For the second game in a row, the Eastlake Titans found themselves down on the scoreboard early 7-0. For the second game in a row, the Titans scored the remainder of the points in the game to win in a rout.
Eastlake racked up 42 unanswered points in beating visiting Olympian, 42-7, on Oct. 16; the Titans racked up 28 unanswered points in beating host Otay Ranch, 28-7, last Friday.
Eastlake has now won its last two Metro-Mesa League games in blowout fashion after dropping a 28-23 decision to Bonita Vista in its league opener.
Understandably, Titan head coach Lee Price termed the victory against Otay Ranch “a very big win” for his team.
“Otay is a wonderful team with great coaching,” Price explained. “We’re just glad this wasn’t the Eastlake team that lost to Otay. We have a well-needed bye now and Chula Vista next (to close regular season play).”
For the third straight game in league play, the Titans (2-1 in league, 4-5 overall) met a team on the field with a winning record. In fact, the Mustangs were ahead of the visitors in the league standings after recording a league opening 34-14 win at Chula Vista the previous week.
Hector Gonzalez opened scoring for Otay Ranch (1-1 in league play, 4-4 overall) on a touchdown reception in the first quarter.
The scoring deluge then began for the visitors. Eastlake scored twice in the second quarter to take a 14-7 halftime lead, then tacked on six points in the third quarter to lead 20-7 and finished the game with eight fourth quarter points for the final margin of victory by 21 points.
Traylon Reed rushed 16 times for 133 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Titans. Nate Sweat had seven carries for 69 yards and one touchdown.
As a team, Eastlake rushed 32 times for 221 yards. Quarterback Izzack Morales completed two of his three passing attempts for 57 yards with no touchdowns and one interception.
Jae Vitin had one catch for 49 yards; Reed ripped off a 62-yard TD run in the game to put his team up 14-7 on the scoreboard.
The teams actually finished fairly close in total yards — 278 for Eastlake and 269 for Otay Ranch.
Sam Stephens paced the Mustangs with 150 rushing yards on 22 carries. Quarterback Oscar Limon completed eight of 15 passing attempts for 79 yards with one touchdown and two picks.
Otay Ranch looked strong to start the game but couldn’t seem to maintain the early momentum.
Micah Mendillo led the victors with 15 total tackles while EHS teammate Buzz Akerlund had 13 stops. Both players had 10 unassisted tackles.
Sweat and Akerlund also recorded sacks in the game for a combined 26 yards in losses while Declan Fernandez and Jax Crawford netted interceptions.
Crawford’s pick was huge in that it stopped a Mustang scoring drive at the four-yard line. The Titans then drove 96 yards to tie the game 7-all.
Chris Olave had one punt return for 22 yards while sophomore Micah Pietila-Wiggs averaged 37 yards on two punts.
Emilio Aldaz had two PAT conversions while Morales scored on a two-point conversion.
Jorge Becerra had one interception for Otay Ranch while Devin Lloyd averaged 35.3 yards on four punts.
The Mustangs turn around and host east side rival Olympian in the teams’ annual O’s Bowl rivalry game on Friday. Both teams need wins to solidify playoff berths.
