The high school football season isn’t quite over for the Mt. Miguel Matadors, Santana Sultans, Grossmont Foothillers and Foothills Christian Knights.
Far from it, in fact.
All four East County high school football teams remain in the mix for San Diego Section divisional championships.
Foothills Christian will play in Friday’s Division VI (eight-person) championship game while either Mt. Miguel or Santana is guaranteed of advancing to the Division IV championship game after qualifying for Friday’s upcoming semifinals.
Mt. Miguel (10-1) defeated ninth-seeded Escondido (3-9) by a score of 56-13 in last Friday’s quarterfinals, while fourth-seeded Santana (5-6) dispensed with fifth-seeded Crawford (8-4) by a 35-14 score.
The Matadors, this year’s Grossmont Valley League champions, and Sultans, the sixth place team from the Grossmont Hills League, will meet the winner between the second-seeded Chula Vista Spartans (9-2) and third-seeded Westview Wolverines (7-4) with the chance to move on to the division championship game Nov. 24 at Southwestern College (2 p.m. kickoff).
Chula Vista, 2023 Metro-Pacific League champions, eliminated seventh-seeded Olympian (7-5) by a score of 27-10 in last Friday’s quarterfinals while Westview (7-4) nipped sixth-seeded Bonita Vista (7-5) by a score of 14-10.
Senior Matthew Barton (192 passing yards, three touchdowns) led Mt Miguel’s potent offense to its latest victory. Sophomore Parris Vernon had four catches for 97 yards and two touchdowns while sophomore Zane Rottier had five carries for 42 yards and two scores.
The Matadors scored four rushing touchdowns. Senior Jeremiah Castillo scored on a four-yard run while senior Cullen Hickson scored on an eight-yard run. Senior Eric White caught a six-yard touchdown pass. Senior Johnny Castro converted six extra-point tries while junior Tyler Kelly tacked on two extra-point kicks.
“We were a little rusty from the bye week,” Mt. Miguel head coach Verlain Betofe admitted. “Even though we scored 56 points, I don’t think our guys played well. We have a high standard here and we didn’t play up to our level. We will take the win, but we still have a lot more we can improve on.
“Matthew Barton did a great job taking what the defense gave him. He didn’t force the ball and just played within our offense. On defense, (junior linebacker) Easton Sanchez had a great game. He was flying around. Our defense caused three turnovers.
“We are excited about this game against Santana. We had three goals this season and to complete our second goal, we have to beat them. Our boys are locked in and ready. They been playing with a chip on their shoulder all year. We know they are going to bring their ‘A’ game, so we have to be ready to match it. We are excited for the challenge.”
Mt. Miguel finished 11-1 in 1987 for the best mark in school history. The 2023 Matadors are on pace to set a new standard for excellence with two more wins.
But they can’t get ahead of themself just yet.
Sophomore Jayden Goldman passed for 153 yards and four touchdowns — all to senior Trent Taylor — while senior Michael Valenzuela had a 31-yard interception return for a touchdown to key the Sultans. Senior Tyler Thomas was five-for-five on extra- point conversions. Taylor totaled 169 all-purpose yards with 21 rushing and 23 yards in punt returns.
The Santana defense registered eight sacks, including three by senior Angel Borja and two by junior Jake Galbreath (who also had a fumble recovery).
“It was a close game in the first half, 14-14 at half,” Santana coach Tim Estes said in regard to last Friday’s quarterfinal win. “In the third quarter, we were able to jump out and score a couple of touchdowns. Our defense came up big with a pick-six that sealed the game for us.
“Mt. Miguel is a very good team. Their record shows that. They are the No. 1 team in Division IV. Our offense needs to control the ball and move the chains. On defense, we need to play like we did last Friday.”
Grossmont (6-5) shaded fifth-seeded Santa Fe Christian (6-6) by a score of 24-21 to meet top-seeded Mission Bay (8-3) in Friday’s semifinals.
