There is no question that Bonita Vista High School senior running back Greg Bell is having an outstanding season. He entered last Friday’s San Diego Section Division III quarterfinal round playoff game against Patrick Henry with 1,576 rushing yards and 21 total touchdowns.
But the top-seeded Barons clearly proved they are more than a one-man team as Bell scored just one touchdown in a 49-7 win over the ninth-seeded Patriots at Southwestern College.
Bell rushed for 132 yards in the first half and appeared to be in store for another blockbuster showing on the field before sustaining what was referred to a bad headache. He left the game with his team leading 21-0 and did not return.
There were plenty of other players to get the job done, however. Quarterback Anthony Posada threw a pair of scoring passes while Chris Boguille, Josh Godfrey, Atoa Fox and Dennis Rosario each scored rushing touchdowns.
Bonita Vista (9-2) received touchdowns from seven players in scoring seven touchdowns. Not bad, at all. Bell was all smiles while seated on the sideline.
Future opponents had thus better be wary.
“Every player is important at this time of the year (because) injuries happen,” BVHS head coach Chris Thompson explained. “You simply worry about what you have to do to help the team.”
The Barons host the fifth-seeded Imperial Tigers (7-5) in the semifinals on Friday, Nov. 27 at Southwestern College. Game time is 7 p.m.
The Tigers, who are riding a seven-game winning streak, advanced to meet the Barons after upsetting fourth-seeded Santa Fe Christian, 31-24, in overtime in last Friday’s quarterfinals. Prior to that, Imperial eliminated 12th-seeded Del Norte on the strength of a dominating 51-10 opening round win.
Bonita Vista, which has won six games in a row, is one win away from playing in the Division III championship game Dec. 5 at SWC.
Bold and the beautiful
The Barons wasted little time in moving down the field. A 52-yard pass completion from Posada to Quentin Harrison put the ball at the Patriots’ 22-yard line. But a pair of short runs by Bell and an incomplete pass forced a 37-yard field goal attempt that fell short of the goalposts.
That didn’t stall the hosts. A punt return placed the ball at the Patrick Henry 34-yard line, and Posada made up the difference to the goal line on a looping scoring pass to Jake Rozar.
The Patriots switched to a wildcat spread on their next series and methodically moved the ball down to the BV four-yard line. But the Baron defense seemed to finally figure out the unusual formation and forced a turnover on downs.
The hosts would then drive 98 yards to go up 14-0.
A 54-yard run by Bell was the big play on the drive, with Boguille scoring on a one-yard run.
The Patriots fumbled the ball on the ensuing kickoff, with Godfrey recovering the ball at the 20-yard line. A screen pass to Bell positioned the ball at the line-yard line and later scored from there. The PAT conversion by Matt Michaud put the hosts up by three touchdowns.
Bell was noticeably absent thereafter, though it did not matter.
A 33-yard pass to Harrison moved the Barons out of bad field position and a screen pass to Ethan Williams quickly moved the ball to the 10-yard line. Godfrey scored from the half-yard line with 7.6 seconds left in the first half.
Bonita Vista zipped in front, 42-0, on a pair of touchdowns in the third quarter. Posada hit Williams on a 48-yard catch-and-carry with 10:32 left in the quarter and, following an interception by Tristan Schultz, Fox scored on a 23-yard run with 7:34 to play in the quarter.
The Patriots averted a shutout when Zariyan Cook broke off a 53-yard scoring run with 35 seconds to play in the quarter.
Rosales finished scoring in the game on a 15-yard run with 6:07 to play in the fourth quarter.
Posada finished the game with 244 passing yards after amassing 179 yards in the first half. Harrison had two catches for 99 in the first half while Williams finished the game with three catches for 80 yards and one touchdown. Rozar had the one touchdown catch while Will Kuheloloa had two catches for 30 yards and Bell had one catch for 11 yards.
The Barons finished the game with 462 total offensive yards, including 208 rushing yards.
Boguille had four carries for nine yards while Godfrey rushed nine times for 25 yards, Fox had two carries for 25 yards, Rosario had four carries for 19 yards and Williams had one carry for 11 yards.
