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San Diego Section

2007 Football Log

Week 4 Game Reports

Kiwanis Bowl
Spartans top Lancers, 42-19; hike mark to 4-0

By Scott Hopkins
CHULA VISTA, Sept. 21, 2007 -- As the saying goes, when these two teams play, anything can happen, and during Friday’s Kiwanis Bowl game at Hilltop’s Robert Dodds Stadium, just about everything did.

Passing from a shotgun formation on almost every down, Hilltop’s Lancers, who had not scored in their first two games of the season, marched down the field as if it was routine on their opening drive.
Visiting Chula Vista, caught by surprise, scrambled to defend, but the Lancers kept moving and scored on a 14-yard pass from quarterback Mike Alcala to Jose Rivas. Carlos Ugarte’s PAT kick made it 7-0 and the Lancer faithful went wild.

“Their offense was different than what we saw on film,” said Spartan leader Taimi Tutogi. “They had us confused and we had to step up our game.”

On the ensuing kick-off, Matt Stacy stepped it up alright, returning the ball 88 yards up the right sideline and tied the game at 7-all on the first of Andres Canizales’ six PATs.

No matter. The rejuvenated Lancers started right where they left off, this time resulting in a 15-yard touchdown pass from Alcala to Kris Ramirez. The PAT failed, but while the Lancer stands erupted once more, Spartan players were stunned.

Following another kick-off, the Spartans took over on their own 26, trying to settle things down and get into their game plan. And? The first-down snap was fumbled and — you guessed it — the Lancers came up with the ball.

And so, as the first quarter ended, the Lancers held a 13-7 lead, had the ball and were moving.

And move they did ... down to the Spartan 10 where another Alcala scoring pass was called back because of a 15-yard chop block penalty on the hosts.

Little did the Lancers know how their fortunes were about to change.

They lined up for a 27-yard field goal on fourth down. But the attempt was blocked, and Spartan two-way standout Taylor Julio scooped up the ball on the one-yard line. Several seconds and 99 yards later, the Lancers, instead of going up by a 16-7 score, found themselves behind 14-13.

The “sleeping giant” had awakened.

While Chula Vista’s Stacy was ruled out of bounds on another apparent punt return for a touchdown, the Spartans weren’t fazed. Three plays later, they were in the end zone again, a 14-yard pass from Julio to Christian Solorio putting the Spartans up six points, 21-13.

Next, a 60-yard drive ended when Tutogi, another of Chula’s two-way workhorses, juggled and finally tucked away a 17-yard Julio pass for the score: 28-13 Spartans with 1:38 left before intermission.

After the Lancers lost a fumble at their own 30 on the second play following the kickoff, the Spartans drew blood with two plays of their own. Julio’s 27-yard pass was nabbed by Ruben Solorio on a great catch. Next, it was Tutogi, blasting up the middle for the final three yards. Spartans, 35-13 with :28 left before the break.

On their first drive of the second half, the rested Lancers again showed their “no-quit” attitude when they took the ball 80 yards on a 10-play drive for their third touchdown of the contest. The score came on a three-yard reception by Ariel Perez, who also had catches of 15, 33 and eight yards on the drive in which Alcala completed six of eight passes for 67 yards.
The teams exchanged punts until the beginning of the fourth quarter when a 27-yard Lancer punt gave the Spartans the ball on the Hilltop 37. Again, it was Tutogi, with a big second effort grinding out 27 yards and Stacy on a left sweep for 10 that covered the distance in two plays.

Andres Canizales’ final PAT closed scoring for the night.

Hilltop’s Chris Prather had six catches good for 92 yards during the game.

Chula Vista’s Gustavo Ortiz led the Spartan defense with 10 tackles, while Julio, Christian Solorio, Maurice Strickland and Kevin Torres each contributed seven tackles. Torres (two) and Christian Solorio (one) also were credited with sacks.
Julio completed five of seven passes for 72 yards and two TDs besides his 99-yard return of a blocked Hilltop field goal attempt.

In post-game ceremonies, Kiwanis official Mike McClurg presented the Kiwanis Bowl trophy to Chula Vista head coach Judd Rachow.

Most Valuable Player trophies were presented to Lancers Alcala (offense — 22 of 40 passing, 265 yards, three TDs) and Rivas (defense). For the Spartans, Stacy (offense — 18 carries, 89 yards, two TDs) and Tutogi (defense) were selected.
The Spartans now lead the Kiwanis Bowl series 5-1.

Later, Alcala was upbeat about his team’s performance. “We are definitely making progress,” the 6-5 senior said. “We wanted to air out our new shotgun.”

