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League play is about to finally rear its head for Metro Conference football teams — four games in the Metro-Mesa League and three games each in the Metro-South Bay League and Metro-Pacific League.
Which are the teams to beat?
That’s a tough call as there are several good candidates.
Could it be the Eastlake Titans in the Metro-Mesa League or the defending league champion Mater Dei Catholic Crusaders? Or even the dark horse Otay Ranch Mustangs?
Eastlake remains the Metro’s lone undefeated team at 6-0 following last Friday’s clutch 17-11 non-league win over the visiting Madison Warhawks.
The Titans trailed early, down 11-0 after the opening quarter on a defensive safety, field goal and passing touchdown, and were playing without the services of leading superman David Branco, who had lit up the scoreboard with 15 touchdowns and 1,038 all-purpose yards (and three sacks on defense) in the team’s opening five games.
With Branco sidelined, it was time for Eastlake’s depth to showcase itself. Junior Jeremiah Holliday carried the ball 18 times for 81 yards and scored two touchdowns as the difference on offense. Junior quarterback Joe Waters helped manage the team by completing 12 of 19 passing attempts for 72 yards while rushing twice for 10 yards.
Sophomore Justice Alcantara had six catches for 46 yards while senior Santi Aleta had three catches for 23 yards.
The Titans rallied with 10 points in the second quarter and scored the only touchdown in the second half to rescue their undefeated season. The EHS defense shut out the Warhawks the final three quarters.
The Titans generated just 176 yards in offense but still won. The EHS defense recorded five tackles for losses, one interception (senior Tomas Zaldivar for seven yards) and one fumble recovery (senior Andrew Castro for six yards). Senior Nicolas Alba led the team with seven tackles.
With or without Branco in the lineup, Eastlake is scheduled to kick off league play this Friday against visiting Otay Ranch, which tarnished Bonita Vista’s recent upsurge with a 21-9 non-league victory last Friday.
Senior Jaidon Castillo (12 carries, 50 yards) and sophomore Jeremiah Jordan (six carries, 49 yards) each scored one rushing touchdown while Jordan also scored on a fumble recovery on defense.
Sophomore Caleb Delaughter passed for 176 yards with a 44-yard pass to senior Jordan Epps (four catches, 68 yards) and 31-yard toss to senior Brayden Hyman (two catches, 33 yards). Senior Caleb Lopez had five catches for 43 yards.
Defensive highlights included two sacks by Jordan and an interception by junior Benjamin Glecker.
The Mustangs’ losses have come against No. 14 Point Loma (20-14), No. 20 Grossmont (54-45) and No. 21 Patrick Henry (57-33). They could be knocking on the door, possibly even knocking it down.
On the flip side, Mater Dei Catholic saw its record drop to 0-6 after last Friday’s lopsided 49-14 loss at Helix Charter. The host Scotties celebrated homecoming by racing to a 42-0 halftime lead. The Highlanders opened scoring on a 43-yard punt return by junior Jeremy Robinson and quickly tacked on another score for a 14-0 lead before the Crusaders could catch their breath,
Robinson, a track and field speedster, would score three touchdowns in the game — one on the punt return, another on a 43-yard pass play and a third on a 19-yard run around end.
There was no let-up in the Helix attack. Junior Kingston James scored two touchdowns — one on a short pass and another on a short run. Junior Stephon Fuentes had 11 carries for 89 yards and one TD while senior Cade Thompson passed for three scores.
The Helix defense ravaged the MDC offense with 4.5 sacks, 5.5 tackles for losses and three interceptions.
Sophomore Adrian Wilson (12 carries, 66 yards) and junior Khalonie Jordan (five carries, 55 yards) each scored rushing touchdowns to stave off a shutout loss for the Crusaders. Sophomore quarterback Jayden Blondin had four carries for 45 yards but it wasn’t nearly enough as the the three signal-callers went a combined two-for-12 for eight yards.
Admittedly, Mater Dei Catholic is once again playing one of the section’s most brutal schedules with games so far against No. 3 Cathedral Catholic (63-0 loss), No. 6 Helix, No. 8 Granite Hills (38-31 loss) and No. 12 St Augustine (41-21 loss). The Crusaders also lost 34-17 to defending state champion Bishop O’Dowd in another high profile non-league encounter.
