Mar Vista escapes with 30-29 Metro-South Bay League win at Hilltop

As one watched the progression of Friday’s Metro-South Bay League opener between the host Hilltop Lancers and Mar Vista Mariners, one got the district feeling that the team that had possession of the ball at the end of the game would likely record the victory.

That’s exactly what happened.

Hilltop lined up for a potential game-winning field goal with 36 seconds to play in regulation but missed wide left.

That gave possession back to Mar Vista, which ran two plays in victory formation to seal a dramatic 30-29 win.

“Our guys played a gutsy game,” explained MVHS head coach Tyler Arciaga. “If you look at our roster and look at all the guys we had out – we were missing six players – we had a lot of guys step up. We may not have a lot of talent but we have a lot of guts.”

It was blue-collar football all the way: knock down, drag out and may the team with the fewest mistakes win.

“This was a great game,” Hilltop head coach Drew Westling underscored. “The officiating crew said it was the best game they had seen all year. It was a lot of fun. The guys never let down. It’s a shame one team has to lose a game like this.”

Ironically, it was the Lancers’ second attempt to win the game after missing another 27-yard attempt with 4:26 left. On that play, the snap was botched and the Hilltop kicker attempted to run with the ball, weaving from one side of the field to the other before he was finally tackled.

There were eight lead changes in the game, which served as Hilltop’s 55th homecoming. Mar Vista went up 7-0 on a seven-yard touchdown run by Khalil Spruill. The hosts tied the game, 7-7, on a scoring pass from Alex Tejeda to Max Ugarte.

The Mariners then went up 14-7 on a Noah Berry TD catch before Esparza scored on a two-yard run to knot the game 14-14.

Angel Pineda gave Hilltop a 21-14 lead by scoring on a one-yard run with about six minutes left in the second quarter. But Mar Vista was not done in the first half as Berry broke away for a 79-yard scoring dash to pull to within 21-20 on the scoreboard following a blocked extra-point attempt.

There was plenty of halftime entertainment and plenty for fans on both sides of the stadium to cheer for in the second half of play.

The Mariners took a 27-21 lead on a 65-yard touchdown scamper by Spruill. But the lead didn’t last long as the Lancers came right back on a 50-yard catch and carry by Gus Ferreira and two-point conversion by Esparza to allow the host team to go ahead 29-27.

This was all still in the third quarter.

There would only be one score in the fourth quarter – a 35-yard field goal by Cesar Macias with 10:12 to play that put the visitors up by a point.

Hilltop had two chances to score over the balance of the game but came up dry both times. Both times the Lancers drove to the Mar Vista 10-yard line before being stopped and forced to attempt a field goal.

Both times the Mariner defense held.

“We’ve got two games left and we need to clean up our mistakes (in order to get a leg up on winning the league title),” Arciaga related. “We also need to have guys keep stepping up.”

Mar Vista goes up 1-0 in league play, 6-2 overall. Hilltop drops to 0-1 in league play and evens its season record at 4-4.

Despite the loss, Lancer head coach Drew Westling feels his team is still in the race for the league championship. Hilltop hosts Chula Vista (1-0, 5-3) in next Friday’s Kiwanis Bowl.

“I’m not so sure anyone will go undefeated in our league,” Westling offered. “We’ll get back at it next week and hopefully get back in the mix.”

Trojans are still the one

Castle Park’s homecoming game produced lots of halftime fireworks and a lot of fireworks on the field in the second half as the teams combined for 64 points in the final two quarters after settling for an 8-8 halftime tie.

The host Trojans entered the game as the defending Metro-Pacific League champions but with an 0-7 record this year, Castle Park looked threatened to give it up. But the Trojans (1-0 in league, 1-7 overall) proved they still had enough left to outlast the Raiders (0-1 in league, 2-6 overall) by a score of 44-36.

The 44 points were more than the Trojans had scored all season.

Castle Park will now travel to San Ysidro (1-0 in league, 3-5 overall) on Friday in a match-up of unbeaten league teams after the Cougars tamed the host Montgomery Aztecs, 36-22, in another high scoring homecoming game.

CP’s Eleazar Cruz passed for 300 yards and four touchdowns — three to Airrien Smith (eight catches, 109 yards).

Southwest’s David Espinosa passed for 224 yards and three touchdowns in the loss to the Trojans. Zaire Simpson rushed 11 times for 78 yards and one touchdown while making four receptions for 80 yards, including two touchdown catches.

The win by the hosts delighted the large homecoming crowd at Swift Stadium that included members of the Trojans’ 1996 mythical state championship football team.

