CHULA VISTACHULA VISTA — Chula Vista High’s Paul Alvarez never had a harder game to play. He never played a harder game either.
Two weeks ago the senior running back tragically lost his mother Vanessa to an unexpected medical emergency. Friday night he was back with his second family, the Spartans, leading them to a 48-26 non-league season-opening victory against visiting La Jolla Country Day.
“Honestly it was really hard not having my No. 1 er here with me tonight,” said Alvarez, whose gutty performance included being the game’s leading rusher and scoring three touchdowns. “I think, no I know, she would be very proud of me tonight.”
Despite all that is going on in his life, Alvarez needed his teammates, and they needed him. He rushed for a game-high 118 yards on 25 carries, scoring on TD runs of 7, 1 and 25 yards.
La Jolla Country Day grabbed the early lead when quarterback Jack Levin hit a wide-open Jordan Hochberg for a 13-yard TD to cap their 50-yard, nine-play opening drive for a 6-0 lead with 8:51 left in the first quarter.
With Alvarez pounding the ball on the ground, the Spartans answered right back. Quarterback Izaac Baca combined with Elijah Gillespie for a 42-yard scoring strike.
The Spartans would go on to open up a 28-6 halftime lead, scoring on each of their first five possessions. Alvarez scored his first two TDs of the night in the opening half, while Baca and Gillespie combined for their second TD of the game on a 30-yarder in the second quarter.
Carlos Echeverria also added a 21-yard field goal for Chula Vista.
The Chula Vista defense kicked in with some big plays as well, especially their young linebacker corps. Junior La’Darrione Perkins picked off a pair of interceptions to set up scores, while fellow junior linebacker Joshua Gogue-Rios picked off another and returned it 35 yards for a score in the second half.
“(The interceptions) really got our energy up,” said Perkins. “But tonight we did it all for his mom. We love Paul to death and would do anything for him. That’s my running back; that’s my second family.”
The Spartans increased their lead to 35-6 when Ahman Mitchell returned the second-half kickoff 82 yards for the score.
The Torreys were able to chip into the Chula Vista lead in the marathon second half cutting it to 35-20 after third quarter scores on a 5-yard run by Davin Doak and a 29-yard Levin-to-Quentin Cesaire TD strike with 4:19 left in the third quarter.
Alvarez’s third TD from 25 yards out and Gogue-Rios’ interception return shut down the rally.
“My team and my coaches have meant so much to me in how they’ve ed me,” said Alvarez. “The first week I hardly practiced at all but this week, game week, I didn’t miss anything. Even when I had personal things to do, I had to be here; we all have a duty.”
Chula Vista 48, La Jolla Country Day 26
LJCD 6 0 14 6 — 26
Chula Vista 12 16 6 13 — 48
LJCD — Hochberg 12 from Levin (kick failed)
CV — Gillespie 42 from Baca (kick failed)
CV — Alvarez 7 run ( failed)
CV — Gillespie 30 from Baca (Echeverria kick)
CV — FG Echeverria 21
CV — Alvarez 1 run (run failed)
CV — Mitchell 82 kickoff return (Echeverria kick)
LJCD — Doak 5 run ( failed)
LJCD — Cesaire 29 from Levin (Doak run)
CV — Alvarez 25 run (Echeverria kick)
LJCD — Hochberg 10 from Levin ( failed)
CV — Gogue-Rios 35 interception return (kick failed)
