The San Diego Section high school football playoffs are nearly two months away but some genuine intrigue is already starting to develop.
The Santana Sultans will host the Olympian Eagles Friday at 7 p.m. Both teams sport impressive 3-0 starts to the new season.
Olympian posted a once-in-a-decade 44-17 win at Eastlake High School last week while Santana kept its motor running with a 28-7 non-league win at Hilltop High School.
It’s a good early-season test for both combatants as league play is just around the corner as the schedule nears midseason.
Santana kicks off Grossmont Valley League play Oct. 3 against El Cajon Valley; Olympian kicks off Metro-South Bay League action Oct. 17.
There’s still a few more games for tune-ups.
As far as the San Diego Section rankings go, Olympian entered the week ranked at No. 44 while Santana was No. 49. If the playoffs started today, both teams would be near the top of the Division IV tier.
The Sultans finished 2-3 in Grossmont Valley League play last season en route to an overall 7-5 mark and trip to the second round of the Division V section playoffs, falling 14-0 to the host Bonita Vista Barons, the No. 2 seed, after eliminating the 10th-seeded Kearny Komets by a 33-18 score in the opening round.
Santana entered the playoffs as the No. 7 seed and finished among the top eight teams in the division.
It’s said that defense wins championships, it certainly wins games.
The Sultans’ 3-0 record is testament to that to start the season.
“Our defense has played outstanding in those three games,” SHS head coach Tim Estes said. “We’ve given up 14 points total in those three games. That shows you how strong our defense is.”
Offensively, the Sultans have been no slouch, either.
“We had nine guys catch passes in our first game, five in our second game and six guys catch passes against Hilltop,” Estes said. “We have four or five guys who can run the ball.”
It’s been a multi-pronged effort.
“It’s been a team effort,” Estes said.
In the latest win, junior quarterback Ethan Miler completed 16 of 23 passing attempts for 235 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions, finishing the non-league game with a solid 142.2 quarterback efficiency rating.
Junior Kolten Thornton had five catches for 89 yards and one touchdown while junior Denton Goar had four catches for 38 yards and one touchdown. Senior Caleb Carnes had two catches for 36 yards and one touchdown.
Junior Ethan Smith had one catch for 30 yards to advance the sticks. Additionally, junior Josh Pehl had five catches for 37 yards.
Sophomore Julian Mayers led the Sultans on the ground with 43 rushing yards on 11 carries.
Goar tacked on 91 yards in kick returns to finish the contest with 129 all-purpose yards.
The Sultans out-gained the Lancers (1-2) 250-198 in total yards.
Senior Jordyn Gillissie keyed the visitors with nine tackles while sophomore Tatum Morehouse added eight defensive stops.
Santana recorded four sacks and two fumble recoveries.
Morehouse, Carnes and junior Evan Liesche were each credited with one sack while seniors Cohen Waider and Grayson Wolf shared one sack.
Junior Anthony Terry and Mayers each made fumble recoveries.
Morehouse punted four times for a 41.0-yard average with a long of 54 yards. He dropped two punts inside the Hilltop 20-yard line.
Senior Liam McGhen tacked on four extra-point conversions.
For the Lancers, senior Alejandro Carranza completed five of eight passing attempts for 99 yards with a 143.5 QB rating. Senior Julian Moran had three catches for 111 yards and one touchdown while senior Leo Mendoza rushed 13 times for 62 yards. Both players broke off one long gainer.
Moran keyed the hosts with 128 all-purpose yards. Senior Micah Hopkins tallied one sack. Senior Manuel Pablos averaged 46.0 yards on two kickoffs and 32.5 yards on four punts while recording one PAT conversion.
Miller has passed for 589 yards with seven touchdowns versus two picks while Mayers has rushed for 147 yards with one TD.
Thornton has 16 catches for 144 yards and two touchdowns while Goar has chalked up a team-leading 245 all-purpose yards, including 119 yards on kick returns.
Both Goar and Thonrton each have one interception on defense. Gillissie tops the team with 20 tackles and 5.5 sacks.
Soaring Eagles
Olympian finished 1-2 in Metro-South Bay League play, 3-7 overall, and did not qualify for last year’s section playoffs.
It’s thus been a whirlwind start to the season for the Eagles under new head coach Lew Barnes, a three-year NFL veteran with the Chicago Bears, Atlanta Falcons and Kansas City Chiefs. He was selected by the Bears in the fifth round of the 1986 NFL Draft, the 138th player overall.
A Lincoln Prep graduate, Barnes was among the first wave of San Diego County players to crash the program at the University of Oregon. He played in 31 career NFL games returning 102 kicks for 1,066 yards (10.4 average).
He appeared in 32 games with the Ducks (1983-85) with 18 receiving touchdowns and one rushing touchdown to his credit.
Under his tutelage, Olympian has already matched its win total of last season. In fact, the last time the Eagles defeated Eastlake was in 2016.
The once-in-a-decade victory was obviously one to savor for the entire program.
The visiting Eagles steadily built a lead on the host Titans, soaring ahead 20-3 at halftime.
Olympian amassed an armada of touchdowns: three receiving, two rushing and one on an interception return.
Senior quarterback Jared Fuentes passed for 365 yards with touchdown passes to senior Patricio Flatts (three catches, 93 yards), junior Gio Ware (two catches, 164 yards) and senior Mikey Talavera (two catches, eight yards). Fuentes, who also rushed three times for 11 yards, finished the game with a 130 QB efficiency rating.
Juniors Walter Ignacio (14 carries, 26 yards) and Jeremiah Delgado Faucher (one carry, two yards) scored rushing touchdowns.
Fuentes topped the team with 376 total offensive yards.
Senior Jorgani Estrada returned an intercepted pass 35 yards for a touchdown while senior Eisuke Simmons collected eight kicking points in the game — five on PAT conversions and a field goal.
Olympian out-gained Eastlake 412-212 in total yards.
Junior David Branco (nine carries, 60 yards) scored both touchdowns for the Titans, who hit the road this Friday for Santa Maria to take on St. Joseph (2-1). The Knights are coming off an 31-6 victory against Hanford (1-2).
Fuentes has passed for 818 yards with eight touchdowns against just one interception while Flatts, Estrada and Talavera each have caught two scoring passes.
Ignacio and junior Jonah Zamora each have three rushing touchdowns.
The Eagles bombed Vista 49-0 two weeks ago.
