It’s taken 20 years but the Castle Park High School football program has returned to the spotlight.
The second-seeded Trojans (11-1) hope to take center stage when they meet the fourth-seeded Francis Parker Lancers (7-5) in Friday’s San Diego Section Division V championship game.
Kickoff is 7 p.m. at Otay Ranch High School.
“We’re going to play them tough,” first-year CPHS head coach Chris Livesay said after his team secured a berth in the division final with last Friday’s 22-10 semifinal victory over sixth-seeded Mission Bay (6-7). “Castle Park has a long and storied tradition and we’re excited to be part of that.”
The Trojans have made six division finals appearances in their history and have won three division championships — 1968, 1994 and 1996.
Castle Park last appeared in the finals in 1999 against University of San Diego High School, dropping a 21-14 decision in the Division III championship game.
The Trojans also notched runner-up appearances in 1964 and 1997.
There is a special aura surrounding Friday’s game as Castle Park finished 0-10 just two years ago.
“It’s been a long journey from where we’ve come from,” Livesay explained. “There are many factors that go into (the turnaround). A lot of these kids have gone through our Pop Warner program, about 10 of them now. That makes a big difference.
“We were also impacted by what the team did last year — coming back from forfeiting games to winning the league banner. That created a buzz on campus. More kids wanted to come out and play for us.
“We set the bar high for the kids. We hold them accountable. They’ve jumped on board and have taken on all the responsibility.”
Francis Parker has its own championship history, including three championships in 11-man play (2005, 2008, 2009) and four championships in eight-man play (1986-89).
The Lancers are making their second consecutive appearance in the Division V championship game after falling, 34-14, to Orange Glen last year.
“We’re trying not to be back-to-back runners-up,” Francis Parker head coach Matt Morrison quipped.
Friday’s game will mark the second meeting between the teams this season. The Trojans defeated the visiting Lancers, 33-28, on Sept. 6 in non-league play. In that game, CP junior Erik Hernandez rushed for 188 yards and scored four touchdowns.
The Trojans are 2-0 so far in the playoffs, which started with a 41-13 win over seventh-seeded Palo Verde Valley in the quarterfinals.
Francis Parker is also 2-0 in postseason play after defeating fifth-seeded Crawford, 44-20, in the quarterfinals and pulling off a 34-22 win over top-seeded Vincent Memorial in the semifinals.
The Lancers enter Friday’s championship game riding a six-game winning streak that includes a 4-0 showing as Pacific League champions.
“We’re extremely proud of our season,” Morrison said. “This is a lot different team than last year. Last year we had one of the best high school football players in the nation in Ryan Sanborn. Ryan was incredibly dominant (2,688 total offensive yards, 27 passing touchdowns, 13 rushing touchdowns, one interception return for a touchdown).
“When he graduated, it was a big loss. But we had a lot of talented players returning as well as talented freshmen and junior varsity players coming in. We’re a more balanced team as a result.”
Among the impact freshmen for the Lancers is South Bay local boy Chris Williams, a standout receiver/defensive back.
Williams ranks as one of the section’s top receivers with 21 catches for 501 yards. He ranks second on the team with 12 touchdowns, including five touchdown catches, four rushing touchdowns and three kick returns.
He scored on a kickoff return in Parker’s 44-20 quarterfinal playoff win over fifth-seeded Crawford (5-7) and caught a 25-yard scoring pass in last Friday’s 34-22 semifinal win over top-seeded Vincent Memorial (10-2).
Sophomore quarterback Gervy Alota has thrown for 889 yards with 10 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
Parker has found more success on the ground with the senior tandem of Trevor Brokowski (698 rushing yards, 14 touchdowns) and Sam Camposeco (505 rushing yards, 10 touchdowns).
The Lancers have scored 45 rushing touchdowns compared to 49 rushing touchdowns for Castle Park. Hernandez leads the Trojans with 23 touchdowns.
“They’re another running team,” Livesay said.