To rub salt into the wound, Mater Dei Catholic’s season opening 29-28 loss at Del Norte (No. 9 in the section rankings) has since been ruled a forfeit (as of the MaxPrep website).
Something has to turn around sometime. Perhaps it will come this Friday against the Montgomery Aztecs (2-4) for homecoming. The Aztecs, one of two newcomers to the Metro-Mesa this season along with the Olympian Eagles, are currently ranked 70th among section teams.
Montgomery lost, 53-0, at No. 25 Mission Bay last Friday.
Olympian (2-4) has also taken its early season lumps but broke out with a timely 35-29 win at Hoover last Friday to snap a three–game losing streak.
Junior Isaiah Mena passed for 215 yards and four touchdowns to pace the visitors. Junior Aiddien Smith (six catches, 78 yards) hauled in two scoring passes while senior Noah Elingson (three catches, 51 yards) and senior Walter Ignacio (one catch, 10 yards) each caught one TD pass.
Ignacio was the team’s leading rusher with 52 yards on 11 carries.
Sophomore Ethan Rivera was credited with seven sacks for 54 yards.
The Eagles are ranked 62nd in the current scheme of things. Olympian hosts Mater Dei Catholic on Oct. 9.
Mater Dei Catholic hosts Eastlake on Oct. 16 in what could shape up as the league championship game if both squads get past their opening two league opponents.
The Metro-South Bay League appears just as interesting, perhaps even more so, with realignment that now places geographic neighbors Bonita Vista (2-3), Chula Vista (2-4), Hilltop (2-3) and Sweetwater (1-5) in the same competitive circuit.
And competitive it should be.
Chula Vista is riding a two-game winning streak after starting the season 0-4 while Bonita Vista, under a new coaching staff, also appears to be finally stirring from a 0-3 start.
Hilltop (2-3) opened the season 2-0 but has dropped its last three games. Sweetwater won its season opener but has not won since then while mired in a five-game losing streak.
According to the latest section rankings, the pecking order at present features No. 49th-ranked Chula Vista in front, followed by No. 52 Bonita Vista, No. 55 Hilltop and No. 73 Sweetwater.
But rankings can change from week to week.
League play kicks off Oct. 16 with Bonita Vista hosting Chula Vista and Sweetwater hosting Hilltop.
Chula Vista’s two biggest rivalry games are now part of the league schedule: the Legacy of Pride game Oct. 23 against visiting Sweetwater and Chula Vista Kiwanis Bowl at Hilltop on Oct. 30.
The Spartans received balanced scoring throughout the lineup in last Friday’s 27-12 win at Crawford (2-3). Senior Elijah Richardson (18 carries, 154 yards), sophomore Asher Richardson (17 carries, 103 yards) and junior Isaiah Orta (four carries, eight yards) each scored rushing touchdowns while Orta connected with senior Gabriel Ruiz (two catches, 44 yards) for a passing touchdown.
The Metro-Pacific League appears to be a two horse race between the Mar Vista Mariners and Southwest Raiders.
Mar Vista improved to 4-2 following last Friday’s key 34-27 win over geographic rival Coronado.
Southwest is 3-3 with a two-game winning streak over Sweetwater (23-20 win on Sept. 18) and Kearny (38-7 last Friday).
The Mariners are ranked 60th overall while the Raiders are 66th. The teams are scheduled to meet Oct. 30 at Southwest High School in the annual Battle for the Bell rivalry game.
Castle Park (2-3 with one forfeit win) and San Ysidro (1-5) follow well behind in the section rankings. The Cougars are ranked 84th while Trojans are 85th out of 88 teams.
Juniors Braylon Shumate (eight carries, 55 yards) and Cecil Thomas (16 carries, 107 yards) each scored two touchdowns to lead Mar Vista while sophomore Jahiel Crawford logged one receiving TD.
Junior Isaac Munoz passed for 188 yards and three touchdowns to extend the Raiders’ win streak to two games while also rushing for two scores.
