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Game of the Week: Chula Vista at Eastlake

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPBUJR9Cv_s

Titans shake off slow start to win Mesa League crown

For the second year in a row, Eastlake and Chula Vista met in the final week of the regular season with a league title at stake. Friday night at Eastlake, the story was pretty much the same, with the Titans winning 28-14 to capture their fourth Mesa League crown in a row.

“It’s real big,” said Eastlake running back Tony Jefferson. “But it’s a stepping stone to the next championship that we’re trying to get to.”

The Titans (8-0-2, 5-0 Mesa) rode a dominant defensive performance that allowed them to erase a 14-0 halftime deficit. Eastlake kept a Spartans offense that came in averaging 41 points per game out of the endzone.

“We shut them out and shut them down, too. And they’re a very good offense that’s playing really well right now,” said Eastlake head coach John McFadden. “I’m very proud of our defense.”

For Chula Vista (6-4, 4-1), their defense provided both touchdowns – and both came in the first quarter. On Eastlake’s first two drives, Spartans defensive backs Tyrone Richardson (103 yards) and Aaron Taylor (89 yards) returned interceptions to the house. The pair of pick sixes came two minutes apart and gave Chula Vista an early 14-0 lead.

“It was a little weird when you have throw two interceptions returned for touchdowns,” McFadden said. “I told our quarterback a couple of things I can’t repeat and then I told him it’s going to get better.”

Neither offense could get anything going in the second quarter and the Spartans carried their 14-point lead into halftime. In the Eastlake locker room Jefferson said Titans players took it upon themselves to get fired up for the final 24 minutes.

“It was basically just getting our offensive line pumped up. We were hitting the right spots and everything, we just weren’t executing,” Jefferson said. “We basically had a pump up speech by the players.”

Whatever the Titans did worked. After Chula Vista punted to start the second half, Eastlake marched down the field and made it a one-possession game less than four minutes into the third quarter when Jefferson scored from 19 yards out. Following a Spartans interception on the next drive, Eastlake drove 93 yards to tie the game at 14 – another drive capped by a Jefferson scoring run.

“Tony just took over the game,” McFadden said.

Eastlake took the lead early in the fourth – on a four-yard touchdown pass from D’Angelo Barksdale to Fernando Cabico – and never looked back. Jefferson added a game-icing touchdown with less than two minutes to play.

“We came out kind of lazy at first. But third and fourth quarter – that’s our time,” Jefferson said. “We came out there and executed and a championship is where we are.”

With the win, Eastlake finishes the regular season unbeaten. As one of only two undefeated teams in Division I, the Titans figure to get one of the four byes when the seeds are announced tomorrow.

“We have a lot of work to do and we have to fix a lot of things,” Jefferson said. “We can’t tell what the future holds, but I can see us in the stadium.”

Eastlake running back Tony Jefferson celebrates a third quarter touchdown with receiver Chris Kane

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Stunning sycamores, Mars rising

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPBUJR9Cv_s

Titans shake off slow start to win Mesa League crown

For the second year in a row, Eastlake and Chula Vista met in the final week of the regular season with a league title at stake. Friday night at Eastlake, the story was pretty much the same, with the Titans winning 28-14 to capture their fourth Mesa League crown in a row.

“It’s real big,” said Eastlake running back Tony Jefferson. “But it’s a stepping stone to the next championship that we’re trying to get to.”

The Titans (8-0-2, 5-0 Mesa) rode a dominant defensive performance that allowed them to erase a 14-0 halftime deficit. Eastlake kept a Spartans offense that came in averaging 41 points per game out of the endzone.

“We shut them out and shut them down, too. And they’re a very good offense that’s playing really well right now,” said Eastlake head coach John McFadden. “I’m very proud of our defense.”

For Chula Vista (6-4, 4-1), their defense provided both touchdowns – and both came in the first quarter. On Eastlake’s first two drives, Spartans defensive backs Tyrone Richardson (103 yards) and Aaron Taylor (89 yards) returned interceptions to the house. The pair of pick sixes came two minutes apart and gave Chula Vista an early 14-0 lead.

“It was a little weird when you have throw two interceptions returned for touchdowns,” McFadden said. “I told our quarterback a couple of things I can’t repeat and then I told him it’s going to get better.”

Neither offense could get anything going in the second quarter and the Spartans carried their 14-point lead into halftime. In the Eastlake locker room Jefferson said Titans players took it upon themselves to get fired up for the final 24 minutes.

“It was basically just getting our offensive line pumped up. We were hitting the right spots and everything, we just weren’t executing,” Jefferson said. “We basically had a pump up speech by the players.”

Whatever the Titans did worked. After Chula Vista punted to start the second half, Eastlake marched down the field and made it a one-possession game less than four minutes into the third quarter when Jefferson scored from 19 yards out. Following a Spartans interception on the next drive, Eastlake drove 93 yards to tie the game at 14 – another drive capped by a Jefferson scoring run.

“Tony just took over the game,” McFadden said.

Eastlake took the lead early in the fourth – on a four-yard touchdown pass from D’Angelo Barksdale to Fernando Cabico – and never looked back. Jefferson added a game-icing touchdown with less than two minutes to play.

“We came out kind of lazy at first. But third and fourth quarter – that’s our time,” Jefferson said. “We came out there and executed and a championship is where we are.”

With the win, Eastlake finishes the regular season unbeaten. As one of only two undefeated teams in Division I, the Titans figure to get one of the four byes when the seeds are announced tomorrow.

“We have a lot of work to do and we have to fix a lot of things,” Jefferson said. “We can’t tell what the future holds, but I can see us in the stadium.”

Eastlake running back Tony Jefferson celebrates a third quarter touchdown with receiver Chris Kane

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