If you’re a high school football fan in San Diego South County, it can’t get any better than this. It’s time to crown this year’s league champions in the Metro Conference and the highlight match-up in the Metro-Mesa League is a doozy: the Olympian Eagles against the Mater Dei Catholic Crusaders.
It’s sure to be an emotion-filled contest as the teams — both 3-0 in league play — take the gridiron to battle for the league championship. Mater Dei Catholic has the better record (8-1) and higher power ranking (third among Division II teams) but also has more to prove.
The Crusaders have stomped teams at the lower enrollment levels over the years — winning three league titles in a five-year stretch as members of the Metro-South Bay League and Metro-Pacific League — but have made a rather sizable jump from the section’s Division IV competition tier to Division II tier this season after winning last year’s state bowl championship title.
As a reward for their success, Mater Dei Catholic was moved up to membership in the Metro-Mesa League, the Metro Conference’s top competition tier.
Thus far, the Crusaders have managed to master the Mesa’s resident big boys, but one opponent remains: Olympian.
The Eagles — winners of Metro-Mesa League championships in 2011 and 2012 — don’t appear ready to roll over and play dead for the high-powered newcomers. Olympian head coach Paul Van Nostrand believes his team (6-3 overall) can tame the tiger and chalk up another league title.
The Eagles wrote their own inspirational story in 2011 when they moved up from the Metro-Pacific League to compete in the Metro-Mesa League. Olympian finished 4-0 in league play and tacked on two more playoff wins to reach the Division III championship game.
Thus, Friday’s game is about respect for both teams.
The Eagles enter Friday’s Metro-Mesa League championship clash with a week of rest following their by week; the Crusaders will be out to continue the momentum of what is currently a six-game winning streak. In those six games, Mater Dei Catholic is averaging 40 points and has blown out teams by more than 25 points on five occasions.
Last week, the Crusaders started a bit slow against the visiting Eastlake Titans, but by game’s end had rolled up a rather convincing 49-7 victory.
Quarterback Chris Jones passed for four touchdowns while star running back C.J. Verdell rushed for two scores, including one 52-yard romp, to lead the hosts on Senior Night.
In statistics tabulated through eight games, Jones had passed for 1,165 yards with 15 touchdowns and two interceptions while Verdell had rushed for 1,212 yards with 20 touchdowns. He had averaged 151.5 yards per game and 9.6 yards per carry. He led the team with 1,505 all-purpose yards, including 115 receiving yards and 178 kick return yards. He led the team with 23 total touchdowns — 20 rushing, two receiving and one on a kick-off return.
Leading receivers included Eli Shelton (15 catches, 393 yards, four TDs), Quentin Frazier (16 catches, 273 yards, three TDs) and Kyle Moses (15 catches, 248 yards, two TDs).
Jovan Bayless was the team leader with 97 tackles in eight reported games while Kyle Caldwell II had a team-leading 7.5 sacks. Moses lead the team with five interceptions, returning two for scores.
In nine games, Verdell has scored 25 touchdowns.
Jones insists the Crusaders are not a two-dimensional team.
Olympian is led by quarterback Nico Mendoza, who has passed for 912 yards with 15 touchdowns and five interceptions. Noah Lacsina is the team’s leading rusher with 705 yards and two touchdowns. Rashaun Brown follows with 416 yards and five TDs while Trey Curry has rushed for 357 yards and two scores.
Leading receivers include Isaiah Williams with 26 catches for 330 yards and five touchdowns and Mikael Tyler with 12 catches for 252 yards and three TDs. Williams leads the team with eight touchdowns — five receiving, two rushing and one on a kick-off return.
Andrew Whyte tops the Eagles defense with 109 tackles while Rock Gonzalez tops the team with eight sacks. Overall, Olympian’s defense has recorded 28 sacks, seven interceptions and five fumble recoveries.
Will the defense rest?
Extra points
Otay Ranch ended the regular season with a 26-10 loss to visiting Bonita Vista last Friday to finish 1-3 in league play, 3-7 overall. Devin Lloyd caught a touchdown pass from Cristian Zamudio while Bernardino Soto kicked a 27-yard field goal for the Mustangs.
