Crusaders claim Metro-Mesa League football title

It’s official: the Mater Dei Catholic Crusaders are the 2026 Metro-Mesa League champions.

The Crusaders repeated as league champions following last Friday’s 34-23 win at Otay Ranch High School. The win pushed Mater Dei Catholic’s record to 4-0 in league, 4-6 overall while the host Mustangs dropped to 1-2 in league, 4-5 overall.The Crusaders end regular season play with a bye while Otay Ranch ends regular season play Friday against visiting Montgomery (0-3 in league, 2-7 overall).

Despite falling short for the league title, the Mustangs have much to play for against the Aztecs, namely a berth in the upcoming San Diego Section playoffs.

Otay Ranch enters the regular season finale ranked 41st among section teams, which would translate to a very high seed in the Division IV playoff field.

Mater Dei Catholic currently holds down the No. 17 section rankings, fifth best among Division II teams.

Sophomore quarterback Jacob Anderson and junior running back Quasim Williams each totaled more than 200 yards in offense as the Crusaders exploded on the gridiron for 528 yards in total offense — 347 rushing and 231 passing.

Anderson competed 17 of 27 attempts while rushing five times for 24 yards. Williams rushed 23 times for 209 yards.

Anderson led the duo with 255 total yards while Williams had one catch for 11 yards to finish the game with 220 total yards.

Other offensive leaders included senior Diego Mendoza (94 receiving yards), sophomore Jayden Blondin (63 rushing yards), junior Khalonie Jordan (61 receiving yards), senior Bryce Howard-Collins (45 rushing yards) and junior Kamari Alfred (41 receiving yards).

Senior Warren Florence scored on a 22-yard interception return.

Defensively, the visitors logged three sacks — one each by senior Reynan Siababa, junior Roberto Perez and sophomore Adrian Wilson. The Crusaders also recorded six tackles for losses, including 1.5 by sophomore Joey Rodriguez Jr.

This marks the sixth consecutive league championship for the Crusaders.

“Winning six in a row says a lot about the consistency of this program and the players and coaches who have helped build that tradition over the years,” Mater Dei Catholic head coach Rashard Cook said.

“Otay Ranch deserves a lot of credit. They came ready to play, competed hard and challenged us throughout the game. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy. The biggest key for us was finding a way to overcome adversity and make plays when we needed them. It wasn’t our cleanest game, and we certainly have things to correct, but I’m proud of how our guys battled and found a way to win. That’s part of learning how to become a championship team.”

As a league champion, Mater Dei Catholic is an automatic entry into the playoffs.

“As far as CIF, our first goal was to win the league, and we’ve accomplished that.,” Cook said. “Now the focus shifts to our next goal, winning a CIF championship. We played a very challenging non-league schedule for a reason: to prepare us for this time of year. We’ve grown a lot since the beginning of the season, and I believe our best football is still ahead of us.

“We’ll use this bye week to get healthy, clean up some mistakes, and prepare for whoever we face in the playoffs. Once playoffs start everybody is 0-0, and nothing we’ve accomplished guarantees us anything moving forward. We have to earn it.

Horse power
Sophomore quarterback Caleb Delaughter compelted 15 of 30 attempts for 180 yards with two touchdowns and one interception for Otay Ranch while sophomore Jeremiah Jordan (seven carries, 15 yards) scored one rushing touchdown.

The Crusaders limited the Mustangs to 36 rushing yards. Senior Jaidon Castillo had 13 yards on four carries.

Senior Carlos Lopez turned in the bulk of the Otay Ranch offense with 126 receiving yards on 10 catches and two touchdowns.
Senior Luke Childers keyed the Mustangs defensively with 14 tackles while junior Rashad Conley had 11 stops (three for losses).

Olympian 41, Montgomery 0
Junior Isaiah Mena passed for 200 yards and four touchdowns and rushed for two more scores to lead the visiting Eagles. Mena accounted for 226 yards in total offense, adding on 26 rushing yards on three carries.

Seniors Walter Ignacio (two catches, 73 yards), Noah Elingson (four catches, 66 yards), Giovanni Ware (two catches, 35 yards) and Jordan Sandoval (two catches, 20 yards) each caught touchdown passes.

Ignacio had 143 yards in all-purpose yards — 70 rushing and 73 receiving. Senior Josiah Rivera had 13 tackles on defense.

Extra points
The top four teams in Division I through Division IV receive a first-round bye. All 16 teams in the Division V bracket have first-round games.
The top four teams from Division I will comprise the elite Open Division while the next eight teams will comprise the reduced Division I field.

