This past Friday night, the uproar of students and parents was heard throughout Southwestern College’s DeVore Stadium, as the Bonita Vista High (BVH) varsity football team faced Eastlake High for the coveted boot. After four quarters of action, the Barons were unable to beat the Eastlake Titans, losing 20-0 and falling to a 3-5 record. 

The boot, resembling the rivalry between BVH and Eastlake High, will remain distant from the trophy cases of BVH for another year. Linebacker and senior Justin Shorty (52) emphasized on the importance of what this tense rivalry means to him. 

“I feel like the game is more personal. On the walk here, I feel like I was drawn into the rivalry way more than I would when I was a junior or sophomore. Everything is more meaningful, and with [the game] also being senior night, and my family and friends here, I just wanted to play good,” Shorty said. 

Extending their losing streak to three games on their last home fixture of the season, the Barons now have to find a way to refocus and win away from their home turf. Nose guard and senior Izaiah Barnes (43) explained how the BVH team plans to perform in front of large crowds of opposing supporters. 

“[Playing away] hurts my heart to be honest, but when we play at those fields we make them ours. We plan on being back [at home] for the playoffs,” Barnes said. 

On a scoreless night, BVH struggled offensively, turning over the football on several occasions and failing to convert on a first and goal opportunity in the fourth quarter. BVH head coach, Sam Kirkland III highlighted the fact that turnovers are made as a team, not by individual quarterbacks. 

“[Turnovers] come back to haunt us, and that doesn’t necessarily mean it would be on the quarterback, [the team] has to be a lot better as far as executing our plays and ball placement,” Kirkland said.

Despite the lack of offensive success throughout the night, BVH’s defense was able to get a few takeaways, including a recovered fumble in the first quarter after a hard hit on the opposing running back. More prominent in the second half, BVH was able to hold their ground defensively, allowing no touchdowns and forcing several three and out situations. Kirkland took these defensive efforts as positive aspects of the team that could be built upon.  

“We got a lot of takeaways and a couple of them we didn’t get the call on, but we did recover a couple of fumbles and it was good to see. The second half was very positive as far as [the team’s] energy, especially the way they came out and made some tackles,” Kirkland said.

Now, the Barons sit in fourth place in the Metro-Mesa Football League, looking to utilize the upcoming bye week to watch tape and improve their game to get a win in their next away game at Olympian High on October 25. 

“We are going to bounce back. We lost this one, but I mean we need to get back to film and we have to finish field setting. We are going to build more chemistry, and get a win,” Shorty said.