Zamudio has passed for 692 yards this season with nine touchdowns and seven interceptions while Gus Espiritu has rushed for 506 yards with five touchdowns. Lloyd has 29 receptions for 511 yards and six touchdowns.
Nick Sandoval and Alex King lead the team defensively with 61 and 58 tackles, respectively, while Eric Matos has three sacks.
Lloyd has been a standout going both ways for Otay Ranch this season. He leads the team with 10 total touchdowns — six receiving, one rushing, one on a fumble return and two on interception returns. Lloyd has a team-leading seven interceptions to go with one fumble recovery.fense.
Titans to host Barons in annual Battle for the Boot rivalry game
This year’s Battle for the Boot rivalry match-up between the Eastlake Titans and Bonita Vista Barons appears strictly for pride as the teams both take the field with 2-7 overall records. The host Titans (0-3 in Metro-Mesa League play) are assured of a Division I playoff berth while the Barons (1-2 in Metro-Mesa League play) are uncertain Division II playoff entrants.
But forget the records — and the power rankings, for that matter — this rivalry is intense and the outcome can be surprising.
Bonita Vista won the trophy last year to snap 10 consecutive losses to Eastlake.
Eastlake quarterback Alfredo Garcia passed for 189 yards with one interception in a 49-7 loss at Mater Dei Catholic last week. The Titans were held to just 79 rushing yards, including 42 yards on 10 carries by Kaleb Dueitt and 37 yards on nine carries by Garcia. Chris Pleman had a 51-yard catch while Carlos Loaiza had four receptions for 48 yards.
Eastlake’s lone touchdown came on a 99-yard kick-off return by Micah Pietila-Wiggs. The former Little League World Series media darling for Eastlake Little League finished the game with 215 kick return yards and 248 all-purpose yards.
Declan Fernandez led the Titans defensively with 13 tackles while Nicholas Klugh had one sack and Loaiza had one interception.
The Titans have played hard, as a 10-7 loss to league-leading Olympian attests. Eastlake battled Otay Ranch to a 14-14 halftime standoff before eventually losing 27-14.
Garcia has passed for 726 yards in seven games with eight touchdowns and eight interceptions. He’s also rushed for a team-leading 356 yards with four touchdowns on the ground. Jalyn Jackson is the team’s leading receiver with 219 yards on 13 catches with three TDs.
After an 0-5 start, the Barons have won two of their last four games, including last week’s 26-10 win at Otay Ranch.
Quarterback Anthony Posada passed for 300 yards and three touchdowns, including two to Keenan Ellis (five catches, 161 yards) and one to Jacob Rozar (five catches, 125 yards). Bonita Vista managed 96 rushing yards from Dean Klaser (15 carries, 72 yards) and Josh Godfrey (seven carries, 24 yards).
Posada has passed for 1,688 yards in nine games with 18 touchdowns and five picks. Ellis has accumulated 589 receiving yards in six games with five touchdowns.
Bonita Vista exploded for 20 third-quarter points to erase a 7-6 Otay Ranch lead. The BV defense finished the game with two interceptions. Brooklyn Hawkins was successful on her two extra-point attempts.
Friday’s game will mark an emotional homecoming for Klaser, a cancer survivor, who began his prep football career at Eastlake before transferring to Bonita Vista this year. Klaser has rushed for a team-leading 457 yards in six game appearances with three TDs.
Cougars can make history with win over Raiders
The San Ysidro High School football team is poised to make history when it hosts neighborhood rival Southwest Friday, Nov. 5, at 7 p.m.
If the Cougars can slip past Southwest, they will capture the school’s first league championship in football.
The Cougars (4-5 overall) improved to 2-0 in Metro-Pacific League play by defeating the visiting Castle Park Trojans, 21-20, last Friday in a cliffhanger ending that saw the defending league champion Trojans attempt a game-winning two-point conversion that fell short.
However, a loss by San Ysidro to the Raiders (0-2 in league, 2-7 overall), coupled with a victory by Castle Park (1-1 in league, 1-8 overall) over visiting Montgomery (1-1 in league, 2-7 overall) in Friday’s annual Warrior Bowl rivalry game, will create a tie atop the league standings between San Ysidro and Castle Park.
The Cougars led 21-6 at halftime on three touchdowns by Daishawn Lee, including runs of 70, three and 80 yards. However, the hosts had to sweat out a second-half Trojan comeback.