Nine South County teams are currently listed among the top 64 playoff qualifiers. Metro-Mesa League champion Mater Dei Catholic continues to lead the local contingent at No. 17 in the section rankings (fifth among Division II teams), followed by No. 31 Eastlake (seventh among Division III teams), No. 41 Otay Ranch (fifth among Division IV teams), No. 51 Bonita Vista (third among Division V teams), No. No. 55 Chula Vista (seventh among Division V teams), No. 59 Southwest (11th among Division V teams), No. 60 Hilltop (12th among Division V teams), No. 61 Mar Vista (13th among Division V teams) and No. 63 Olympian (15th among Division V teams).

Also taking playoff hopes to the wire are No. 75 Sweetwater, No. 77 Montgomery, No. 81 San Ysidro, No. 84 Castle Park and No. 86 Victory Christian Academy.

Upsets can trigger a slide up or down the section rankings even at this late date.

Battle for the Bell to determine Metro-Pacific championship

This Friday’s Battle for the Bell rivalry football game between the Mar Vista Mariners and Southwest Raiders will not only be for neighborhood bragging rights but also for this year’s Metro-Pacific League championship. Kick-off is 6:30 p.m. at San Ysidro High School.
Both teams enter the game with 2-0 league records, 6-3 overall.

Southwest is the higher-ranked team in the San Diego Section’s Division V playoff pool but a Mar Vista win could flip them.
There’s a lot at stake for both teams.

The Raiders retained the rights to the Battle for the 905 Golden Shovel with a commanding 55-0 homecoming win over San Yisdro (0-2 in league, 2-7 overall) last Friday while the Mariners ran past visiting Castle Park (0-2 in league, 3-6 overall) by a score of 41-6.

Southwest built an early 14-0 lead on San Ysidro and tackled on 28 second quarter points for a 42-0 halftime lead.

Junior Isaac Munoz passed for 145 yards with four touchdowns and one interception while senior Samuel Gonzales rushed for 167 yards and two touchdowns.

Seniors Leonel Rivera (six catches, 80 yards) and Leo Holguin (six catches, 38 yards) each caught two scoring passes.

Gonzales also had three catches for 24 yards.

The Raiders accumulated 312 total offensive yards. Gonzales racked up 191 total yards on his own.

Southwest scored eight touchdowns in the game to highlight homecoming. Senior Elijah Lewis scored on a 60-yard interception return while sophomore Sebastian Torres scored on a 22-yard fumble return.

Junior Tito Yves keyed Southwest with eight tackles, including three for losses. Southwest recorded three sacks: one each by seniors Dylan Garcia and Sergio Ibarra and sophomore Issa Sanchez.

Junior Cecil Thomas (14 carries, 176 yards) led Mar Vista over Castle Park with three rushing touchdowns while sophomore Jehiel Crawford (eight carries, 92 yards) scored twice on the ground and added a two-point conversion. Junior Aaron Shelby (three catches, 28 yards) had one receiving touchdown from sophomore Isaac Miller (five-for-five, 34 yards).

Junior Cade Corchado tacked on three kicking points.

The Mariners scored six touchdowns in the win while recording one sack and three picks on defense.
The Bell game rivalry game dates to 1980 and has been heavily dominated by Mar Vista, including one stretch of 19 consecutive years.

This is the 45th edition of the rivalry game.

Southwest last won the trophy in 2022.

The Mariners won last year’s game 40-39. The Raiders enter Friday’s matchup riding a five-game winning streak.

San Ysidro and Castle Park will meet in Friday’s regular season finale. The winner may have the best chance of sneaking into the playoffs.

Metro Conference Football Standings

Tackle Football
Metro-Mesa League
League/Overall
Mater Dei Catholic 4-0 4-6
Eastlake 2-1 8-1
Otay Ranch 1-2 4-5
Olympian 1-2 3-6
Montgomery 0-3 2-7

Metro-South Bay League
League/Overall
Bonita Vista 2-0 5-4
Hilltop 1-1 5-4
Chula Vista 1-1 3-6
Sweetwater 0-2 1-8

Metro-Pacific League
League/Overall
Mar Vista 2-0 6-3
Southwest 2-0 6-3
San Ysidro 0-2 2-7
Castle Park 0-2 3-6

Flag Football
Metro-Mesa League
League/Overall
Bonita Vista 5-1 20-5
Mater Dei Catholic 5-1 15-5
San Ysidro 1-5 10-11
Otay Ranch 1-5 5-11

Metro-South Bay League
League/Overall
Hilltop 5-1 15-2
Eastlake 5-1 10-8
Olympian 2-4 5-14
Castle Park 0-6 2-17

Metro-Pacific League
League/Overall
Montgomery 7-1 11-7
Sweetwater 5-3 10-5
Southwest 5-3 12-7
Chula Vista 3-5 4-11
Mar Vists 0-8 1-19