Matt Michaud tackled on seven PAT conversions. Williams also led the team defensively with six tackles while Genera Guerra had two sacks.
The BV defense limited Patrick Henry to 53 passing yards and 136 rushing yards.
It was clearly an all-around team effort.
“We’re not relying on one player,” Posada reiterated. “Everyone’s a part of the team and expected to help out and get the job done, even the guys who don’t start.”
“This is a great team, a great group,” said Godfrey, who served as the holder on point-after-touchdown conversions and made a fumble recovery on defense besides scoring a touchdown on offense. “Everyone contributes. This is the best team that Bonita has seen.”
Bell has now racked up 1,708 rushing yards and a team-leading 22 touchdowns on the season while Posada has passed for 1,567 yards with nine touchdowns and four interceptions. Harrison leads the team’s receivers with 525 yards on 18 catches in six games while scoring three TDs.
Boguille and Fox each have scored four touchdowns on the season while Williams and Godfrey each have scored twice.
Extra points
When lineman, or rather, linewoman Brittany Voyce entered the game with two minutes to play, the crowd went nuts. She had an immediate impact on the game as the Patriots were called for a holding penalty on her.
Normally a player on the school’s junior varsity team, Voyce appreciated the late season call-up to varsity. “It was cool,” she said.
Four Metro Conference teams still find themselves in contention for San Diego Section divisional championship berths. Joining the Bonita Vista Barons, top-seeded in Division III, in Friday’s upcoming semifinals are the sixth-seeded Otay Ranch Mustangs, who will play at second-seeded Rancho Bernardo in Division II, and both the top-seeded Mater Dei Catholic Crusaders and fourth-seeded Mar Vista Mariners, who will square off in a Division IV match-up.
Otay Ranch upset third-seeded Granite Hills, 35-20, in last Friday’s quarterfinals to improve to 7-5 on the season. The Grossmont Valley League champion Eagles had entered the game sporting a 9-1 record. The visiting Mustangs scored five touchdowns: three rushing scores (two by Arturo Saenz and one by Sam Stephens), one passing touchdown (by receiver Adrian Rodriguez) and one on a fumble recovery (by Fenuki Kauvaka).
Rancho Bernardo is 9-2 and is coming off a 26-14 quarterfinal win over seventh-seeded Mira Mesa (7-5).
Mater Dei Catholic (10-1) flattened visiting Kearny, 35-6, in last Friday’s quarterfinals in a game called in the third quarter. C.J. Verdell rushed for 225 yards and scored three rushing touchdowns and also caught a 15-yard scoring pass to lead the Crusaders with four touchdowns over the ninth-seeded Komets (6-6).
Quarterback Chris Jones also tossed a 46-yard touchdown pass to Eli Shelton. Jovan Bayless and Jayden Emberton-Gaines led the MDCHS defense each with 10 tackles while Mario Williams recorded four of the Crusaders’ 11 sacks in the game.
Verdell has rushed for 1,582 yards and scored 25 total touchdowns (21 rushing three receiving and one on a kick-off return).
Mar Vista (8-3) eliminated Southwest El Centro, 49-24, in last Friday’s quarterfinals behind a stellar five-rushing touchdown performance by Khalil Spruill (14 carries, 215 yards). Noah Berry also scored on a 45-yard interception return.
Mater Dei Catholic defeated Mar Vista, 48-7, in the Metro-South Bay League championship game on Nov. 6. However, Spruill did not play in that game for the Mariners. The semifinal pairing assures one Metro team of advancing to the Division IV championship game Dec. 4 at Southwestern College.
fourth-seeded Calvin Christian walloped second-seeded Rock Academy, 68-8, in the inaugural Divsion VI (eight man) championship game at Calvin Chrisian High School. The Crusaders fiinsh the season 8-3 overall after previously tiopping top-seeeded Chula Vista Calvary Christian Academy, 29-8, in the semifinls.