Rivas said the Lancers had a simple goal in the game: Stop No. 1 (Tutogi, who rushed seven times for 62 yards for one score and caught two passes for 29 yards for another TD).

Stacy credited his teammates with his award, stating, “Without them, I couldn’t have done anything.”
Tutogi, who appeared near exhaustion during the game, perhaps set the stage for next year’s match when he stated, “This game’s a tradition —we have to show them who runs this town.”

Extra points
•Spartans Stacy (88-yard kick-off return) and Julio (99-yard blocked field goal return) are both candidates for "Play of the Week" on KUSI's popular Prep Pigskin Report airing Fright, Sept. 28, at 11 p.m. and Saturday, Sept. 29, at 5 p.m.

Titans defend #7 ranking, top Steele Canyon, 35-14
RANCHO SAN DIEGO, Sept. 21, 2007 -- Eastlake coach John McFadden referred to the Titans’ season-opening 27-14 loss at Poway as a horrible performance by his team. Since then, the defending Mesa League tri-champions have been perfect — and intend to stay that way, according to players.

The seventh-ranked Titans ran their winning streak to three games with Friday’s 35-14 non-league victory at Steele Canyon.

Eastlake’s performance was as dominating as the score might suggest. That it came against a quality opponent like the Cougars (second place in last year’s Grossmont South League standings) has to fuel the Titans’ desire to finish the regular season unbeaten.

A big hill to climb comes Friday, Sept. 28, when Eastlake travels to third-ranked (and defending Division II champion) Oceanside. Eastlake has revenge on its mind, as the Pirates eliminated the Titans by a 45-7 score in last year’s semifinals.
Jeremiah Andujo and Will Duka each scored two touchdowns against Steele Canyon while quarterback Derek Witte ran for one score and threw for another. Eastlake built a 28-0 lead in the game, piling up 350 yards in total offense.

Duka rushed 22 times for 116 yards, scoring on two short runs, while Witte completed 10 of 15 passes for 140 yards. Andujo rushed 13 times for 91 yards and caught four passes for 40 yards, scoring on a 15-yard pass and a four-yard run. Witte opened scoring on a five-yard rushing touchdown. Chris Almario tacked on all five extra points.

In five games, Witte has passed for 501 yards with five touchdowns and five interceptions while Duka and Andujo have rushed for 371 and 232 yards, respectively. Andujo owns a team-leading eight touchdowns, including four TD catches to go with 230 receiving yards.

Cougars run down Eagles in closing seconds
By J. Carlos Rico
Sports intern
CHULA VISTA, Sept. 21, 2007 -- After Olympian flew down the field and scored a touchdown to take the lead with 1:55 left in the fourth quarter of Friday’s non-league match-up, San Ysidro answered back with a 10-play, 78-yard drive that ended with senior quarterback Diego Guevara running in the winning score with 3.8 seconds left as the visiting Cougars rallied to beat the Eagles, 26-20.

“That was all heart,” San Ysidro head coach Gary Pugh said. “We lost about three starters during the course of the ball game … we are filling in with kids who are backups so it was all heart.”

That determination showed throughout the game, but particularly in the last drive when the Cougars (2-2) overcame dropped passes, great secondary coverage by Olympian and a critical fourth-down conversion.

“I feel like our team is reborn, totally reborn from last season,” Guevara said. “We have people that do not quit anymore. We are the meaning of perseverance.”

On the winning touchdown, Guevara was looking for one of his receivers on a slant, where the seam had been open all game, but on this play the Eagles brought a linebacker to take away the middle of the field, so when Guevara couldn’t find anyone was open, he scrambled and barely crossed the goal line for the 20-yard score.

“I was scared because I thought I didn’t get in, but then I looked to my side and I (saw) the ref putting both hands up … touchdown,” said Guevara said, who ran for 78 yards and two touchdowns in the game.

The game went back-and-fourth all night with Olympian drawing first blood on a six-yard TD run by junior Julius Miller (23 carries, 114 yards, two TDs) with 11:08 left in the second quarter. Two plays later, San Ysidro answered right back on an 80-yard bomb from Guevara to senior wide receiver Frankie Alvarez (four receptions, 135 yards, one TD) to tie the score at 6-6.

“I have to give props to my (offensive) line,” said Guevara, who threw for 193 yards and two more TDs. “They gave me plenty of time, and I saw the corners bite-up, so I had to air it out because I knew the fade was going to be there. So I aired it out to Frankie (Alvarez) and I trusted him to make the catch.”

