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Marian Catholic-Eastlake matchup highlights Metro league openers

By Phillip Brents

CHULA VISTA, Oct. 9, 2001 -- It’s time to wipe the win-loss record clean as league play begins Friday, Oct. 12, in both the Mesa League and South Bay League. Teams that might have gotten off to slow starts now have the chance to continue recent momentum gained while it will be up to other teams that have gotten off to strong starts to stave off the annual spate of upset bids.

The matchup of the week has to be in the South Bay League when undefeated Marian Catholic hosts defending league champion Eastlake. The visiting Crusaders are 5-0 and are coming off a 61-20 mauling of visiting Montgomery last Friday as running back Eugene Alaniz scored six touchdowns. The Titans (3-2) are coming off two high-scoring victories — 58-7 against Sweetwater and 35-29 last week against Chula Vista after being humbled 33-0 by eastside rival Bonita Vista.

In other South Bay League play, resurgent Castle Park (3-2) travels to Hilltop (1-4). The Trojans battered winless Southwest 48-0 last week behind two touchdowns apiece from Robert Bell and Anthony Jacques to extend their winning streak to three games after jump-starting the season with a pair of narrow losses. The Lancers are mired in a three-game losing streak after falling 19-0 last Friday to previously winless Sweetwater.

The two Mesa League clashes on the schedule feature Bonita Vista at Sweetwater and Southwest at Chula Vista. The Red Devils (1-4) hope to extend the momentum of their first victory of the season against the Barons (4-1), who look to extend their winning streak to five games.

In the Metro Conference’s weekly non-league game, Montgomery (2-3) plays at Mar Vista (3-2). The Mariners are stinging from back-to-back losses after opening the season 3-0 while the visiting Aztecs are reeling from consecutive one-sided losses to Castle Park (65-6) and Marian Catholic (61-20).

Kickoff for all games is 7 p.m.

Both Marian Catholic and Eastlake have to be the talk of the conference right now along with a stronger than expected Bonita Vista squad. Alaniz led the Crusaders to their latest lopsided win by gaining 158 yards on 18 carries, making one pass reception for 15 yards and also garnering one interception on defense. The junior running back hiked his touchdown total on the season to 12 after the six TD performance against Montgomery. Alaniz scored four times from within the three-yard line and added longer scoring runs of 21 and 39 yards. He has rushed for 662 yards on 59 carries at the midway point of the season.

Overall, the Crusaders have outscored their five opponents 267-32.

Besides Alaniz’ big effort, Marian Catholic quarterback Mario Ledesma also had a productive outing by running for two touchdowns while passing 39 yards to Patrick Gates for another. Gates matched Alaniz with 158 rushing yards on the night while the Crusaders backfield also received 89 yards from Marco Contreras. Marian Catholic led 40-12 at halftime.

For the season, Gates has rushed for 654 yards and seven touchdowns while Contreras has gained 540 yards while also rushing for seven scores. Ledesma has thrown for 560 yards and six touchdowns to highlight the Crusaders’ passing game.

The Titans have won three of their last four games while the Mariners have lost two straight. Eastlake racked up a 35-29 non-league victory last Friday at Chula Vista as Ryan Bartsch scored four touchdowns and rushed for 240 yards. Bartsch had been battling injuries for most of the early part of the season before erupting on the field last week. Bartsch scored Eastlake’s first four touchdowns, capping off runs of 5, 2, 3 and 71 yards with touchdowns. Neftali Lizarraga threw 12 yards for the Titans’ other score.

Eastlake defeated Marian Catholic, 42-14, last year to secure the rights to the league championship. Now the Crusaders, with a year under the belts, get the chance for payback.

The Titans moved out to leads of 14-0 and 21-7 last week against Chula Vista and after being threatened by a second-quarter Spartan comeback that narrowed the score to 21-16 at halftime, responded with the first score of the third period to take a 29-16 edge. After Chula Vista scored again to cut the lead to 28-23, the Titans once more responded with an matching score to go up 35-23.