The Rock Academy, which battered third-seeded Ocean View Christian Academy by a 50-35 score in the semifinals, finished the season 8-4.
Eastlake ends season with 54-14 loss in Open Division quarterfinals
Eastlake ended its season in the Open Division quarterfinals with a 54-14 loss to second-seeded St. Augustine. The seventh-seeded Titans (5-6) fell behind, 14-7, after the first quarter and were outscored 33-0 in the second quarter. St. Augustine improved to 9-2 and will play third-seeded Mission Hills (11-0) in Friday’s semifinals.
The St. Augustine-Mission Hills winner will play the winner between top-seeded Helix (9-1) and fourth-seeded Cathedral Catholic (7-4) in the division championship game Dec. 5 at Southwestern College.
Eastlake amassed 269 rushing yards and tacked on 39 passing yards to finish with 308 total yards. St. Augustine racked up 463 total yards – 258 passing yards and 205 rushing yards.
Traylon Reed rushed 13 times for 74 yards to lead the Titans on the ground. Quarterback Izzack Morales gained 57 yards on three carries while Kaleb Dueitt rushed six times for 28 yards and scored one touchdown.
Seven other Eastlake ball-carriers were each held under 20 yards. Morales completed one of five passing attempts – 39 yards to Josh Olave for a touchdown.
By contrast, Saints signal-caller Rodney Thompson completed eight of nine passing attempts for 169 yards with four touchdowns. Jordan Brooks had four catches for 129 yards and caught two scoring passes while Jacob Baker caught two scoring passes for 89 yards in total yardage. Elijah Preston also caught a 13-yard scoring pass.
Baker caught scoring passes of five and 89 yards. Brooks also had one 71-yard reception.
Preston led St. Augustine’s ground assault with 163 yards on 13 carries. He scored three rushing touchdowns and four total touchdowns in the game.
Declan Fernandez led the Titans defensively with five tackles; Tariq Thompson keyed the winners with eight tackles and one sack. Andrew Alves and Andrew Seelert each had fumble recoveries for the Saints while Kaori McGowan blocked one punt.
Seelert had four kick-offs with four touchbacks for a 59.2 average; Emilio Aldaz had three kick-offs for a 53.7 average. Micah Pietila-Wiggs punted four times for a 29.5 average. Jr. Justice punted once for 35 yards for St. Augustine.
Preston has rushed for 1,825 yards with 25 rushing touchdowns and 29 total touchdowns.
Mission Hills eliminated sixth-seeded La Costa Canyon, 47-0, in the quarterfinals.
Helix defeated eighth-seeded Madison, 56-34, in the quarterfinals while Cathedral Catholic topped fifth-seeded Carlsbad, 24-21.
Bishop’s ends Trojans’ season via 44-7 victory
Castle Park ended its season 7-5 after dropping its Division IV quarterfinal-round playoff game to the third-seeded Knights in a game played Nov. 20 at Madison High School. The sixth-seeded Trojans could muster just one touchdown in the game after lighting up the scoreboard with 36 points in its opening round shutout win over visiting Monte Vista.
Castle Park quarterback Angelo Trujillo carved out a reputation as one of the Metro Conference’s top quarterbacks during the 2015 season. However, Trujillo completed just eight of 23 passing attempts with one touchdown and three interceptions against Bishop’s. Trujillo finished the contest with a quarterback rating of just 19.6.
The Trojans managed 109 rushing yards, with Trujillo carrying the ball 16 times fort 55 yards. Miguel Flores gained 29 yards on eight carries while Tyshon Peters rushed four times for 37 yards. Anthony Navarro and Chris Arana both wound up with negative yardage.
Luq Barcoo (two catches, 15 yards) scored Castle Park’s lone touchdown in the game. The longest pass play in the game went 14 yards (by Isaac Zavala). Charles Tolbert, who caught two breakaway scoring passes in the win over Monte Vista, had three catches for 23 yards against the Knights. Zavala had five catches for 33 yards while Diego Ibarra caught one pass for four yards.
