle Park 24-21.
In non-upsets, top-seeded Helix topped third-seeded Carlsbad, 28-21, to win the Open Division while top-seeded Foothills Christian overwhelmed second-seeded San Diego Jewish Academy, 62-0, to win the 8-Man championship.
Helix pulled out a 12-7 win over fourth-seeded St. Augustine in the semifinals while Foothills Christian defeated fourth-seeded Ocean View Christian Academy 61-14, in the semifinals.
Foothills Christian finished the 2019 season with an 11-0 record.