Bartsch is averaging 161.3 yards per game in three games while teammate Mark Whaley is averaging 150.2 yards per game and leads Eastlake with nine rushing touchdowns.

In other games Friday:

The Trojans look to be gaining the form they need to make a successful run at this year’s league title. Castle Park held Southwest to just 29 yards in total offense. Bell gained 120 yards on just eight carries in the game, scoring on runs of 45 and 29 yards. Jacques scored from seven yards out to jump-start scoring in the game and later added a one-yard scoring run to this total. The pair alternated touchdowns to give the host Trojans a 27-0 lead. Castle Park led 41-0 at halftime after Demarco Sampson tacked on a 51-yard touchdown on a punt return. Mark Street scored the only touchdown of the second half on a one-yard run in the final period.

The Trojans, who have outscored their last two opponents 113-6 and have averaged 46 points in securing their three-game winning streak, also nabbed three interceptions in last week’s game.

"We’re improving every week, we’re getting better," Castle Park head coach Paul Van Nostrand said. "Defensively, we’re playing great football. As for the offense, we’ve made it work the last four weeks. We’re right where we wanted to be."

Bell leads Castle Park in rushing with 527 yards and has scored five touchdowns and is followed on the scoresheet by Jacques (367 yards, 7 TD).

For Hilltop, which has tasted successive defeats to Montgomery (23-9), Bonita Vista (31-6) and Sweetwater (19-0) the rebuilding season continues under new head coach Brian Hay. The Lancers have been shut out twice this season, including a 35-0 loss in their season opener to visiting San Diego High.

The Red Devils won for the first time in five games by playing shutout defense against the host Lancers, who suffered their third consecutive loss after defeating Southwest, 39-7, in the second week of the season. Alfonso Hernandez (6 catches, 93 yards) and Ozzie Simental (2 catches, 22 yards) both scored on touchdown passes from quarterback Rudy Gonzalez to lead Sweetwater, which also received a rushing score from Evin Groves (138 yards). "It was so good to get one out of the box. We’re young, we’re getting better, hopefully we can give Bonita Vista a run," explained Sweetwater coach Eric Peterson.

The Barons survived five turnovers (four fumbles and one interception) inside Mar Vista territory last week to still score a 24-13 win. Bonita Vista quarterback Alex Palacio threw for 193 yards on 12-of-20 passing and three touchdowns, including two to Al Ghebrasalassie and another to Detron Johnson. The Barons scored 24 unanswered points to answer a game-opening score by Mar Vista. On the season, Ivan Salzedo has rushed for 774 yards and six touchdowns while Palacio has passed for 875 yards and 11 scores. Johnson (19 receptions, 337b yards) has caught five TD passes while Ghebrasalassie (15 receptions, 184 yards) has four TD catches. E. J. Stoike (14 receptions, 285 yards) has 3 TD catches.

The young Spartans went toe-to-toe with a much more seasoned Eastlake team for much of last week’s game, trailing 21-16 at halftime and falling by less than a touchdown at game’s end. Kevin Davies (395 yards, 3 TD on the season) scored twice for Chula Vista while Carl Payne also scored a touchdown. Davies’ scoring runs came from 15 and 20 yards out. Defensively, the Spartans were led by John Bell, who had 15 tackles and forced one fumble. The Raiders (0-5) have been outscored 204-26 in five games and are mired in a San Diego Section record 32-game losing streak.

Mar Vista received two rushing touchdowns from Fedarin Johnson and otherwise played a strong defensive game in its 24-13 loss last week to Bonita Vista. The Mariners forced four fumbles and made one interception to stymie Baron scoring drives. Montgomery, which is looking to snap a two-game losing streak, is led by quarterback Ian Pizarro, who has thrown for 890 yards and seven touchdowns, and Kenyatta Williams, who scored on a 10-yard run last week against Marian Catholic. Jeff McNeal added a one-yard scoring run against the Crusaders while Adrian Trujillo, serving as a backup quarterback, scored on a 51-yard bootleg play.