SD Prep Sports:

2006 Grossmont Conference

Prep Football Playoff Round 1 Report

Seven East County football teams remain in playoff title quest
El Capitan tests perfect season at 10-0-0

Posted on Nov. 22, 2006
They had to wait a week to take the gridiron after receiving byes to Friday’s quarterfinals but the El Capitan Vaqueros, Helix Highlanders, Santana Sultans and Christian Patriots are ready to join the three East County first-round survivors on the road to this year’s San Diego Section divisional football championship games.

•Grossmont North League champion El Capitan (10-0) received the top-seeded position in the Division III playoffs and will host 12th-seeded Cathedral Catholic (6-5) on Friday, Nov. 24, at 7 p.m., after the Dons defeated visiting Mt. Miguel, 44-14, last Friday, Nov. 17.

•Grossmont South League champion Helix (8-2) received the No. 2 seed in the Division II playoffs and will host South Bay League champion Castle Park (7-3-1) on Friday, Nov. 24, at 7:30 p.m., after the Trojans held on to defeat visiting Bonita Vista, 13-10, in opening round play.

•Christian (6-3-1) received the second seed in the Division V playoffs and will host seventh-seeded Vincent Memorial (7-4) at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 24, at Granite Hills High School. Vincent Memorial advanced after defeating 10th-seeded Calipatria, 34-7.

•Santana (5-4) earned a first-round bye as the fourth seed in the Division IV playoffs and will host fifth-seeded (and defending division champion) Valley Center (4-6) on Friday, Nov. 24, at 7:30 p.m.

West Hills (7-4) joins Helix in the Division II quarterfinals after edging visiting Scripps Ranch, 20-17, in first-round play while Steele Canyon (8-3) and Valhalla (6-5) both remain alive in the Division III playoffs following first-round victories against University City (28-0) and Ramona (25-24).

West Hills draws the daunting task of matching up against No. 1-seeded Oceanside (6-3-1) while Steele Canyon must travel to El Centro to take on third-seeded Central Union (9-1) in a pair of 7:30 p.m. contests. Valhalla will square off at second-seeded Point Loma (8-2) in a 1 p.m. game, also on Nov. 24.

l Perfect season
The Vaqueros earned notoriety as the lone 11-man team in the section to post a 10-0-0 record this season following La Costa Canyon’s 28-13 upset against previously undefeated (and top-ranked) Torrey Pines. Carlsbad earned the No. 1 seed in the Division I playoffs with its 7-0-2 record.

Ben Wilkins scored two rushing touchdowns (two and three yards) and Michael Holz caught a 13-yard pass from Ryan Lindley to account for El Capitan’s points in its 21-14 victory at defending Grossmont North League champion Grossmont to conclude regular season play on Nov. 9.

Wilkins showed the Vaqueros can also produce on the ground with 180 yards. Lindley finished the contest with 273 passing yards as El Capitan totaled 485 offensive yards.

The wins appear to be coming harder as the season wears on and the Vaqs should receive their toughest test in the upcoming playoffs. The Lakeside team can take pride, however, in finishing as the No. 1 ranked team in the section at the end of the regular season.

Lindley finished an amazing regular season with 2,849 passing yards and 28 touchdowns. A.J. Conti, who had 101 receiving yards in the win against the Foothillers, ranked as El Capitan’s top receiver on the season with 57 catches for 1,048 yards and seven touchdowns. Ben Noy led all pass-grabbers on the team with 12 TDs.

Cathedral Catholic never trailed in its playoff win against the Matadors (5-6). Matt Moynihan scored on a 30-yard pass from quarterback Nick Russell to open up a 7-0 lead. Laron Rush caught a 13-yard scoring pass from Aaron Bryant to tie the contest but the Dons rolled across 37 unanswered points — five touchdowns and a two-point safety — to eliminate the Spring Valley squad.

Tyler Gaffney finished the game with three touchdowns — two on short runs and another on a 18-yard touchdowns pass from Russell, who finished the game with three touchdown passes while also scoring on a 12-yard run.

Elliott Taylor closed out scoring in the game — and Mt. Miguel’s season — on a 14-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

Division II previews
Helix captured this year’s Grossmont South League title with a 55-7 victory against visiting Monte Vista on Nov. 9 by racking up 336 offensive yards. Eric Forney and Andray Jackson each scored two rushing touchdowns while Dorian Staton tossed scoring passes to Matt Cobb and Derric Miller. Forney has rushed for 765 yards and 15 touchdowns on the season while Staton has thrown for 834 yards and eight scores.

