Jaguars slip past Olympians, 44-42, in triple overtime for epic win

The best community college football game of the season so far occurred last Saturday at DeVore Stadium as San Diego Mesa, ranked fourth in the state and seventh in the nation, took on the host Southwestern Jaguars, who entered the game ranked eighth in the state and 14th in the nation.

It was a matchup of unbeaten 4-0 teams —  a classic showown. 

A  rankings flip was in order after the Jaguars recorded an epic 44-42 win in the triple overtime tiebreaker.

Southwestern (5-0) improved to No. 3 in the state rankings while Mesa (4-1) dropped to No. 6.

As the score would indicate, not much separated them, especially as the game developed and the teams’ offense and defense got into their respective rhythms.

But the outcome was not unexpected as the teams dueled in a triple overtime thriller last year  on the Olympians’ home turf that resulted in a 40-38 SWC victory.

“This was a big game for us,” said Southwestern defensive back Valentino Wedderburn II, who had two interceptions in the game, including a 45-yard pick six. “It’s a rivalry game. We don’t like the guys across the road; they don’t like us. You just see big plays happen.

“This means a lot. Rankings-wise, I don’t think we get respected a lot. They said we were taking a step up this week. They are a lot better that the other teams we played. It feels great to prove people wrong.”

“It was very up and down,” added receiver Bobby Cameron, who scored the game-winning points on a two-point conversion. “Our coaches told us to strick to the storm. We have a saying here — put your rain boots on, run back into the storm. That’s what we did. We kept with each other the whole game.”

Mesa’s roster was diverse.Monte Vista alum Alexander Villanueva, who set a new San Diego Section single-season rushing record of 3,227 yards in 2024, led Mesa with 22 carries for 81 yards. Helix alum Isaiah Jackson carried the ball eight times for 33 yards.

Colin McCann (Poway) had six catches for 63 yards while Jaylon Brown (Point Loma) had one catch for 28 yards.

Villanueva had two catches for 12 yards while Jackson had one catch for six yards.

Quarterback Diesel Taylor (Del Norte) and receiver Braxton Sherley (Bakersfield) did most of the damage on the scoreboard for the Olympians. Taylor passed for 333 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions and scored on three rushing plays via his 6-foot-6, 230-pound frame while Sherley had four catches for 91 yards with three TDs.

Kicker Robert Petrich (Granite Hills) was active with six extra-point conversions.

Brady Eads (Christian) ranks among the leaders on the SWC defense. He registered a team-best 14 tackles, including 11 solo  stops, one sack and two tackles for losses in the win over the Olympians. 

The game was tied six times, including five times in regulation.

Mesa scored first for a 7-0 lead on a 59-yard pass from Taylor to Sherley on the Olympians’ opening play of the game.

 The Jags tied the score, 7-7, on a 55-yard pick six by Wedderburn  (Las Vegas) and later tied the score, 14-14, on a 30-yard pass from Dominic Duran (Ventura) to Malachi Bean-Seay (Elk Grove). 

The teams entered halftime tied at 21 after Taylor completed a 20-yard scoring pass to Sherley and Duran completed a one-yard scoring pass to Cameron (Fairport, N.Y.).

Mesa went up 28-21 on a Taylor nine-yard run and SWC tied it again on a 13-yar run by Elias Johnson (Scottsdale). The Jags scored a second consecutive TD on a two-yard run by Jamar Johnson (Canton, Ohio) to go up 35-28 but Mesa drew even at 35-all on a 10-yard run by Taylor.

The overtime started with a bang on a 25-yard pass from Duran to Bean-Seay for a 42-35 SWC lead. But Taylor pulled down a high snap to find Sherley in the end zone from two yards out to match that on a last-ditch play to keep the game going.

Mesa’s Lorenzo Flores (Rancho Bernardo) missed a 49-yard field goal attempt in the second overtime series to set up Southwestern for a potential game-winning field goal of its own. But the Jags fumbled the ball trying to advance it into better field position.

Southwestern kicker Daniel Meadows had missed two field goal attempts in the dying moments of regulation to potentially settle the matter there but did not get a chance to redeem himself in overtime.

The third overtime series consisted of two-point conversions. The hosts went first and Cameron pulled in a hotly contested pass at the goal line for a 44-42 lead. Mesa’s attempt in the end zone was batted away by Max Gonzales (San Clemente)  for the win.

