The Castle Park Trojans enter Friday’s non-league football game at Clairemont sporting a 2-2 record thanks to last Friday’s dramatic come-from-behind 12-6 win against visiting Chula Vista.
The game against the Division V Chiefs (3-2) is important to the Trojans’ playoff seeding fortunes as Castle Park is bidding for a high seed in the upcoming Division IV playoffs and a loss to Clairemont would not reflect well on the team’s divisional power ranking.
“Clairemont should be good, they have a bunch of kids coming back,” CPHS head coach Hans Graham said.
Clairemont is coming off a 62-21 non-league win last Friday against North Vancouver’s Handsworth (Canada).
Castle Park hopes to generate momentum coming off last Friday’s gritty win against the cross-town rival Spartans (1-4). Chula Vista, benefitting from a deflected interception by Gabriel McPherren, took a 6-0 lead on a touchdown run by quarterback Emiliano Orozco and held that lead until 1:34 remained in the third quarter.
The game turned on a big play by the hosts when Luq Barcoo sprang free for a 44-yard touchdown reception. The scoring play took place just moments after the visitors had made a big play of their own by turning back the hosts on downs on fourth-and-goal.
The Trojans had driven as close as the four-yard line but went back from there as Barcoo was tackled for a seven-yard loss and CP quarterback Angelo Trujillo threw an incomplete. On fourth down, Trujillo was then chased out of the pocket and sacked for a huge loss at the 35-yard line.
But the Trojan defense then rose to the occasion by forcing a punt to regain possession for the offense.
The extra-point attempts on the opening touchdowns by both teams were blocked, leaving them in a 6-6 standoff.
The Castle Park defense made another huge stop when it forced the Spartans to punt from their own goal line. The punt was short, landing at the Chula Vista 23-yard line to give the Trojans excellent field position in a bid to score the go-ahead touchdown.
Trujillo (15-of-24, 248 passing yards) completed a pass to Nick Williams to the 18-yard line and then hit Barcoo (eight catches, 121 yards) along the sideline for a catch-and-carry to the two-yard line. Two ensuing losses on first-and-goal left the ball outside the end zone until Miguel Flores (eight carries, 22 yards) bulled in on third-and-goal.
The two-point try was incomplete to leave Castle Park with a 12-6 lead with 9:54 to play in the fourth quarter.
The teams exchanged possessions after that. Chula Vista had the last drive of the game and moved the ball to the CP 32-yard line. However, the Spartans fell just short on a fourth-down run to turn the ball over on downs to the hosts with one minute remaining in the contest.
“Both teams played their butts off,” Graham said in a respectful manner. “We made a couple of adjustments at halftime to free up our passing game. Chula Vista did a great job; their new coach (Daryl Butterfield) is doing a good job. In the end, we did a little more than they did, we were a little more athletic.”
The Trojans have three more games before entering league play. The defending Metro-Pacific League champions host Mater Dei Catholic (4-0) and Bonita Vista (3-1) in a pair of challenging non-league games following the Clairemont game. Mater Dei is the top-ranked team in Division IV while Bonita Vista, ranked second in Division III, is on the cusp of breaking into the San Diego Section top 10 rankings.
“It doesn’t get an easier after Clairemont,” Graham noted.
However, the CPHS head coach refuses to underestimate his team.
“Our defense has been playing its butt off,” Graham said. “In our game at Capo Valley (a 41-21 non-league loss on Sept. 18), it was 15-14 going into the fourth quarter. We just ran out of gas.”
Flores keyed the Trojan defense with 12 tackles last Friday. Barcoo and Alonso Pereyda each made eight stops. Diego Ibarra had one sack while Flores and Anthony Navarro each had one interception.
Navarro returned his pick 25 yards.
The CP passing game has ramped up in recent weeks. Trujillo has passed for 763 yards with seven touchdowns and two interceptions. He’s also the team’s leading rusher with 151 yards on 36 carries with two rushing touchdowns to his credit.
Barcoo has rushed for 149 yards on 12 carries and has 27 catches for 436 yards. He leads the team with five touchdowns – four receiving scores and one rushing TD.
The Castle Park defense has racked up 10 sacks, five picks and two fumble recoveries in four games. Flores leads the team with 38 tackles.
Chula Vista hosts Morse (1-3) this Friday in a non-league match-up.
Mater Dei rolls to 4-0 start with 52-0 win over Cougars
Mater Dei Catholic upped its season record to 4-0 in as many games after defeating the host San Ysidro Cougars, 52-0, last Friday. Mario Williams scored three touchdowns while Alex Golembiewski was perfect on seven extra-point attempts and also booted a 40-yard field goal to pace the victorious Crusaders.
Eli Shelton, Kyle Moses, C.J. Verdell and Quentin Frazier each scored one touchdown in the win.
Mater Dei Catholic compiled 162 passing yards and 151 rushing yards in the game. Chris Jones completed four of five passing attempts for 154 yards and two touchdowns for a superb 160.4 quarterback rating.
Williams rushed for a team high 91 yards on just three carries – all touchdowns. His longest romp from scrimmage was 42 yards. Verdell had three carries for 38 yards.
Moses had one catch for an 81-yard touchdown while Shelton caught a 46-yard scoring pass.
Frazier also amassed 62 yards in kick returns in the game.
Isaiah Faue led the Mater Dei Catholic defense with eight tackles while Ruben Duran contributed seven tackles and also had one sack. Aiden Sharp also recorded one sack.
The Crusader defense particularly excelled in stopping the Cougars’ passing game by making six interceptions. Frazier had two picks while David Bracamonte, Austin Keller, Jovan Bayless and Shaun Jones each had one interception. Nico Lutterroth also had one caused fumble.
Mater Dei Catholic hosts the Bishop’s Knights on Friday, Oct. 2., in a rematch of last year’s Division IV championship game won by the Knights in overtime.
San Ysidro, which will host Brachilleres Baja California (Tijuana) on Friday, Oct. 2, dropped to 0-5 on the season.
Jones has passed for 566 yards with seven touchdowns and no interceptions in four game appearances for an overall 143.8 QB rating. He’s also rushed 23 times for 100 yards and two rushing touchdowns.
Verdell leads the Crusaders with 459 rushing yards on 42 carries and has scored six rushing touchdowns.
Williams has rushed 10 times for 180 yards with four touchdowns.
Frazier has seven catches for 143 yards while Moses has caught five passes for 121 yards and two touchdowns. Shelton has two catches for 115 yards and two touchdowns.
Defensively, Duran tops the Crusaders with 45 tackles, followed by teammates Jayden Emberton-Gaines and Bayless each with 32 tackles. Mater Dei Catholic has recorded eight sacks, 10 interceptions and two fumble recoveries.
Williams and Dominick Wood-Anderson lead the team with two sacks apiece while Frazier and Bayless each have a team high three interceptions.
Verdell leads the team with seven touchdowns – six rushing and one receiving – while Golembiewski has accumulated 22 kicking points on the season.
