San Diego U-T Preps

Chula Vista — Ed Galloway had every reason to be frustrated.

First, the Olympian High senior was caught from behind on an 80-yard pass play, falling just a yard from a touchdown. One play later the Eagles fumbled the ball away, squandering a chance to take the lead in the second quarter.

Then in the third quarter, he was wide open deep but could not catch Garry Cannon’s pass.

On the next play, however, Galloway turned the corner and raced 76 yards to put the Eagles back within a score. After he added a 67-yard touchdown run plus the go-ahead 28-yard TD reception, all was forgiven.

His four touchdowns helped lift Olympian (3-3, 1-0) to a 37-30 homecoming victory over Otay Ranch (4-3, 0-1) in the Metro Mesa League opener for both teams.

Galloway finished with 180 yards rushing on just 14 carries and another 53 in receiving, both of his catches going for touchdowns.

No one should be particularly surprised that the Eagles beat Otay Ranch.

Since moving to the Metro Mesa three years ago, Olympian has beaten the Mustangs all four times en route to two championships and a second-place finish.

So how did the Eagles drop their last three games this season after an impressive 21-17 victory over a Mt. Carmel team that hasn’t lost since coming into Friday night’s game?

“The difference between the first two games and the last three,” said coach Paul Van Nostrand, “is in the three losses we weren’t blocking or tackling.”

There was plenty of both, especially tackling, and yet when Marcelo Knox-Iuli intercepted an Otay Ranch pass and Cannon raced in from 20 yards out for a 37-30 lead, Otay Ranch still had 1:18 to go.

The way the game was going, that was plenty of time.

The Mustangs came up just short, however, as Arturo Saenz’s pass to Dorsey Furlow covered 50 yards — five short of what they needed, allowing the Eagles to breathe and then celebrate.