Titans use big second half to stymie Barons in 21-0 shutout for boot trophy

The 2025 high school football season has kicked off with six South County squads claiming season-opening wins.

There were a couple cliff-hangers: Castle Park over Victory Christian Academy 20-14 and Mar Vista over El Cajon Valley 27-17.

But comfortable wins otherwise seemed the norm out of the chute.

Battle for the Boot
In rivalry games, especially intense rivalry games, anything can pretty much happen. It might not have been much of a surprise then that the visiting Eastlake Titans held a tenuous 7-0 halftime lead over the Bonita Vista Barons in last Friday’s annual Battle for the Boot contest.

The first half’s lone touchdown came with less than a minute left as junior Santi Aleta fell into the corner of the endzone, his legs on the field of play but the ball over the goal line.

Prior to that. Bonita Vista had denied the visitors with an interception at the 10-yard line.
The second half proved to be the defining difference as Eastlake outscored the hosts 14-0 in collecting the gritty non-league victory.

“It was a complete team win,” EHS head coach Jose Mendoza said. “The biggest thing was to overcome first game jitters and keep our focus. We finished it and executed. You got to line up right and get after it.”

Junior J.P. Navarrete rushed 14 times for 117 yards and scored two touchdowns to lead the Titans, who extended their record in the series to 19-14-1 with their ninth consecutive win.
Overall, Eastlake piled up 214 rushing yards while adding 58 passing yards.

Aleta caught an 18-yard scoring pass with 57.9 seconds left in the first half to open scoring.

Senior Tyler Balko completed six of 12 passing attempts for 50 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

Balko has appeared in four rivalry games in his career with a 4-0 record.

“I think it’s fun, a lot of competition,” he said of the teams’ rivalry. “I grew up with two guys on their team. Competition is everything. The key to this game is that we played much better in the second half. I think it was a big game.”

Navarrete scored on an 11-yard run with 9:17 to play in the third quarter to double the Titan lead to 14-0 and tacked on a 19-yard scoring run with 2:01 left in the quarter.
“We’re going to get better from here,” he said. “I think it’s going to be a great season.”

The first and fourth quarters were scoreless.

Junior David Branco paced Eastlake with 11 tackles while junior Jovani Ceja logged one sack. Senior Anthony Zaravia had one fumble recovery.

Bonita Vista coach Jay Hernandez was proud of his team’s effort.

“Great first half of football, unfortunately we gave up a touchdown on a broken coverage before the half,”: the BV coach said. “The players are getting better every day. We are young but the players are hungry and ready to earn their respect.”

Senior Greyson Smith competed five of 11 passing attempts for 39 yards. Junior Max Shy had two catches for 12 yards while junior Charles Finch had one catch for 14 yards.

Senior Alex Yepis had a total of 14 total tackles, including six unassisted stops, and one interception. Senior AJ Cortes had nine total tackles, including eight solo. Junior Cole Margets had two pass deflections.

The Barons host the Chula Vista Spartans (0-1) this Friday at 6:30 p.m. in a Week 2 non-league pairing. Chula Vista is coming off a 30-21 non-league loss to La Jolla Country Day last week.

“Tough schedule ahead starting with Chula Vista, which is a well-coached team,” Hernandez said.

Eastlake hosts the Beckman Patriots in an out-of-section contest on Friday. Beckman opened its season with a 38-3 setback at Aliso Niguel.

San Diego Section Football Rankings

1. Lincoln, 2. Cathedral Catholic, 3. La Costa Canyon, 4. Carlsbad, 5. Granite Hills, 6. Mission Hills, 7. El Camino, 8. Mater Dei Catholic, 9. Helix, 10. Torrey Pines, 11. Poway, 12, San Marcos, 13. Rancho Bernardo, 14. Point Loma, 15. Madison, 16. St. Augustine, 17. Mt. Miguel, 18, University City, 19. Oceanside, 20. Del Norte, 21. Central Union, 22. Bishop’s, 23. Santa Fe Christian, 24. La Jolla, 25. Christian.

Others: 31. Eastlake, 43. Otay Ranch, 44. Chula Vista, 51. Montgomery, 53. Sweetwater, 54. Bonita Vista, 57. Olympian, 70. Hilltop, 71. Mar Vista

Metro Conference 2025 Football Log

Non-League
Thursday, Aug. 21
Sweetwater 31, Morse 0

Friday, Aug. 22
Eastlake 21, Bonita Vista 0
Otay Ranch 37, Rancho Buena Vista 6
Olympian 36, Clairemont 7
Castle Park 20, Victory Christian Academy 14
Mar Vista 27, El Cajon Valley 17
Cathedral Catholic 52, Mater Dei Catholic 7
La Jolla Country Day 30, Chula Vista 21
Coronado 16, Hilltop 7
San Diego 22, Montgomery 0
Calexico 42, San Ysidro 20
Hoover 40, Southwest 19

Thursday, Aug. 28
Hiltop at El Cajon Valley, 7:30 p.m.

Friday, Aug. 29
Chula Vista at Bonita Vista, 6:30 p.m.
Vista at Olympian, 6:30 p.m.
Mar Vista vs. Victory Christian Academy at Sweetwater, 6:30 p.m.
Sweetwater at Rancho Buena Vista, 6:30 p.m.
Southwest vs. Bettye Davis East Anchorage at Hilltop, 6:30 p.m.
Beckman at Eastlake, 7 p.m.
Point Loma at Otay Ranch, 7 p.m.
Mater Dei Catholic at Granite Hills, 7 p.m.
Montgomery at El Capitan, 7 p.m.
San Ysidro at Clairemont, 7 p.m.
Castle Park at Army-Navy, 7 p.m.