Mozes Mooney led Bishop’s (7-4) with 358 passing yards and three touchdowns without an interception. The Knights added 153 rushing yards on the strength of 122 yards on six carries by Hassant Moses-Hillman, who scored three rushing touchdowns in the game.
Richard Hagestad had four catches for 123 yards and scored two touchdowns while Jacob Jackson (three catches, 19 yards) scored one touchdown.
Bishop’s out-gained Castle Park 511-184 in total offensive yards.
Ibarra led the Trojans defensively with eight tackles. He and teammate Victor Gonzalez each recorded one sack.
Jack Raser keyed the Knights with 11 tackles. The Bishop’s defense constantly hounded Trujillo throughout the game with 12 sacks – three each by Michael Charrette and Justin Woodley, two by Daniel Anderson and one each by Hagestad, Raser, Sahil Sheth andCesar Santana.
Moses-Hillman, Woodley and Jack Case each picked off passes by Trujillo, who led his team with 130 total yards in the game.
Trujillo punted six times in the game for a 37.5 average.
Moses-Hillman returned one kick-off 44 yards; Woodley was five-for-five on PAT conversions.
Trujillo finished the season with 2,158 passing yards, 21 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He also rushed for 355 yards and scored six rushing touchdowns to finish the season with an overall quarterback rating of 95.7.
Mooney enters Friday’s semifinal playoff game against second-seeded University City with 629 passing yards, seven touchdowns and one interception. A.J. Britanico has rushed for 1,098 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Jeffrey Jackson has accumulated 1,846 passing yards with 27 touchdowns and seven picks on the season while Mooney ranks as the team’s top receiver with 899 yards on 60 catches with 15 touchdowns.
San Diego Section Playoff Previews
Division II
(6) Otay Ranch (7-5) at (2) Rancho Bernardo (9-2)
The Mustangs are loaded with top-line performers. Sam Stephens leads Otay Ranch with 1,1013 rushing yards and six touchdowns while Adrian Rodriguez has 27 catches for 666 yards and nine touchdowns. Ennovy Halton has caught five touchdown passes.
Rodriguez tops the team with 12 touchdowns – nine receiving, two rushing and two on punt returns.
Defensive leaders for Otay Ranch include Nick Sandoval, Sergio Ayon and Fenuki Kauvaka. Rodriguez leads the team with four interceptions while Kauvaka leads the team with six sacks and Ayon has three fumble recoveries.
As a team, the Mustangs have collected 28 sacks and seven interceptions. On offense, Otay Ranch is averaging 135 passing yards per gfame and 114 rushing yards per game.
Arturo Saenz has stepped in seamlessly to lead the team in last Friday’s playoff win over Granite Hills.
Rancho Bernardo, last year’s Division II runners-up, enters Friday’s game against Otay Ranch riding a five-game winning streak. In those six games, the Broncos have outscored their opponents 158-48 with one shutout win.
Quarterback Mark Salazar has thrown for 1,625 yards with 15 touchdowns and six interceptions for a 113.5 quarterback rating. He’s also rushed for 130 yards and three touchdowns.
Rancho Bernardo’s offense is a double-edge sword as Milan Grice has rushed for 1,279 and 14 touchdowns. DeVaughn Vele leads the team with 704 receiving yards and seven touchdowns. Grice leads the team with 1,419 all-purpose yards – an average of 129 yards per game.
The Broncos are a complete package. Devin Dunn leads the Broncos with 115 tackles while Mitchell Lindgren leads the team with 12 sacks and Anthony Barnum has a team-leading five interceptions. As a team, RB has 28 sacks and 11 picks.
Grice leads the team with 17 touchdowns – 14 rushing and three receiving.
The Otay Ranch-Rancho Bernardo winner plays either top-seeded Valhalla (9-2) or fourth-seeded Mt. Carmel (8-3) in the division championship game Dec. 5 at Southwestern College.
Valhalla defeated eighth-seeded Christian, 48-17, in last Friday’s quarterfinals while Mt. Carmel eliminated fifth-seeded Westview, 48-14.
Otay Ranch defeated Valhalla, 14-7, in the season opener for both teams back on Aug. 28.