SOUTH COUNTY FOOTBALL LOG
Non-League
Friday, Sept. 25
Eastlake 17, Madison 11
Chula Vista 27, Crawford 12
Mar Vista 34, Coronado 27
Southwest 38, Kearny 7
Olympian 35, Hoover 29
Mountain Empire 42, Victory Christian Academy 0
Helix 49, Mater Dei Catholic 14
Mission Bay 53, Montgomery 0
University City 49, Sweetwater 3
Escondido Charter 46, San Ysidro 0
SAN DIEGO SECTION RANKINGS
(THROUGH Week 6)
- Carlsbad 5-0
- Mission Hills 4-1
- Cathedral Catholic 3-2
- La Costa Canyon 3-2
- Santa Fe Christian 6-0
- Helix Charter 4-2
- San Marcos 4-1
- Granite Hills 3-2
- Del Norte 4-1
- Oceanside 2-3
- Lincoln 1-5
- St. Augustine 2-3
- Poway 3-2
- Point Loma 5-1
- Rancho Bernardo 4-1
- Torrey Pines 4-1
- Christian 5-0
- Holtville 4-2
- El Camino 0-5
- Grossmont 5-1
- Patrick Henry 5-0
- Imperial 4-1
- La Jolla 1-4
- Ramona 2-4
- Mission Bay 3-2
- University City 3-2
- Central Union 5-1
- Valhalla 3-2
- Eastlake 6-0
- Valley Center 3-3
- Steele Canyon 3-2
- San Pasqual 3-2
- Mira Mesa 4-1
- Maranatha Christian 5-0
- Bishop’s 3-2
- Escondido Charter 5-0
- West Hills 4-1
- San Diego 1-4
- Madison 3-2
- Otay Ranch 3-3
- Mater Dei Catholic 0-6
- Santana 4-1
- Westview 3-3
- Mt. Carmel 1-5
- Morse 2-3
- Fallbrook 4-2
- Rancho Buena Vista 3-3
- Vincent Memorial 5-1
- Chula Vista 2-4
- Hoover 3-3
- Mount Miguel 1-3
- Bonita Vista 2-4
- El Capitan 1-4
- Brawley 2-4
- Hilltop 2-3
- Scripps Ranch 0-5
- Palo Verde Valley 3-25
58 La Jolla Country Day 3-3
59. Coastal Academy 1-3
60. Mar Vista 4-2
61.Coronado 1-4
62. Olympian 2-4
63. Mountain Empire 4-2
64. Army-Navy Academy 3-2
65 Clairemont 3-3
66. Southwest 3-3
67. Monte Vista 2-3
68. Classical Academy 1-4
69. Crawford 2-3
70. Montgomery 2-4
71. Canyon Hills 1-4
Others: 73. Sweetwater, 84. San Ysidro, 85. Castle Park. 86. Victory Christian Academy
GIRLS FLAG FOOTBALL
LADY BARONS ON A ROLL AT 14-4:
Bonita Vista 22, Helix 6
Bonita Vista 18, Long Beach Poly 0
Bonita Vista 52, Schurr 0
Bonita Vista 47, Hilltop 13
Bonita Vista 33, Eastlake 0
Bonita Vista 37, Notre Dame 0
Bonita Vista 33, Warren 13
Bonita Vista 40, Caste Park 0
HILLTOP LADY LANCERS AT 9-1
Hilltop 13, Westview 12
Hilltop 32, Sweetwater 6
Hilltop 21, Sweetwater 6
Hilltop 48, Chula Vista 13
Hilltop 58, Mar Vista 0
EASTERN EXPOSURE
Will it be Helix or Granite or Valhalla or West Hills or Santana on top?
League play has finally arrived for Grossmont Conference football teams — five games in the Grossmont Valley League and four games with a bye in the Grossmont Hills League.
Who are the teams to beat?
That’s a tough one as there are several good candidates.
Could it be the Helix Charter Highlanders in the Grossmont Hills League or the four-time defending champion Granite Hills Eagles?
Helix owns the higher San Diego Section ranking at No. 6 to Granite Hills’ No. 8 ranking. The teams flipped positions after last Friday’s split: Helix (4-2) hung a 49-14 homecoming victory against visiting Mater Dei Catholic (0-6) while Granite (3-2) lost, 42-21, to No. 3 Cathedral Catholic (3-2).