After two Olympian drives that ended in punts, San Ysidro took the ball 46 yards in 10-plays and Guevara ran it in on a designed QB draw for the three-yard score, putting the Cougars up 13-6 at intermission.

Following back-to-back TDs by both teams (Robert Jones on a five-yard run for the hosts and Berhane Tsegai on a 40-yard pass from Guevara for the visitors) that put the score 19-14 in favor of the Cougars, the Eagles (2-1) turned the ball over twice when they could not convert on fourth down, both times deep in Cougar territory.

On the Eagles’ last drive, it did look like they were going to start the season 3-0 following a four-yard run by Miller, putting Olympian ahead 20-19. But in the end, Guevara and the Cougars were too much for the first-year varsity team.
San Ysidro travels this Friday, Sept. 28, to Kearny (2-1), while Olympian (2-1) hosts Coronado (1-2).

For the season, Guevara has scored four rushing touchdowns (totaling 186 yards) and passed for three more scores (totaling 385 yards). Alvarez has six receptions for 224 yards and two TDs.

Pointers hand Mustangs first loss 17-14
By Scott Hopkins
POINT LOMA, Se3pt. 21, 2007 -- It was a beautiful, cloudless afternoon Friday at Point Loma High School. A warm and steady breeze blew across the artificial turf on Pete Ross Field. From atop the ancient football stands it seemed one could see hundreds of miles beyond Mission Beach into the blue Pacific Ocean.

A perfect day for prep football turned into a disappointment as previously undefeated Division I Otay Ranch dropped its first game of the season, 17-14, to the host Pointers. The Mustangs fell to 2-1 for the season, and the victory improved the Division III hosts to 2-2.

Both teams had trouble hanging on to and kicking the ball, and mistakes were turned into points by both sides.

An 8-yard run by surprising Pointer sophomore Leslie Rogers put the Mustangs in an early 7-0 hole. Rogers was switched to running back during the season's first quarter when the original starter sustained a surgery-requiring injury.

In the second quarter, penalties for too many men on the field and holding stalled Otay Ranch. The Pointers marched to the Mustang six before booting a 23-yard field goal to widen the gap to 10-0.

Before halftime, however, the Pointers mishandled an Otay punt and Mustang Giovanni Campbell made the recovery on the hosts' 41.

From here, senior quarterback Marcus Vasquez (6-2, 185 pounds) directed a six-play drive that ended with his 3-yard pass completion to senior Sean Rush (6-1, 205) in the back of the end zone. John Baumgardner's partially blocked PAT closed the margin to 10-7.

With Mustang defensive lineman Daniel Akpa (6=3, 270) and others putting pressure on the Point Loma quarterback, the Pointers were unable to add to their lead until late in the third quarter.

That was when a blocked Otay Ranch punt attempt was recovered by the hosts at the Mustang 25. Given such a short field, Rogers soon repeated his earlier 8-yard score, this time on a sweep to the left.

But, to their credit, the Mustangs didn't let the 17-7 deficit deflate them.

In the final quarter the Pointers were moving again after recovering an Otay fumble and aided by a pass interference penalty on the Mustangs. When the drive stalled, a field goal attempt by the hosts was blocked, giving the visitors hope.

Later the Mustangs' Carlos Lopez covered a Pointer fumble at the hosts' 25. From this point, Otay Ranch needed only two plays to score their second touchdown.

This time, Vasquez took it in himself, bouncing off two tackle attempts on the way to the end zone from the 11. Baumgardner's PAT brought the Ranch to within 3 at 17-14.

But after a Pointer punt gave the Mustangs the ball on their own 28 with under 2:00 to play, the hosts' defense held and time ran out for the visitors.

On the afternoon, Otay's junior running back Shannon Daniels racked up 72 yards on 21 carries, a 3.4 average.

The Pointer defense, which Otay head coach Brad Burton called "the best we've seen this year," held the Mustangs to just 123 total yards in the victory.

The Mustangs face what will likely be their toughest non-league test of the season tonight (Sept. 28) when they travel to Del Mar to face No. 8-ranked Cathedral High in a 7:00 p.m. kickoff.

Extra points
The 3 p.m. kickoff was due to the lack of lights at Point Loma. Built in the 1920's, the school's football field is actually bordered by several neighborhood back yards.

The Pointers' lone home loss is to the same Cathedral team the Mustangs will face tonight. In their second game of the season, Point Loma was outscored by the Dons 18-11 on their home turf.

Cathedral gave the No. 1-rated Carlsbad Lancers a scare before losing a 27-24 thriller.