“We’ve had a great season and we’re happy to be here,” Morrison said. “We had a great game with them early in the season. It went down to the wire. We’re hoping to have another good game with them.”
Trojans sink Bucs, 22-10, to win CIF semifinal game, will play for title
Last Friday’s San Diego Section Division V semifinal matchup between the host Castle Park Trojans and Mission Bay Buccaneers was a bright spot for both teams after they finished with duplicate 0-10 records just two years ago.
The stakes were much higher this year: a berth in Saturday’s division championship game.
Castle Park won the match-up of resurgent teams with a tense 22-10 home field victory.
“Offensively we didn’t play well in the first half,” explained Trojan head coach Chris Livesay, whose team overcame two deficits to prevail in the game. “We didn’t execute very well. That was the difference in the second half. We made some big stops on defense. That was an experienced team. Offensively we played better in the second half.”
Castle Park (11-1) advances to meet fourth-seeded Francis Parker (7-5) in Friday’s division championship game at Otay Ranch High School.
Kickoff is 7 p.m.
Comeback kids
The Trojans kicked off the season with a 9-0 start and topped seventh-seeded Palo Verde Valley, 41-13, in their opening playoff game.
Mission Bay (6-7) kicked off this year’s playoffs with a 56-0 stomping of 11th-seeded San Ysidro before recording a 21-14 upset of third-seeded Holtville in the quarterfinals.
The Bucs entered last Friday’s semifinal as one of the section’s highest scoring teams, recording 30 or more points in five games, 40 or more points in four games and 50 or more points in three games.
They were the first to score in last Friday’s game when Jacob Sloan kicked a 24-yard field goal the final second of the first quarter to go up 3-0.
The first half featured quite a bit of ball movement between the teams’ respective red zones and quite a bit of defense inside them.
Castle Park tied the score 3-3 when Nicolas Magaña split the uprights on a 26-yard field goal late in the second quarter.
The Trojans later muffed a 35-yard field goal attempt with 38 seconds to play in the opening half to settle for the halftime deadlock.
The Bucs opened the second half with some trickery by recovering an onside kick. The visitors jumped in front, 10-3, a few plays later on a 44-yard touchdown run by Logan Lewis.
Junior running back Erik Hernandez quickly retaliated for the hosts by ripping off a 60-yard scoring run — the first of his three touchdowns in the game.
However, the Trojans missed the extra-point conversion attempt to leave Mission Bay with a tenuous 10-9 lead.
Momentum in the game turned when the Bucs attempted a fourth-down play on their own 31-yard line and were stuffed by the Castle Park defense. The Trojans methodically moved the ball toward the Mission Bay end zone, with Hernandez eventually plunging in from five yards out.
The successful extra-point conversion put the hosts into the lead, 16-10, for the first time in the game with 6:00 left in the third quarter.
Play between the teams remained very close on the field, however, and nothing was yet set in stone.
Mission looked to counter by driving the ball to the Castle Park 18-yard line. But a fourth-down incomplete pass handed the ball back to the hosts with a major sigh of relief.
Hernandez once again punished the visitors with his breakaway speed by scoring on a 56-yard run. The extra-point conversion was blocked but the Trojans had some much-needed breathing room at 22-10.
Demarkus Lewis stymied the Bucs on their next series when he intercepted a pass by quarterback Clash Orsborn. Mission Bay’s final drive ended with another fourth-down incompletion.
The game ended with Castle Park in victory formation.
“It feels amazing,” said Hernandez, who has scored six touchdowns in the team’s two playoff games. “We worked real hard during the offseason to get this far. Now it’s here. It’s crazy. We want to put Castle Park back on the map.”
Hernandez, who rushed for 194 yards in last Friday’s game, has now scored 23 touchdowns (22 rushing scores) on the season to go with 1,485 rushing yards.
“Erik is a very good football player, his speed is very deceptive for his stature,” Livesay said of Hernandez. “Erik played both ways. He was on the field for a lot of plays, both offense and defense. We had to have a lot of our skill guys play all night.