Cathedral held on to beat Helix, 24-19, the previous week. Whether the Scotties or Eagles eventually emerge on top may not be decided until they meet on the field on Oct. 30.
The Grossmont Valley League appears just as interesting as both the West Hills Wolf Pack and Santana Sultans sport 4-1 records after falling from the ranks of the undefeated last Friday.
West Hills dropped a 40-33 non-league decision to the Grossmont Foothillers (5-1) while Santana lost 31-21 to the visiting Fallbrook Warriors (4-2).
Waiting in the wings are the new-look Valhalla Norsemen at 3-2 with two forfeit losses and one forfeit win. Games on the turf have not been close.
Based on the section rankings, the GHL pecking order features No. 6 Helix, No. 8 Granite Hills, No. 20 Grossmont, No. 31 Steele Canyon and No. 41 Mount Miguel. The order in the GVL includes No. 28 Valhalla, No. 37 West Hills, No. 42 Santana, No. 53 El Capitan, No. 67 Monte Vista and No. 81 El Cajon Valley.
Rankings have a tendency to change from week to week at this point of the season.
Tartan Nation
Helix zipped away from the Crusaders with 28 second-quarter points to lead 42-0 at halftime.
Junior Jeremy Robinson led the Highlanders with 135 all-purpose yards to delight the large crowd in attendance. He opened scoring on a 43-yard punt return and scored on a 43-yard pass from senior quarterback Caden Thompson on the first play of the second quarter to boost the host to a 21-0 lead.
Junior Stephon Fuentes (11 carries, 89 yards) made it 28-0 on a 27-yard scoring run
Robinson scored on a 19-yard end-around for a 35-0 lead.
Robinson’s final tally included two catches for 50 yards with one touchdown, 19 rushing yards with one touchdown, 66 kick return yards with one touchdown and one interception on defense for good measure.
The Scotties racked up 325 offensive yards and seven touchdowns in the blowout win — three rushing, three passing and one on special teams.
Thompson passed for 102 yards with three touchdowns. Besides Robinson, juniors Kingston James (two catches, 17 yards) and Eunique Johnson (one catch, two yards) each recorded one touchdown.
James rushed three times for four yards and one touchdown to finish the night with two scores.
Junior Jacob Martin Del Campo contributed seven kicking points.
The hosts intercepted three passes — one each by Robinson and juniors Jace Sells and Cason Iapala.
Senior Dean Niumata had 1.5 sacks, five tackles (3.5 for losses) while classmates Diego Cano-Robinson and David Hubert each had one sack and junior Denzel Griffin and senior Jordan Fuga each shared one sack.
Helix kicks off Grossmont Hills league play Friday against the visiting Mt. Miguel Matadors (1-3) in the annual Battle for the Claymore Sword. The rivalry dates to the opening of Mt. Miguel High School in 1957.
The Matadors are coming off a 42-12 non-league loss to visiting Poway on Sept. 18.
In Grossmont Valley League openers on Friday, Valhalla hosts Monte Vista, West Hills hosts El Cajon Valley while Santana hosts El Capitan.
Game times are 7 p.m.
Eagles hang close to No. 3 Dons but have to settle for 42-21 setback
Despite a 42-21 non-league setback to the No. 3 Cathedral Catholic Dons last Friday in front of a packed stadium, the Granite Hills Eagles have much still to look forward to before the current high school football season is over.
The Eagles have four Grossmont Hills League games to play, as well as one more non-league contest, before the San Diego Section playoffs tip off.
At 3-2 on the season, Granite Hills is currently No. 8 in the section rankings with losses to No. 10 Oceanside (2-3) and Cathedral Catholic (3-2). The Eagles defeated No. 2 Mission Hills (4-1) in Week 3 but will not see No. 1 Carlsbad (5-0), No. 4 La Costa Canyon (3-2) or No. 5 Santa Fe Christian (5-0) through the end of regular season play.
It’s not clear at the midpoint of the season whether the Eagles will make the Open Division cut. At worst they should be battling for one of the top seeds in the Division I playoffs.
Things have a tendency to work themselves out with wins.
