Small schools making impact on prep gridiron

The South Bay is home to three small school division high school football teams. They are the Calvary Christian Academy Royal Knights, Lutheran Knights and Ocean View Christian Academy Patriots.

Calvary Christian and Lutheran both compete in the new Ocean League as well as in the Division V playoff tier; Ocean View competes in the Citrus League at the Eight-Man level.

Student-enrollment levels at the three schools ranges from 362 for Calvary Christian (PK-12, about 90 enrolled in grades 9-12) to 250 at Ocean View (K-12, about 80 in grades 9-12) and 87 at Lutheran (grades 9-12).

The three teams appear to be getting the most out of what they have.

The Patriots sport a 4-1 record heading into Friday’s home game against Vista Calvary Christian Academy 0-3) while Chula Vista Calvary Christian is 2-2 heading into its Oct. 24 game at Calvin Christian and Lutheran is 1-4.

Ocean View’s league rivals include Borrego Springs, St. Joseph Academy, San Pasqual Academy, Julian, Warner Springs and Vista Calvary Christian.

Borrego Springs is 4-0 in league play while St. Joseph Academy and San Pasqual Academy are both 2-2 in league play, Julian is 1-2 in league play and both Warner and Vista Calvary Christian are both 0-3 in league play.

Borrego Springs hosts Ocean View Oct. 24 in what shapes up to be the league championship.

The favorite? The teams have three common league opponents so far.

Ocean View has defeated San Pasqual Academy (58-12 on Sept. 12), St. Joseph Academy (49-16 on Sept. 26) and Warner (54-12 on Oct. 9).

Borrego Springs has defeated St. Joseph Academy (48-20 on Sept. 20), Warner (2-0 by forfeit on Oct. 3) and San Pasqual Academy (53-30 last Friday)

The section’s eight-man playoffs are scheduled to start Nov. 7.

Players on small squads usually play both offensive and defensive positions. Senior receiver/free-safety Danny Smith has certainly filled the role as Ocean View’s big man on campus this season.

Smith (5-8, 159) has rushed for 927 yards in five games and scored 16 touchdowns to lead the Patriots on the field while Ricky Naputi has rushed for 475 yards and scored five touchdowns.

Diego Mascareno is Ocean View’s top receiver with 10 catches for 255 yards and four TDs.

Smith, who also plays baseball and soccer, leads the team with 1,272 all-purpose yards, including 85 receiving yards, 137 kick-return yards and 123 punt-return yards. Smith has accumulated 19 touchdowns overall, including two receiving scores and one TD on a kick-off return.

Smith also keys Ocean View’s defense with 47 total tackles, including 29 solo stops.

Ryan Sweat leads the Patriots with four sacks while Naputi has three sacks.

Royal court
Chula Vista Calvary Christian and Maranatha Christian met last Friday in a match-up of the Ocean League’s top statistical teams, with the Royal Knights dropping a 20-19 decision in a game played at Eastlake High School.

Maranatha improved to 4-2 overall with the win. The season isn’t quite over, though the Eagles hold the edge after the opening week of league play.

Both Maranatha and Calvary have yet to play Calvin Christian, which sports a 3-3 overall record and 0-1 league mark after falling, 41-32, to the visiting Rock Academy last Friday.

The Rock is 1-0 in league play, 2-4 overall.

Moises Hernandez leads Calvary Christian with 456 passing yards in three games, with four touchdowns, while Justin Santa Maria had rushed for 210 yards and three touchdowns and Quentin Harrison had caught 15 passes for 268 yards and three TDs.

Harrison led the Royal Knights with 511 all-purpose yards, including 103 kick-return yards and 60 interception-record yards, and five TDs. Besides his three receiving touchdowns, he also had one touchdown scored on an interception return and one rushing touchdown.

Defensively, Santa Maria topped the team with 27 total tackles while Alan Carbuccia had a team-leading four sacks and Atiba Johnson had a team-leading two interceptions.

Calvary Christian has won consecutive league titles and, should the Royal Knights qualify for post-season play this season, the playoffs could hold different fortunes than in the past. The Royal Knights have been ousted in their first post-season match in each of the last two seasons. Last year, Calvary Christian dropped a 49-14 playoff game to Crawford and lost 70-6 to La Jolla Country Day two years ago.

Defending Division V champion Holtville (5-2) is currently ranked fourth in the section division power rankings behind No. 1 Classical Academy (5-1), No. 2 Maranatha and No. 3 Vincent Memorial (6-0). However, just 1.5 points separates nine teams for the four final playoff berths in the division.

Calvary Christian is a just one point behind No. 5 Tri-City Christian (2-4) and a half-point behind No. 8 Calipatria (1-6). The Royal Knights could move past both with a strong finish in their final three regular season games.

As a mater of reference, Calvary Christian defeated Calipatria, 21-20, in a non-league game on Sept. 26 and dropped a 17-0 decision to Classical Academy in its season opener on Sept. 12.

Knights tale
Lutheran rounds out the five-team Ocean League circuit. The Knights had a bye last week and enter league play Friday.

Lutheran recorded its first win of the season by defeating Foothills Christian, 38-22, in a non-league game Oct. 3 at Hilltop High School.

Quarterback Christian Dufresne, who passed for 309 yards and six touchdowns in the win over Foothills, leads the Knights with 1,166 passing yards and 15 touchdowns. Top receivers include James Watts III (25 receptions for 394 yards and seven touchdowns), Tyler Pinuelas (24 catches for 346 yards and two touchdowns), Tobin Linehan (11 catches for 196 yards and four touchdowns) and Olrando Gunn (12 receptions for 160 yards and one touchdown).

Carlos Gonzalez paces Lutheran’s ground game with 264 rushing yards and one TD.

Watts also has one kick-off return for a touchdown to give him a team-leading eight scores.

Linehan tops the team with 28 tackles, followed by Gunn with 25 and Christian Munoz with 23 stops.

Punuelas and Mohammad Al-Asady pace the Knights with five sacks apiece while freshman Colton Allen has recorded 4.5 sacks. Munoz also has two fumble recoveries.

Prep Scoreboard
Friday, Oct. 17
Ocean League

Calvin Christian 48, Lutheran 42

Citrus League

Ocean View Christian Academy 49, Vista Calvary Christian Academy 6