The winner advances to the Division III championship game Nov. 25 at Southwestern College (2 p.m. kickoff) against either second-seeded Fallbrook (5-6) or sixth-seeded La Jolla Country Day (9-3).
The Foothillers are already among the section’s biggest winners after making the playoffs this season following a 0-10 pigskin campaign in 2022. Grossmont rode the arm of senior quarterback Hudson Herber (200 yards, three touchdowns) and the legs of senior Isaac Aceves (114 rushing yards) to success against the Eagles.
Sophomore Noah Walker (six catches, 88 yards) reeled in two touchdowns. Herber scored on a touchdown run to make the score 24-14.
Defensively, Grossmont was solid as seniors Josh Ferrera had 16 tackles, Allshon Kushaliyev had eight tackles and 1.5 sacks and Jacob Suter had seven tackles and one sack.
Foothills Christian (8-2) will play for this year’s Division VI (eight-person) championship after scoring a 29-8 win over fourth-seeded Coastal Academy (6-6) in last Friday’s semifinals.
The Knights will tackle second-seeded St. Joseph Academy (8-2), which recorded a 32-14 semifinal win over third-seeded Calvin Christian (7-4) in last Friday’s semifinals.
The Division VI championship game is scheduled Friday, Nov. 17, at 4:30 p.m. at Escondido High School.
The Knights rushed for 354 yards to crush the Stingrays (116 rushing yards). Junior Kameron Brown had 12 carries for 146 yards while junior Ben Hernandez had 12 carries for 120 yards to spearhead the ground attack.
Senior Logan Hamilton had two catches for 30 yards.
Party’s over
El Cajon Valley finished its season 5-7 following last Friday’s 38-16 loss at second-seeded Sweetwater in the Division V semifinals.
The win was the third consecutive for the host Red Devils (6-6), who out-gained the Braves 519-205 in total offensive yards (454-86 in rushing yards).
Senior Darick Dubose passed for 119 yards and a 15-yard touchdown to senior Shane Hopson while senior Massih Essan rushed for 77 yards with one touchdown. Hopson and senior Chris Cosio each scored two-point conversions.
Sweetwater, 2023 Metro-South Bay League runners-up, will face top-seeded Vincent Memorial Catholic (9-3) in the championship game scheduled Friday, Nov. 17, at 7:30 p.m. at Escondido High School.
The Scots, 2023 Desert League runners-up, have won three games in a row, including last Friday’s 47-21 quarterfinal win over fourth-seeded Hoover (7-5).
Three Grossmont Conference teams qualified for this year’s Division III playoffs.
Third-seeded West Hills (6-5) ended its season with a 36-8 loss to sixth-seeded La Jolla Country Day (9-3) while ninth-seeded El Capitan (7-5) lost 14-0 at top-seeded Mission Bay (8-3).
West Hills, the fourth-place team in the Grossmont Hills League standings, was done in by a seemingly one-man wrecking crew by Torreys senior signal caller Jaden Mangini, who passed for three touchdowns, rushed for two scores and grabbed an interception on defense.
Sophomore Quentin Cesaire caught two touchdown passes while senior Madden Craig hauled in a 45-yard pass.
Gianni Kassab and Craig also had picks for the LJCD, which advances to play at second-seeded Fallbrook in the semifinals.
El Capitan, the runner-up team in the Grossmont Valley League standings, kept the score within reach but couldn’t put up any points in bowing out of postseason play.
The Vaqueros were denied twice in the end zone on interceptions by Mission Bay senior Jacob Morgan. Bucs senior Gavin Marzion also intercepted a pass and had a fumble recovery to further stymie the East County visitors, who were shut out for the first time this season.
The Mission Bay defense also stopped El Capitan on a fourth down rushing play in a gritty defensive battle.
Eight is enough
Senior Charlie Hutchison had a first-quarter touchdown completion senior David Dunn for 55 yards for Mission Bay, which led 7-0 until tacking on a fourth quarter score on a goal-line sneak by Hutchison to seal the playoff win.