That starts this Friday in a very meaningful way when Granite Hills hosts the Grossmont Foothillers to kick off defense of their league title.
“We’re excited to get to league play,” Eagles head coach Kellan Cobbs said. “We challenged ourselves with Cathedral and Mission Hills (28-27 win). Now we have a chance to go win our fifth straight league championship. It all starts with a 5-1 Grossmont team that can score a lot of points. We need to be dialed in on defense this week and be ready to cause turnovers.”
Last Friday’s loss to the Dons was closer than the final score indicated.
The hosts turned a two-touchdown deficit into a one score game late in the third quarter, 28-21, but were unable to complete their comeback as the defending Open Division champions tacked on a pair of fourth quarter scores for the final 21-point victory.
Early on, a gritty Granite squad hung close by twice reducing the Dons’ lead to seven points before the high-powered visitors pulled ahead by two touchdowns.
The Eagles did not embarrass themselves with 283 yards in offense. Cathedral gained 278 yards, though 200 of those yards came of the arm of senior quarterback Koa Smith-Mayall, who completed five touchdown passes in the win.
Granite HIlls senior Zac Benitez completed 22 of 33 attempts for 158 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Senior Gage Spalding had 11 carries for 51 yards and one touchdown.
Senior Courtney Miller-Thompson caught 10 aerials for 67 yards but also launched a 67-yard touchdown pass to senior Jesse Wilhite (two catches, 76 yards). Senior Brody Vicars (two catches, 21 yards) also reeled in a TD pass.
Senior Cayden Phillips keyed the Granite defense with 10 tackles while junior Ty Spencer had one interception.
Patriots are East County’s lone undefeated football team
Three East County high school football teams entered last Friday’s slate of games still sporting undefeated records. Fast forward to Monday and only one still does: the Christian Patriots.
Christian defeated the host Monte Vista Monarchs, 62-27, in an all-East County non-league matchup to improve to 5-0 in reaching the midpoint of the 2026 season.
Both the West Hills Wolf Pack and Santana Sultans failed to match the Patriots’ perfect start by each falling to their first losses of the season.
West Hills lost, 40-33, to the Grossmont Foothillers in another non-league all-East County matchup while Santana’s 4-0 start was undone by the visiting Fallbrook Warriors, 41-31.
Christian now hosts the San Diego Cavers (1-4) this Saturday to kick off City Conference Eastern League play. It marks the first of five league games for the defending San Diego Section Division III champions.
Going forward, the Pats may have solved their quarterback concerns, at least in the short, term as sophomore Joel Hardy IV completed 12 of 17 passing attempts for 89 yards and one touchdown.
Previously senior Kai Rosier had played parts of the last three games following an injury to starter Kaleb Runkle.
Rosier remains in the backfield. He had one carry for 15 yards and one touchdown and also made two catches for 26 yards in the win over the Monarchs.
Sophomore Julian Morones carried the team on his back with 313 rushing yards and five touchdowns. He also caught one pass for a 10-yard touchdown and recovered a fumble for a 20-yard TD to give him seven touchdowns on the memorable night.
Sophomore Taj Carrillo rushed eight times for 67 yards and one TD.
Christian scored nine touchdowns against Monte Vista — seven rushing, one receiving and one on a fumble return.
The Patriots racked up 484 yards in total offense, including 395 rushing yards.
Junior Connor Nguyen led the team’s receivers with six catches for 59 yards.
Morones led the Pats with 323 all-purpose yards.
Defensively, Christian was just as active on the field. Sophomore Kayne Hubbard keyed the hosts with 12 tackles while senior Xander Molina recorded 11 defensive stops. Morones also chipped in with one tackle for a loss while Rosier was credited with two tackles.
The loss was the third consecutive for Monte Vista, which battled Christian to a 7-7 deadlock through the first quarter and trailed 28-21 at halftime. The Patriots blew open the game with 34 third-quarter points.
Daesean Jenkins led the Monarchs with four touchdowns — three rushing and one receiving.
Jenkins opened scoring on a 72-yard touchdown run. He later scored on a one-yard run to knot the teams in a 14-all standoff and then caught a scoring pass to put the Spring Valley team ahead, 21-14.
But the Patriots responded to build a 41-21 lead on Morones’ sixth touchdown in the game.
