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At 0-6, the season wasn’t necessarily over for the Mater Dei Catholic High School football team. In fact, the much more crucial second part of the season was just about ready to start.
The Crusaders improved to 1-0 in Metro-Mesa League play following last Friday’s 48-0 homecoming win over the Montgomery Aztecs to open defense of their league championship. It couldn’t have come at a better time.
Three more league wins and the Crusaders are headed to the San Diego Section playoffs as a league champion and automatic CIF qualifier.
“Winning league is one of the clearest paths to the playoffs, so getting off to a good start was important for us,” Mater Dei Catholic head coach Rashard Cook said.
The Crusaders hope to keep the wins coming when they travel to Olympian High School to engage the Eagles this Friday. Games against Otay Ranch and Eastlake high schools are upcoming.
“I think the biggest thing we learned during the pre-league schedule is how to deal with adversity,” Cook explained. “We intentionally played a very challenging schedule, and it tested us physically and mentally. We had some tough losses (63-0 to Cathedral Catholic, 41-21 to St. Augustine, 49-14 to Helix Charter), but our guys kept showing up, kept working and continued to believe in each other.
“We’ve also learned that we have a young football team with a lot of talent. The key for us is consistency. We must eliminate the mistakes that hurt us, play disciplined football, and understand that everybody has a job to do.
“Now that we’re in league, the message is simple: the preseason is behind us. We can’t change any of those results, but we can learn from them. Everything we want is still in front of us. Our focus is going 1–0 each week, competing for a league championship and putting ourselves in position to play our best football when it matters most.
“I’m proud of the way our kids have stayed together. Now we must continue growing and turn those lessons into wins.”
The Crusaders collected 253 yards in total offense against the Aztecs — 95 rushing yards and 158 passing yards. Sophomore Jayden Blondin completed six of seven passing attempts for 152 yards with three touchdowns. Junior Brayden Phanco completed one pass for six yards.
Rushing leaders included sophomore Adrian Wilson (two carries, 25 yards, one touchdown), Phanco (two carries, 23 yards), junior Xavier Vitela (three carries, 22 yards), junior Khalonie Jordan (one carry, 15 yards) and Blondin (one carry, 10 yards).
Receiving leaders included sophomore Aiden Davenport (two catches, 80 yards, one touchdown), junior Kamari Alfred (two catches, 35 yards, one touchdown), sophomore Tyray Ragland (one catch, 22 yards), sophomore River Contreras (one catch, 15 yards, one touchdown) and junior Cesar Conde (one catch, six yards).
Jordan keyed the winners with 120 all-purpose yards (15 rushing, 90 kickoff returns, 15 punt returns).
Blondin collected 162 total yards — 10 rushing and 152 passing.
Senior Reynan Siababa recorded one sack on defense while senior Jordyn Fitzpatrick logged one interception and senior Warren Florence had one fumble recovery. Florence scored touchdowns on a fumble return (11 yards) and punt return (42 yards).
Junior Luis Heraldez averaged 68 yards on eight kickoffs
Montgomery was limited to 79 total yards in the loss, including 14 rushing yards on 17 carries and 65 passing yards (sophomore Rene Bonnett).
Titans somehow manage to keep it going, reach 7-0 mark
The Eastlake High School football team appears to be coming closer each week to its first defeat of the season. But somehow the Titans keep their win streak alive.
Eastlake improved to 7-0 after surviving a strong challenge from the visiting Otay Ranch Mustangs last Friday in the teams’ Metro-Mesa League opener. The teams were embroiled in a 3-3 standoff on opposing field goals before the hosts managed to score the game’s only touchdown in the third quarter and tack on another three-pointer in the fourth quarter for a 13-3 victory.
“Our success comes from the grit and never-quit attitude by our players,” EHS head coach Jose Mendoza said. “Led by our senior captains Jovani Ceja, Diego Cabrera, David Branco, Chris ‘C.J’ Wilson, Nicholas ‘Nicky’ Alba, Santiago Aleta, Edrin Estrelon and Joesiah ‘JoJo’ Hernandez. The wins keep coming because our kids practice hard and apply their attention to details in our schemes and weekly game plans.”
The Titans were once again without leading scorer David Branco, a huge factor on both sides of the line of scrimmage. But once again the team displayed its resilience.
Eastlake (1-0 in league) managed to roll up 155 yards in offense — just enough to get the job done. Junior quarterback Joe Waters completed nine of 18 passes for 68 yards with one interception while Estrelon keyed the rushing attack with 16 carries for 67 yards.
Wilson scored on a wildcat play for the game-winning touchdown.