Division IV
(4) Mar Vista (8-3) at (1) Mater Dei Catholic (10-1)
Mater Dei Catholic extended its winning streak to nine games with last Friday’s playoff win over the Komets.
Quarterback Chris Jones completed two of his seven passing attempts for 61 yards in last week’s game. However, both completions went for touchdowns. Jones also rushed three times for 31 yards. For the season, Jones has passed for 1,409 yards and 16 touchdowns without an interception to go with an outstanding 134.6 quarterback rating.
C.J. Verdell finished the game with 276 all-purpose yards – 225 rushing yards, 15 receiving yards and 36 kick return yards. Jones finished with 92 total yards.
The Crusader defense was very active during the game. Ruben Duran contributed seven tackles while Quentin Frazier had six tackles. Micah Scott had two sacks while Shaun Jones, Ruben Duran, Pedro Chavez, Jayden Emberton-Gaines and Adomas Aleksandravicius each recorded one sack. Mario Williams had four sacks to lead the team with 11 sacks in the game.
Kyle Moses also had one interception while Duran had one fumble recovery and Bayless had one caused fumble. Bayless also block a field goal attempt.
Alex Golembiewski had six kick-offs averaging 51.5 yards with one touchback. Duran averaged 37 yards on two punts. Golembiewski finished the game with five PAT kicks in five attempts.
Shelton leads the MDCHS receiving corps with 15 catches for 431 yards and seven touchdowns while Frazier has 14 catches for 377 yards and two touchdowns.
On the season, Verdell has racked up 2,013 all-purpose yards, followed by Frazier with 689 all-purpose yards.
Emberton Gaines tops the Crusaders with 114 tackles, followed by Duran with 98 tackles. The Crusaders have collected 45 sacks on the season. Mario Williams leads the team with 14 sacks. Isaiah Faue, Scott and Chavez each rank second on the team with four sacks while Elias Eribez and Bayless each have four interceptions. Austin Keller, Duran and Moses each have two fumble recoveries.
Golembiewski has amassed 71 kicking points. He has successfully converted on 53 of 56 extra-point attempts and hit on six of eight field goal attempts.
Mar Vista broke out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter and led 28-12 at halftime in last Friday’s playoff game against the Eagles.
Michael Wilson went four-for-four in the passing department while also rushing three times for 44 yards to finish with a 129.2 quarterback rating.
Mar Vista amassed 313 rushing yards and finished the game with 355 total yards. Xavier Williams rushed two times for 54 yards to complement Khalil Spruill and Wilson in the rushing department.
Jacob Hinojosa led the Mariners defensively with eight tackles while teammate Alfredo Ramirez had six tackles and Williams had five tackles.
Spruill leads Mar Vista with 918 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns. Hugh Anthony leads the Mariners with four sacks.
Cameron Jungers and Justin Cordova each scored two rushing touchdowns for Southwest El Centro. Cordova broke off a 47-yard scoring run.
Mater Dei Catholic defeated Mar Vista, 48-7, in the Metro-South Bay League championship game on Nov. 6. However, Spruill did not play in that game for the Mariners. The semifinal pairing assures one Metro team of advancing to the Division IV championship game Dec. 4 at Southwestern College. – See more at: https://www.thestarnews.com/sports/top-seeded-bonita-vista-football-team-displays-depth-in-49-7-playoff-win-over-pats/#sthash.O9ngQzWp.dpuf
Mater Dei Catholic defeated Mar Vista, 48-7, in the Metro-South Bay League championship game on Nov. 6. However, Spruill did not play in that game for the Mariners. The semifinal pairing assures one Metro team of advancing to the Division IV championship game Dec. 4 at Southwestern College. – See more at: https://www.thestarnews.com/sports/top-seeded-bonita-vista-football-team-displays-depth-in-49-7-playoff-win-over-pats/#sthash.O9ngQzWp.dpuf
Mater Dei Catholic defeated Mar Vista, 48-7, in the Metro-South Bay League championship game on Nov. 6. However, Spruill did not play in that game for the Mariners. The semifinal pairing assures one Metro team of advancing to the Division IV championship game Dec. 4 at Southwestern College.