Morones scored on breakaway runs of 50 and 62 yards to highlight his rushing prowess. He averaged 20.9 yards per carry.
Monte Vista kicks off Grossmont Valley League play this Friday at Valhalla (3-2). The Norsemen have now been involed in three forfeit games this season — two against them and one in their favor after last Friday’s non-league game scheduled at St. Pius X-St. Matthias ended in a forfeit win.
East County Football Log
Non-League
Friday, Sept. 25
Helix 49, Mater Dei Catholic 14
Grossmont 40, West Hills 33
Steele Canyon 28, Dorsey 26
Christian 62, Monte Vista 27
Mountain Empire 42, Victory Christian Academy 0
Cathedral Catholic 42, Granite Hills 21
Fallbrook 31, Santana 21
Lake Mead Christian Academy 40, Foothills Christian 0
Note: Valhalla defeats St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy by forfeit
Foothillers topple previously unbeaten Wolf Pack, 40-33
It was a wild night at West Hills High School’s Smurf field last Friday as the host Wolf Pack attempted to hold onto its undefeated record to start the season.
West Hills held a 33-26 lead with 9:07 to play in the fourth quarter but that was before Grossmont senior quarterback Tyler Holmes got his hands on the ball for two game-changing drives that produced a 14-point swing in the score.
Holmes and the visiting Foothillers prevailed by a touchdown, 40-33, to improve their own lofty record to 5-1.
The Wolf Pack fell to 4-1.
It was a battle of quarterbacks as Holmes passed for 138 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 139 yards and three scores to finish the night with 277 yards of total offense. West Hills senior Evin Dill passed for 219 yards with two touchdowns and rushed 21 times for 85 yards and three touchdowns to conclude the game with 304 yards in total offense.
Both QBs accounted for five touchdowns for their respective teams.
Grossmont had trailed much of the game since the first quarter. But that changed quickly in the fourth quarter. Holmes engineered a two-play touchdown drive to put the Hillers ahead 34-33 with 8:33 to play. Holmes connected with senior Max Bewley (two catches, 61 yards) on the sideline for a big gain, then carried the ball in the final 19 yards and tacked on a two-point conversion run.
Holmes scored on a one-play drive from 39 yards out to go up by seven points with 5:56 remaining in regulation.
West Hills then moved the ball to the Grossmont one-yard line but fell back on fourth-and-six. Dill passed toward the end zone but Grossmont senior Jonah Yost broke up the play. Holmes finished the remaining 1:10 on the clock in victory formation.
The Hillers out-scored the Wolf Pack 22-6 in the second half.
Junior Cedric Norris caught a 17-yard TD pass while completing one pass for 37 yards. Junior Henry Ficarola (two catches, 52 yards) also caught a scoring pass. Junior Corbin Dow (five carries, 24 yards) opened scoring on a 12-yard run.
Seniors Adan Torres (26 yards) and E.J. Lee-Fields (25 yards) each caught touchdown passes for the Wolf Pack.
Lee-Fields had 10 tackles on defense.
Santana first loss
The Sultans lost for the first time in five games to fall to 4-1 at the midpoints of the season.
“We made some mistakes on both offense and defense, and we had some penalties that cost us a few first downs,” Santana head coach Tim Estes said in regard to last Friday’s 31-21 non-league loss to Fallbrook. “With that being said, we still should have been able to come back and pull that one out.”
The game was tied 7-7 at halftime before the Warriors out-scored the Santee team 24-14 in the second half. Santana trailed by a touchdown entering the final quarter.
Senior Ethan Miller passed for 223 yards and three touchdowns to buoy Santana. Senior Denton Goar had eight catches for 74 yards and two touchdowns while senior Kolten Thornton had six catches for 82 yard and one touchdown. Junior Julian Mayers paced the Sultans’ ground game with 16 carries for 73 yards. The hosts collected 74 rushing yards total.
“Now it’s time to regroup and get ready for this week against El Cap. It’s our first league game, so everyone is back to 0-0. They’re coming off a bye week, and from what I’ve heard, they have some guys coming back.
“This is a big game for both teams, and I can’t wait to play.”
The Vaqueros are 1-4.