Aleta had three catches for 32 yards while sophomore Justice Alcantara had two catches for 23 yards.
Eastlake survived defensively with five sacks (two by Ceja and one each by junior Stephen Guevara III, junior D’shawn Sampson and senior Noah McCurty) and one interception (35 yards by Wilson).
Guevara paced the team with 10 tackles, including seven solo stops.
Senior Christian Vargas finished the game with seven kicking points, braced by a pair of field goals (long of 34 yards).
Vargas struck first with a kick through the uprights before Otay Ranch responded with a field goal of its own by senior Chris Esquibel.
The Mustangs (0-1 in league, 3-4 overall) rolled up 241 total yards in offense in the loss. Sophomore Caleb Delaughter completed 11 of 28 attempts for 146 passing yards with one interception while senior Jaidon Castillo led the team on the ground with 91 yards on 16 carries.
Seniors Brayden Hyman (four catches, 70 yards) and Carlos Lopez (four catches, 47 yards) paced the team through the air.
Senior Luke Childers led Otay Ranch with nine tackles while junior Rashad Conley made eight stops.
The Mustangs recorded three sacks: two by senior Rene Arriola and one by senior Aaron Pena. Senior Jordan Epps had one interception.
Eastlake will attempt to keep its wining streak alive when it visits Montgomery (0-1, 2-5) this Friday while Otay Ranch enjoys a bye week.
South County Football Log
Friday, Oct. 2
Metro-Mesa League
Eastlake 13, Otay Ranch 3
Mater Dei Catholic 48, Montgomery 0
Sunset League
Tri-City Christian 46, Victory Christian Academy 22
Non-League
Hilltop 35, Vista 12
Castle Park 62, Orange Glen 14
San Diego Section rankings
Top 15 Teams
1. Carlsbad (6-0), 2. Mission Hills (5-1), 3. Cathedral Catholic (3-3), 4. La Costa Canyon (3-3), 5. Santa Fe Christian (7-0), 6. Helix (5-2), 7. Granite Hills (4-2), 8. Oceanside (3-3), 9, San Marcos (4-2), 10. Rancho Bernardo (5-1), 11. Lincoln (1-5), 12. Del Norte (4-2), 13. St. Augustine (3-3), 14. Torrey Pines (4-2), 15. Point Loma (5-1)
Metro Conference
21. Eastlake (7-0), 30. Mater Dei Catholic (1-6), 40. Otay Ranch (3-4), 48. Chula Vista (2-4), 53. Bonita Vista (2-4), 59. Mar Vista (4-2), 60. Hilltop (3-3), 61. Olympian (2-4), 66. Southwest (3-3), 73. Sweetwater (1-5), 74. Montgomery (2-5), 82. San Ysidro (1-5), 84. Castle Park (3-3), 85. Victory Christian Academy (0-6)
Hilltop 35, Vista 12
The visiting Lancers (3-3) snapped a three-game losing streak with the lopsided non-league win over the Panthers (0-7).
Hilltop racked up 429 total yards in offense — 277 on the ground and 152 through the air.
Senior Lajuan Johnson was the centerpiece with 184 rushing yards and four touchdowns while also completing one pass for 38 yards. He had 222 yards in total offense.
Sophomore Lane Bailey completed five of nine passing attempts for 107 yards with a touchdown and interception. Junior Seven Tarkington caught a 46-yard TD pass.
Senior Abraham Matuz keyed the defense with 16 tackles while senior Zion Almazon had 11 stops.
“It was a decisive win over Vista,” Hilltop head coach Bryan Wagner said. “We were able to do a lot and have success on both sides of the ball because of the players doing their jobs.
“We are on to Mar Vista, which seems to be playing well. We will have to limit big plays from their offense and control the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.”
Mar Vista, which was idle last week, is 4-2 on the season. The Mariners are ranked 59th among section teams — Hilltop is 60th.
Castle Park 62, Orange Glen 14
Senior Evan Lopez accounted to 187 total yards (116 rushing with three touchdowns and 71 passing with two touchdowns) in the rout of the winless Patriots (0-7). Senior Diego Perez rushed for 115 yards and one touchdown.
Lopez completed three of four passing attempts. Junior Gianni Monterosa had one catch for 32 yards. Junior Ricardo Gonzalez had one catch for 29 yards. Junior Juan Lopez had one catch for 10 yards.
Castle Park amassed 354 total yards in offense. Defensively, the Trojans recorded two interception returns for touchdowns: Monterosa (41 yards) and senior Sebastian Ceniceros (31 yards).
The Trojans close out non-league play at Bonita Vista (2-4) this Friday.