The winner will face either second-seeded University City (9-2) or third-seeded Bishop’s (7-4) in the division final.
University City eliminated seventh-seeded Santana, 56-20, in last Friday’s quarterfinals while Bishop’s elimninated sixth-seeded Castle Park, 44-7.
Division V
(1) Coronado (8-4) vs. (2) Crawford (10-2)
Saturday, Nov. 28, at Southwestern College, 7 p.m.
The top-seeded Islanders have breezed by their opening two playoff opponents, defeating eighth-seeded Tri-City Christian by a score of 41-0 in the quarterfinals and fourth-seeded La Jolla Country Day, 17-9, in last Friday’s semifinals.
Crawford has defeated seventh-seeded Maranatha Christian, 33-12 in the quarterfinals and third-seeded Vincent Memorial, 23-19, in the semifinals.
Briley Knight leads Coronado with 430 passing yards with five touchdowns and five interceptions while teammate Ian Thorleifson has passed forf 137 yards with two touchdowns snd seven picks.
The Islanders are led by Christopher Haas, who has rushed for 1,788 yards and scored 20 rushing touchdowns. Knight has tacked on 403 rushing yards and six rushing TDs. Haas leads the team with 2,197 all-purpose yeards and 23 total touchdowns.
Ben Cook and Daniel Komorowski lead the Coronado defense with six sacks while Thorleifson and Alejandro Carrera each have three interceptions.
The Islanders enter the division final on a five-game winning streak.
Crawford, which finished runner-up in the Division V final two years ago, avenged last year’s quarterfinal playoff game loss to Vincent Memorial in this year’s semifinals. The Colts have won seven consecutive games.
Eric McDuffy Jr. has rushed for 1,031 yards and 11 touchdowns while teammate Raymond Gabriel Jr. has rushed for 939 yards and 12 TDs on the season.
Gabriels also leads the team with 72 total tackles and 7.5 sacks while McDuffy and teammate Angel Chheang each have recorded three picks.
McDuiffy leads Crawford in scoring with 14 total touchdowns and eight conversons while Gabriel ranks second with 13 total touchdowns and two conversions.Sharif Sharif (457 rushing yards) ranks third on the team with 10 total touchdownsn and two conversions.
Bottom line: The game could end up as a hand-off marathon, with Crawford scoring 38 rushing touchdowns this season and Coronado scoring 31 rushing touchdowns.
San Diego Section Semifinals
Friday, Nov. 27
Open Division
(1) Helix 42, (4) Cathedral Catholic 14
(2) St. Augustine 48, (3) Mission Hills 14
Championship game: (1) Helix 10-1) vs. (2) St. Augustine (10-2), Dec. 5 at Southwestern College, 7 p.m.
Division I
(1) Oceanside 28, (4) Point Loma 24
(3) El Camino 28, (7) Steele Canyon 18
Championship game: (1) Oceanside (8-4) vs. (3) El Camino (6-5), Dec. 4 at Southwestern College, 7 p.m.
Division II
(4) Mt. Carmel 27, (1) Valhalla) 14
(2) Ranbcho Bernardo 48, (6) Otay Ranch 14
Championship game: (2) Rancho Bernardo (10-2) vs. (4) Mt. Carmel (9-3), Dec. 5 at Southwestern College, 3:30 p.m.
Division III
(1) Bonita Vista 49, (5) Imperial 7 (game called with 6:51 left in third quarter due to brawl)
(2) Mission Bay 31, (3) Valley Center 28
Championship game: (1) Bonita Vista (10-2) vs. Mission Bay (10-2), Dec. 5 at Southwestern College, noon
Division IV
(1) Mater Dei Catholic 38, (4) Mar Vista 14
(3) Bishop’s 23, (2) University City 7
Championship game: (1) Mater Dei Catholic (11-1) vs. Bishop’s (8-4) Dec, 4 at Southwestern College, 3 p.m.