The Highlanders have won nine consecutive games on the field after opening the season with a 27-0 loss to Oceanside, though only the last eight count after being required to forfeit a victory against visiting Logan (Utah) in the second week of the season because of the use of an ineligible player. Helix finished 5-0 in league play and has outscored its 10 regular season opponents this season 264-154.

Castle Park answers with running back Boogie Blossom, who rushed for 158 yards and recovered a fumble to stymie a potential game-winning drive by Bonita Vista. Blossom entered the playoffs with 1,119 rushing yards to his credit to go with nine touchdowns. Quarterback Russell McGuire gave the Trojans a 7-0 lead on a three-yard run while twin brother David McGuire later scored on a nine-yard run to extend Castle Park’s lead to 13-0.

The Trojan defense allowed 226 passing yards but coughed up only a 15-yard scoring pass from Aces Morales to Terry Love and a 28-yard field goal by Josh Boyd. The Barons, who ended their season 5-6, could have won by game had an apparent 39-yard touchdown run by Wesley Roche not been called back because of a holding penalty. Boyd also nailed a booming field goal attempt early in the game that appeared high enough and long enough but was ruled no good by the officials.

Russell McGuire ended regular season play with 1,178 passing yards and 17 touchdowns.

West Hills will play at No. 1 Oceanside (6-3-1) after Trevor Kolocheski recorded his second interception of the game in the final 30 seconds to stop a potential game-winning drive by Scripps Ranch. Kolocheski also helped lead the Wolf Pack on the offensive side of the ball by starting for injured quarterback Eric Fiege. Kolocheski — normally the team’s standout receiver — fired a nine-yard scoring pass to Josh Armstrong in the first quarter to give West Hills an early 13-3 lead.

Raleigh Sevier scored on a 17-yard run and rushed for 160 yards to help highlight the Wolf Pack’s offensive output of 329 yards. However, West Hills had to come from behind to post the electrifying win. Trailing 17-13, the Wolf Pack went ahead 20-17 on a four-yard run by Joseph Hutchings in the fourth quarter.

Scripps Ranch, which opened the season 6-1, dropped its fourth consecutive game to end the season at 6-5.

Division III previews
Steele Canyon and Valhalla survived opening-round battles. Steele Canyon, seeded sixth, blew past visiting University City by a 28-0 score while 10th-seeded Valhalla had to employ some late heroics to slip past seventh-seeded Ramona, 25-24.

Jamie Dale rushed for three touchdowns and 155 yards to lead Steele Canyon, which also employed some trickery to eliminate the Centurions (5-6) as Eric Carrillo tossed a halfback pass to Tony Minnifield for a 24-yard touchdown. Dale’s final touchdown came on a 40-yard run in the third quarter.

The Steele Canyon defense did the rest. Interceptions by Brandon Hughes and Gebari Robinson helped set up first-half touchdowns while Ryan Pearl recorded 2.5 sacks.

Jamie Dale leads the Cougars on the season with 1,233 rushing yards and 13 rushing touchdowns.

Central Union’s only loss this season was in its opener, 45-7, at Otay Ranch. The Spartans have won nine straight games, including a 14-7 victory against long-time desert powerhouse Brawley in front of nearly 7,000 fans to win this year’s Imperial Valley League title.

Central Union’s offense is diversified with three running backs having piled up yardage this season: Brock Moore (694), Ricky Smith (610) and Jaqueem Coleman (598). Moore leads the trio with 12 touchdowns. Meanwhile, Karl Chick has passed for 607 yards and seven touchdowns. Stephen Singh actually leads the Spartans in scoring with 954 all-purpose yards and six interceptions.

Valhalla, meanwhile, simply outlasted host Ramona as the teams combined for 49 points. Jon Murry gave the Norsemen an early 7-0 lead on a one-yard scoring run but the Bulldogs responded with a pair of touchdown passes from Anthony Marin to Andrew Muren (43 and 30 yards) to go up 14-7. Valhalla answered back with a 41-yard pass from Tomas Karagianes to Mark Coats to tie the game at 14-all.

Ramona added a three-yard touchdown run by Kyle Blackwell and a 40-yard field goal by Muren to lead 24-17 with time ticking down. However, Karagianes connected once again with Coats, this time on a 39-yard scoring play to bring the Norsemen to within one point on the scoreboard at 24-23. Electing to go for the win rather than a tie, Valhalla attempted a two-point conversion. Karagianes (102 yards rushing, 115 yards passing) rolled to his right and was judged to have just gotten the ball into the corner of the end zone with 19 seconds to play to cap a dramatic finish.