Eleazar Cruz passed for 288 yards and three touchdowns — two to Isaac Zavala and one to Jose Rodriguez — to lead CP (1-1 in league, 1-8 overall).
Anthony Parra scored on a 50-yard quarterback keeper to lift visiting Montgomery over Southwest, 31-28, in another Metro-Pacific League encounter last Friday.
Playoff projections
As teams finalize entering game results in advance of the San Diego Section playoffs, the section’s power rankings – from which playoff seeding is drawn – has taken on a few twists in recent days.
Division I
Eastlake (2-7) is 14th in the 20-team division. The top eight teams qualify for the Open Division playoffs; the remaining 12 teams will compete in the Division I playoffs. The Titans would rank sixth overall in the Division I field behind leaders Mt. Carmel (6-3) and St. Augustine (7-2). Cathedra Catholic (9-0) is the section’s top-ranked team to lead Open Division qualifiers.
Division II
Mater Dei Catholic (8-1) has slipped to third behind Poway (9-0) and El Capitan (4-5) while Olympian (6-3) is fourth in the 16-team division. The top 12 teams make the playoff cut. Otay Ranch (3-7) sits eighth while Bonita Vista (2-7) is ninth.
Division III
Hilltop (5-4) is eighth — well behind leaders Bishop’s and Christian, both 9-0. Metro-South Bay League rival Chula Vista (5-4) is hovering at the No. 12 cut-off, followed by a third Metro-South Bay League team, Sweetwater (2-7) at No. 13. The playoff fate of both teams hinges heavily on their performances in Friday’s regular season finales. A win by either team would likely cement a berth in post-season play.
Division IV
Regardless of how Mar Vista finishes in Friday’s regular season final at Chula Vista, the Metro-South Bay League-leading Mariners (7-2) appear to be a playoff lock at No. 5 in the division power rankings. Castle Park (1-8) still has a chance at gathering a Metro-Pacific League co-championship with a little help but otherwise the Trojans are fighting an uphill battle at playoff inclusion with the No. 14 power ranking in the 16-team division.
Division V
Is anyone ready for San Ysidro and Montgomery to make the playoffs? If the season ended now, both Metro-Pacific League teams would do just that. San Ysidro (4-5) enters its final regular season game at Southwest needing a victory to clinch undisputed rights to this year’s league championship. The Cougars are currently No. 9 in the division power rankings. Montgomery, which ends regular season play at Castle Park, sits on the playoff teeter-totter at No. 11 with a 2-7 record. Wins by both San Ysidro and Montgomery would likely earn them an extra game. But losses could be quite disruptive. Southwest (2-7) is 15th in the 17-team division. Would a win on Friday be enough to make up some ground? Stay tuned. This division could go down to the wire.
Metro Conference Scoreboard
Metro-Mesa League
Mater Dei Catholic 3-0, 8-1
Olympian Eagles 3-0, 6-3
Bonita Vista 1-2, 2-7
Otay Ranch 1-3, 3-7
Eastlake 0-3, 2-7
Friday, Oct. 28
Mater Dei Catholic 49, Eastlake 7
Bonita Vista 26, Otay Ranch 10
Friday, Nov. 4
Olympian at Mater Dei Catholic, 7 p.m.
Bonita Vista at Eastlake, 7 p.m.
Metro-South Bay League
Mar Vista Mariners 2-0, 7-2
Hilltop Lancers 1-1, 5-4
Chula Vista Spartans 1-1, 5-4
Sweetwater Red Devils 0-2, 2-7
Friday, Oct. 28
Hilltop 38, Chula Vista 16
Mar Vista 42, Sweetwater 6
Friday, Nov. 4
Mar Vista at Chula Vista, 7 p.m.
Hilltop at Sweetwater, 7 p.m.
Metro-Pacific League
San Ysidro Cougars 2-0, 4-5
Montgomery Aztecs 1-1, 2-7
Castle Park Trojans 1-1, 1-8
Southwest Raiders 0-2, 2-7
Friday, Oct. 28
San Ysidro 21, Castle Park 20
Montgomery 31, Southwest 28
Friday, Nov. 4
Montgomery at Castle Park, 7 p.m.
Southwest at San Ysidro, 7 p.m.