“Mission Bay is a very good team. We were blocking much better in the second half.”
“We just kept running,” Hernandez added. “Our offensive line did its job. The running game got consistent.”
“It was a hard-fought win,” underscored junior Ramon Cabal, who had to leave the game in the second half due to an injury. “The team did its job — with or without me.”
With everyone contributing, team work prevails.
SCOTTIES TRIUMPH FOR TITLE
The Helix Highlanders returned to the winner’s circle by claiming an exciting 28-21 victory over the Carlsbad Lancers last Saturday at Southwestern College to lay claim to this year’s San Diego Section Open Division championship.
After playing to a scoreless halftime tie, the teams combined to pile up 49 points in the second half.
Carlsbad, seeded third, scored first on a pass from quarterback Aidan Sayin to Cole Wright.
Top-seeded Helix (11-1) proceeded to score 28 unanswered points. Christian Washington scored on a 36-yard run to tie the score. Keionte Scott and John Carroll then returned intercepted passes for defensive touchdowns. Scott scored on a 30-yard return while Carroll fought off tacklers for a 38-yard return.
Carlsbad coach Thadd MacNeal admitted the back-to-back interception returns proved to be the backbreaker for his, who saw its eight-game winning streak end.
Aleandro Van Holten upped the Helix lead to 28-7 on a two-yard scoring run early in the fourth quarter. Jerry Riggins intercepted a pass to halt Carlsbad on its next series to keep the Highlanders up by three touchdowns.
The Lancers (10-2) rallied with a pair of late touchdowns but it wasn’t enough.
Paulo Barack scored on a 10-yard run and, following a successful onside kick recovery by Wright, he scored on a two-yard run to narrow the score to a touchdown.
Carlsbad went for another onside kick attempt but the ball hopped out of bounds to give possession to the Scotties, who ran out the clock to record their 10th consecutive victory this season.
Washington led Helix with 163 rushing yards on 21 carries as the Highlanders racked up 238 yards on the ground.
Carlsbad found success through the air with 227 passing yards — 154 by Saylin and 73 by Jack Geraghty. Wright had five catches for 101 yards in the loss.
The CIF title was the third in the last six years for the Highlanders and the team’s 10th overall.
Helix coach Robbie Owens called the team’s latest CIF championship “huge,” noting the team had to persevere following the season-ending loss due to injury to superstar Elelyon Noa.
Owens said he was proud his players answered the call to “step up” their own games to compensate for the absence of Noa, who many considered to be the best player in the section this season.
Helix next advances to the Southern California regionals.
SAN DIEGO SECTION
FOOTBALL FINALS
Friday, Nov. 29
Southwestern College
Division IV: (1) Santana (11-1) vs. (2) Serra (10-2), 1 p.m.
Division II: (1) Bishop’s (12-0) vs. (7) El Camino (7-6), 7 p.m.
Otay Ranch High School
Division V: (2) Castle Park (11-1) vs. (4) Francis Parker (7-5), 7 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 30
Southwestern College
Division III: (1) Scripps Ranch (12-0) vs. (3) La Jolla (8-4), 1 p.m,.
Division I: (2) Lincoln (10-2) vs. (9) Oceanside (10-3), 7 p.m.
Livestream: NFHS Network
Audio: wwwe.radio.com
Tickets: www.cifsds.org and at the gate (doors open at 11:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. for the two games)
The top-seeded Helix High School football team celebrates after winning last Saturday’s San Diego Section Open Division championship at Southwestern College.
COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Southwestern College fell, 20-16, to host Long Beach City College in the teams’ Southern California Bowl matchup last Saturday. The visiting Jaguars built a 10-0 first quarter lead on a 45-yard field goal by D.J. Del Fiero and a three-yard touchdown run by Omari Green. Long Beach City countered with two touchdowns to take a 13-10 lead but Southwestern went up, 16-13, on a 49-yard pass reception for a touchdown by Davion Johnson before the hosts recovered a fumble for the winning score.
