It took the course of a season for Sweetwater High School to overcome its sputtering start.
It took the Red Devils less than 16 minutes of football to transform a seven-point halftime deficit into an 18-point lead en route to the CIF San Diego Section Division 5 championship.
Scoring the first 25 points of the second half, Sweetwater overcame top-seeded Vincent Memorial 46-37 in Friday night’s final at Escondido High School’s Chick Embrey Field. The section championship is the fifth in program history and first since 2013 for the South Bay school, which started 0-4.
The Red Devils’ previous section championships came in 1972 ( 2A), 1983-84 (3A) and 2013 (Division 4).
“We’ve been an adversity team all season,” said Red Devils coach Ervin Hernandez. “We had an 0-4 start, and in our last game of the year we came back and won by one point against Hilltop, so our kids know how to respond. We’ve got a bunch of tough National City kids on our team.”
Leading the way for Sweetwater was a systematic rushing attack which has produced a trio of 1,000-yard rushers.
“We’ve been through a lot the last four years,” said Xzavier Crews, a senior who had three touchdown runs, including a 3-yarder on a jet sweep in the second quarter and TD runs of 7 and 43 yards on back-to-back carries just 56 seconds apart in the third quarter. “We’ve played with a lot of heart, and even though we were down at halftime, we knew nothing was going to stop us.
“Just like the coaches told us, this was destiny.”
Crews finished with 154 yards on 12 carries, giving him 1,374 rushing yards on the season. Izell Wright added 61 yards on 19 carries, including a pair of 4-yard TDs, to run his season rushing total to 1,263 yards, and Carlos Delgado had 100 yards on 12 carries to go to 1,090 yards.
“We all played as a team once we stopped mes,” said Delgado, whose 6-yard scoring run on the second play of the fourth quarter gave No. 2 seed Sweetwater a 32-21 lead.
Sweetwater quarterback Zaryan Crews, Xzavier’s younger brother, had a 51-yard scoring run midway through the second quarter to tie the score at 14.
Sweetwater (7-6) has won seven of its last nine games going into the state playoffs.
Vincent Memorial quarterback Jacobo Elias threw four TD es, giving him 31 for the season. He completed 20 of 32 es for 330 yards.
The Scots, who had won seven of their previous eight games, finished 9-4.
Division 1
(5) St. Augustine 28, (9) Madison 27 (OT): Sophomore quarterback Brady Palmer completed 14 of 24 es for 282 yards and TDs of 93, 58, 4 and 25 yards for St. Augustine (9-4). He also rushed 11 times for 56 yards. On the first play of overtime, Palmer connected with tight end Ezaya Tokio for a 25-yard score. On Madison’s possession, Devin Riley caught a 22-yard deflected for a touchdown. Madison (6-7) opted to go for the win and 2-point conversion, but Ryley Parenteau’s was deflected by Saints’ Parker Johnson. Jaylon Brown gained 107 yards on 16 carries for Madison. James Tivao rushed for 78 yards and two TDs. Isaiah Hasten caught six es for 158 yards and TDs covering 93 and 4 yards for St. Augustine.
(2) Mission Hills 24, (3) El Camino 19: Mission Hills (9-3) secured the win on a late interception by Jace Rackleff. Giovanni Harte led Mission Hills with 22 carries for 96 yards and a TD. Quarterback Troy Huhn completed 14 of 21 for 159 yards and a 23-yard TD to Ryder Tinoisamoa. Wide receiver Keaton Smith lined up at QB and threw a 3-yard TD to tight end Jon Class. Smith also had four catches for 58 yards. Running back Devin Cerda led El Camino (7-5) with 20 carries for 145 yards. Ray Taele had 10 carries for 39 yards and a TD. Quarterback Carson Howard scored on a 9-yard run. Jake Williams had 11 tackles.
Mission Hills, which has won 10 straight home playoff games, plays St. Augustine at 7 p.m. Friday at Southwestern College for the championship.
Division 2
(1) Del Norte 9, (5) Point Loma 7: Del Norte (10-2) won without scoring a TD as Trey Coleman made field goals from 27, 28 and 43 yards — the last with under a minute to play. Point Loma, which led 7-3 at the half, finishes 8-5.
(3) La Jolla 42, (2) Rancho Bernardo 14: Jackson Diehl rushed for 131 yards and three TDs and ed for 58 yards and two scores for La Jolla (10-2). Aiden McGill rushed for 148 yards. Carson Diehl caught two TD es. Andre McLees-Walker, Ryan Kestler and Chris Johannsen intercepted es for La Jolla. Rancho Bernardo finishes 6-6.
La Jolla plays Del Norte at 7 p.m. Saturday at Southwestern College for the championship.
Division 3
(4) Grossmont 30, (1) Mission Bay 14: Isaac Aceves rushed for 244 yards on 26 carries to lead Grossmont (7-5) past Mission Bay (8-4). Aceves scored on runs of 41 and 11 yards as well as scoring on a pair of 2-point conversion runs. Hudson Herber threw touchdown es to Elias Burlaza and Parker Vanderburg. Herber also rushed for 44 yards. Walter Jackson led the defense with nine tackles, 1½ sacks and three tackles-for-loss.
(6) La Jolla Country Day 39, (2) Fallbrook 38 (OT): LJCD (10-3) stopped Fallbrook’s 2-point PAT try in OT. Jaden Mangini threw five TD es, including a go-ahead TD on fourth down late in the game to Gianno Kassab and to Quentin Cesaire in OT. Madden Craig had two touchdown catches and more than100 yards receiving. Jack Circuit caught the other TD . Will Sach made all four of his PATs and hit a 28-yard field goal. Fallbrook (5-7) RB Chris Bausch had 26 carries for 186 yards and a touchdown and returned a kickoff 89 yards for a touchdwon. Bausch finished the season with 1,672 rushing yards. Evan Thomas threw for 116 yards and a touchdown, while Jackson Christopherson had 11 carries for 44 yards and two TDs. Zack Dickey had a 43-yard field goal on the final play of regulation to force OT.
LJCD plays Grossmont at 2 p.m. Saturday at Southwestern College for the championship.
Division 4
(1) Mount Miguel 37, (4) Santana 6: Despite a soggy field on a rainy night, Matthew Barton ed for 173 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 82 yards and another score for Mount Miguel (11-1). Zane Rottier gained 170 yards and a TD rushing, while Parris Vernon added 18 yards and two touchdowns in addition to 35 yards in receptions. Braylon Cardwell caught a 19-yard TD. Santana (5-7) was unable to get its offense untracked, gaining just 107 yards. The Sultans connected on a big-play touchdown when QB Alex Rico found senior Michael Valenzuela on a 63-yard in the fourth quarter.
(2) Chula Vista 11, (3) Westview 8: Carlos Echeverria nailed a 22-yard FG with 1 second left on the clock, lifting Chula Vista (10-2) to the win. Izaac Baca ed for 195 yards, hitting Justin Yniesta, who had four receptions for 99 yards, for an 86-yard TD. Baca also connected with Elijah Gillespie four times for 92 yards, including a key 46-yarder that set up the winning FG. Baca, with 2,050 ing yards, broke the Chula Vista school ing record set by Victor Perez in 2008. Paul Alvarez led Chula Vista with 75 yards rushing on 13 carries. Westview finishes 7-5.
Chula Vista advances to play Mount Miguel at 2 p.m. Friday at Southwestern College for the championship.
Staff writer John Maffei and freelance writers Don Norcross, Steve Brand and Kevin Farmer contributed to this report.
