Sweetwater 17, Chula Vista 7

37-28-3,68 years of continues Rivalry football in the books.Sweetwater 37- Chula Vista 28- Tied 3 is the new line until next year.The 68th annual Heritage Classic between the South Bays two oldest schools is finally in the books. Although the outcome wasn’t of those of the past 7 years where the Chula Vista Spartans have dominated the Sweetwater Red Devils, this game was all the worth the wait. Both teams played hard and left everything on the field, but in a war full of battles, one team must come out victorious. It was 11 game winning streak vs 7 game rivalry winning streak, it was Red Devils vs Spartans, it was CVHS vs SUHi, it was 4th Ave vs Highland Ave and this game didn’t disappoint. As you came into the stadium and starred at the field you seen alumni on both sidelines coaching and giving words of wisdom to their boys, each in their own style. The Red Devils new this was going to be a tough test to set them on the road to the rest of the season. A 1-2 record was nothing to be looked past as both of the Spartans losses had come from tough opponents in Steele Canyon and San Marcos. In the first quarter both teams’ defenses held strong not giving up much and or allowing the other team to cross the 50 yard line. It looked as if nobody would score in the first half and we would have to wait for all the action to happen in the second half. Who else but Antonio Garcia to keep us on our toes as he intercepted the Mario Cabada pass and returned 20 yards. On the very next play the run happy Red Devils would pass, yet again giving us excitement as Christian Amon completed the 40 yard reception to Oscar Gutierrez. The Spartans defense kept the hairs on our backs raised as they held the Red Devils down on 3 plays forcing them to kick a field goal. Ricardo Perez Connected from 18 yards out to give the Red Devils a 3-0 lead over the Spartans at the Half. In the second half the Spartans came out swinging to knock the ball out from the Red Devils hands at kickoff and capitalize on the fumble recovery. A couple plays later, this time Mario Cabada connected with his receiver Demetrious Gibbs for a 15 yard TD, 7-3 Spartans. The Spartan D would force the Devils to punt their next possession but Cabada would throw another INT, nothing would come from the Devils possession. The scoreboard hit the 4th quarter and it looked like the Devils would come out disappointed yet again. The Spartans had the ball on the Sweetwater side of the field but the Devils would hold strong forcing the turnover on downs. This time the Devils would capitalize on the Spartans mistakes, it looked as if there run had come to an end as they were faced with a 4 & 1 situation (stopped earlier in the night). Who would you trust with the rock coach? Mr. Garcia! Garcia would take the pitch 6 yards for a first down, another 10 yards 2 plays later and all to set up Raven Middleton with a 9 yard TD run to the outside giving the Red Devils the lead yet again, 10-7. The Spartans would get the ball back with 3 minutes on the clock, plenty of time to drive down the field and score and kick an onside kick to hopefully recover and win with a couple of victory snaps. But the Devils would say no, no, no, not my house. The devils would sack Cabada a couple of times and what looked to be an apparent safety but the ball was downed at the 1. It was 4&29 and the Devils would hold this time. Antonio Garcia would take the hand off and put the icing on the cake putting the Red Devils up 17-7 on the Spartans. After the turnover on downs the Devils would take a couple victory snaps to end the game. As I stated in the preview, a streak would be broken tonight, today it was the Sweetwater holding on to their winning streak now at 12 games and breaking the Spartans Heritage Classic winning streak of 7 games. The Red Devils have won the bragging rights over Chula Vista for the first time in 12 years and the right to have the Legacy of Pride trophy at home in the all-out hard fought cross town rivalry, well, at least for the next year. The Chula Vista Spartans now have to go back home next week and face the Mira Mesa Marauders in a game set for 7 PM. As for the Sweetwater Red Devils, they get a bye week to travel the fallowing week out to the Mexican border in the dessert as they will face the Calexico Bulldogs. Unfortunately, now we have to wait another year for this exciting rivalry between the Sweetwater Red Devils and the Chula Vista Spartans as the 69th annual Heritage Classic “Legacy of Pride” game will be held at CVHS.