Point Loma, which finished as the runner-up in last year’s division championship game to St. Augustine and shared this year’s Western League title with Hoover and Mission Bay, is led by running back Lester Arnold’s 1,521 rushing yards and 22 touchdowns. For good measure, Lucas Shaw has thrown for 805 yards and eight touchdowns.

Division IV preview
Santana closed out regular season play with its 34-20 loss to West Hills on Nov. 9 as Quarterback Collin Taylor totaled 249 yards by tossing scoring passes to Jon Tippin and Blake Kahler while also scoring once himself on the ground. Taylor upped his passing mark on the season to 1,996 yards and 26 touchdowns while Tippin has caught 57 passes for 880 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Valley Center won last year’s division title but has suffered through the loss to graduation of top talent this year.

Division V preview
Christian, which advanced to last year’s Division V championship game, ended regular season play with a 24-24 tie against visiting Horizon Christian on Nov. 10. The Patriots bulled to a 17-0 lead, before allowing the Panthers to storm back by scoring 24 of the game’s final 31 points.

Kyler Dwyer continued his standout season as the Patriots’ one-man scoring machine by scoring on runs of 34, 15 and five yards while kicking a 25-yard field goal and tacking on three extra points to account for all his team’s 24 points in the game.

For the season, Dwyer has rushed for 828 yards and scored 12 touchdowns. The team’s rushing leader remains Lawrence Walker with 883 yards and 10 scores. Quarterback Danny Mitchell has thrown for 1,001 yards and seven touchdowns.

Vincent Memorial received four touchdowns from Ivan Ramriez in its first-round win against Calipatria.

Season endings
•Granite Hills, which boasted the most wins in one season since 1997, dropped a 40-0 decision at fifth-seeded El Camino (8-3). The Eagles finished an otherwise exemplary season with a 6-5 record. Dennis Sortino threw five touchdown passes for El Camino — three to Nelson Rosario.

•Grossmont ended its season 4-6-1 after dropping a 35-14 decision at fifth-seeded San Pasqual (6-4-1). Khalid Waters scored on a 12-yard run while Charlie Piro tossed a 16-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Kamau. However, five unanswered touchdowns by the Golden Eagles proved too much to overcome.

Measuring up
Grossmont Conference
Final Regular Season
El Capitan 10-0-0
Helix 8-2-0
Steele Canyon 7-3-0
Granite Hills 6-4-0
West Hills 6-4-0
Mt. Miguel 5-5-0
Santana 5-4-0
Valhalla 5-5-0
Grossmont 4-5-1
El Cajon Valley 3-7-0
Monte Vista 1-8-1

Coastal League
Final Regular Season
Christian 6-3-1

Thursday Night Game of the Week
All games 7:05 p.m.
Channel 4 San Diego
Regular Season Schedule
August
31: Oceanside 27, Helix 0
September
7: Bogalusa (Louisiana) 19, Bonita Vista 14
14: El Capitan 46, Poway 28
21: West Hill 31, Monte Vista 3
28: Mission Hills 21, Valley Center 7
October
5: Escondido 38, Ramona 19
12: Steele Canyon 31, Valhalla 7
19: Chula Vista 42, Sweetwater 0
26: Hilltop 29, Mar Vista 22
November
2: Carlsbad 7, Rancho Buena Vista 7
9: St. Augustine 31, Cathedral Catholic 23

San Diego Section Rankings
SD Sportscasters/Broadcasters Poll
Final Regular Season
(Records throiugh Nov. 10)
1. El Capitan (10-0-0)
2. Carlsbad (7-0-2)
3. La Costa Canyon (8-2-0)
4. Torry Pines (9-1-0)
5. Oceanside (6-3-1)
6. Helix (8-2-0)
7. Escondido (7-2-1)
8. Mission Bay (8-1-0)
9. El Camino (7-3-0)
10. Mission Hills (8-2-0)

Others (in order of votes): Santa Fe Chrisitan (8-2), Hoover (8-2), 9. Point Loma (8-2), St. Augustine (7-3), Mira Mesa (6-4), Central Union (9-1), Eastlake (7-3)

San Diego Section: The Undefeated
(Through Nov. 10)

Division I
Carlsbad (7-0-2)

Division III
El Capitan (10-0-0)

Eight-Man
San Pasqual Academy (9-0-0)