“We’ve got to keep this team rolling,” Duran said. “These two-point plays, you got to do what you got to do, get into the end zone. The coaches drew up great plays.”

“I got inside the person who was guarding me,” Cameron explained. “I made eye contact with my quarterback who was throwing darts all day. He put it right in the sweet spot. The rest is history.’

The teams combined for 915 total yards in offense — 473 by Mesa and 442 by Southwestern.

Duran passed for 229 yards and three touchdowns to pace the Jaguars while Caleb Blocker (Katy, Texas) rushed 22 times for 114 yards.

Jamar Johnson (seven carries, 53 yards) and Elias Johnson (10 carries, 38 yards) each scored one rushing touchdown while Bean-Seay caught five passes for  96 yards and two touchdowns.

Titus White (Dallas, Tex.) had three catches for 48 yards while Ahmed Perry II (Suwanee, Ga.) had four catches for 41 yards. Cameron had two catches for five yards and one TD.

Aaron Lee (Point Loma) punted six times for a 38.7 average with a long of 47 yards.

Kiram Dallas (Bellaire, Texas) returned one kickoff 26 yards while Joseph Stephens (Belleville, Mich.) returned one kickoff 22 yards and Haneef Bilal (Gary, Ind.) returned one kickoff 21 yards.

“We came in locked in Monday in practice, we set the tone early in the week and it translated to the game,” said SWC defensive lineman Carson Curtis (St. George, Utah), who helped spear-head the defense with five tackles, four for a loss, and one sack. “I didn’t think at any point in the game that we would lose. We have some key players (who made key plays). They’re our rival. It felt ecstatic through the whole game.”

Southwestern improved to 2-0 in National-Southern California divisional play while Mesa fell to 1-1.

The Jags have a bye this weekend before hosting Palomar (0-2, 2-3) in a Thursday night special on Oct. 8. Mesa also plays Oct. 8 at El Camino (1-1, 3-2).

Riverside (5-0) and San Mateo (4-1) rank first and second in the state, respectively.

Eastern exposure
The Grossmont College football team is off to a 4-2 start this season, including 2-0 in American-Pacific play.
The Griffins have won one game by one point (22-21 over L.A. Valley) and lost one game by one point (28-27 to Antelope Valley).
The Griffins are likley not the best team among San Diego County’s four community college programs, nor are they likely the worst, at least based on state and national rankings. They’re likely somewhere in the middle.

And that’s not bad.

Grossmont hosts conference leader Santa Monica (3-0, 6-0) this Saturday at 3 p.m. That will provide a better understanding of where the Griffins fit in.

Grossmont carries a two-game winning streak into Saturday’s first place game after defeating host Victor Valey, 34-16, last Saturday while building on the previous win over L.A. Valley.

The Griffins raced to a 20-3 lead over Victor Valley on a 21-yard field goal by Jasper Brandenburg, a 32-yard Lucas Mora field goal, three-yard rushing touchdown by Melvin Spicer IV and a 71-yard pass completion from Spicer to Trenice Woods (Lincoln).

Grossmont tacked on two fourth quarter touchdowns after the hosts had halved the deficit to 20-10 at halftime.

Grossmont out-gained Victor Valley 401-214 in total yards, including 227 rushing yards.

Spicer (Bishop Gorman) passed for 174 yards with one touchdown while rushing nine times for 56 yards and one score.

Ethan Ford (Cathedral Catholic) led the visitors on the ground with 96 yards on 19 carries.

Myles Norman (Bishop Gorman) scored on a 21-yard run to up the Grossmont lead to 27-10 and Nassir Hicks (Sweetwater) recovered a loose ball in the end one for the game’s final touchdown after it had become dislodged from backup quarterback Michael Kearns III at the six-yard line.

The Griffs logged two interceptions on defense — one each by Quincy Shepard Jr. (Bonanza) and Damari Jones (Canyon Hills).

In the preceding game against L.A. Valley, Ladarrione Perkins (Chula Vista) scored on a 13-yard run, Isaac Turner (Lincoln) scored on a 100-yard interception return and Philipa Trakas (Helix) booted three field goals to highight the Grossmont scoring.

Trakas, who had never attempted a college field goal, hit from 25, 30 and the game-winner from 43 yards out.

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