Castle Park racked up 244 rushing yards in the victory. David Hernandez rushed 23 times for 97 yards while Tyshon Peters contributed with 12 carries for 61 yards. Smith had three carries for 52 yards and one touchdown.

Smith finished the game with four total touchdowns and one two-point conversion for a team-leading 26 points in the game. Peters had three kick-off returns for 118 yards.

Charles Tolbert had five catches for 105 yards for the Trojans while Chris Arana had two catches for 74 yards.

Ruben Navarette led Castle Park with 11 tackles while Austin Aguirre and J Villegas each recorded sacks. Cruz also had one interception while playing defense. Joel Torres also recovered a fumble.

Leonard Hoar (rushing) and Joshua Sanchez (receiving) also scored touchdowns for Southwest

Spartans close gap
Sergio Figueroa rushed for 195 yards and scored five touchdowns to lead the visiting Spartans over the arch rival Red Devils. Chula Vista has now won 12 of the last 14 meetings against Sweetwater in the county’s longest-running rivalry game. The Red Devils continue to lead the series 38-29-3 overall.

The Spartans (419 total yards) were actually outgained by Sweetwater (465 total yards). Marty Sesma led SuHi (0-1 in league, 2-6 overall) with 228 rushing yards and one TD.

Paul Escobar passed for 165 yards in the victory over the Red Devils. Darrion Hamilton had two catches for 86 yards.

Sweetwater rushed for 415 yards behind eight ball-carriers. Abel Garcia had six carries for 37 yards and one rushing touchdown.

SuHi quarterback Manny Salazar completed four of eight passing attempts for 50 yards, including two scoring passes. Alfredo Ulloa had one catch for 16 yards and Rugene Williams had another catch for a nine-yard score.

Eagles win third straight, fly high at 6-3 overall

Nico Mendoza passed for 162 yards and four touchdowns to lead the host Olympian Eagles to a 28-21 Metro-Mesa League victory Friday against the Otay Ranch Mustangs in the teams’ annual O’s Bowl.

With the win, the Eagles improved to 3-0 in league play, 6-3 overall. Olympian has a bye this week but will close the season with a marquee match-up at Mater Dei Catholic for the league championship.

“It was nice to bring the trophy back home in the battle of the O’s,” Eagles head coach Paul Van Nostrand explained. “It will take a heck of an effort to beat Mater Dei. Our kids have stepped up three weeks in a row to get to this point. We are capable.”

Mikael Tyler led the Eagles with three receptions for 115 yards and two touchdowns while Isaiah Williams (two catches, 21 yards) and Chris Osgood (one catch, 26 yards) each caught one touchdown pass.

Noah Lacsina led Olympian with 86 rushing yards on 19 carries.

Kelvin Bradley threw a pair of touchdown passes for Otay Ranch (1-2 in league, 3-6 overall) while Gus Espiritu rushed for one touchdown.

Bradley completed 10 passes for 177 yards but also threw three picks. Devin Lloyd had six catches for 148 yards and two TDs.


Mater Dei Catholic 42, Bonita Vista 14

C.J. Verdell scored three touchdowns and quarterback Chris Jones threw a pair of scoring passes to lead the Crusaders (2-0 in league play, 7-1 overall) to their sixth blowout win this season. Mater Dei Catholic has moved up two playoff divisions this year but continues to excel on the football field.

Jovan Bayless and Max Schwenke led the Crusaders with nine tackles each while Kyle Moses tacked on 29 yards and Elias Eribez added four yards on interception returns. Eribez also had a fumble recovery in the game.

Metro Conference Scoreboard

Friday, Oct. 21

Metro-Mesa League

Olympian 28, Otay Ranch 21

Mater Dei Catholic 42, Bonita Vista 14

Metro-South Bay League

Mar Vista 30, Hilltop 29

Chula Vista 40, Sweetwater 29

Metro-Pacific League

Castle Park 44, Southwest 36

San Ysidro 36, Montgomery 22

METRO CONFERENCE FOOTBALL STANDINGS

Metro-Mesa League
Olympian Eagles 3-0, 6-3
Mater Dei Catholic 2-0, 7-1
Otay Ranch 1-2, 3-6
Bonita Vista 0-2, 1-7
Eastlake 0-2, 2-6

Metro-South Bay League
Mar Vista Mariners 1-0, 6-2
Chula Vista Spartans 1-0, 5-3
Hilltop Lancers 0-1, 4-4
Sweetwater Red Devils 0-1, 2-6

Metro-Pacific League
San Ysidro Cougars 1-0, 3-5
Castle Park Trojans 1-0, 1-7
Southwest Raiders 0-1, 2-6
Montgomery Aztecs 0-1, 1-7