SD Prep Sports:

2006 Grossmont Conference

Prep Football Week 10Report

Greatness stands on horizon for 9-0-0 Vaqueros
Will GNL race end with tri-champions?

Posted on Nov. 8, 2006
Greatness stands on the horizon for the El Capitan High School football team. The drive for a potential undefeated 10-0-0 regular season campaign — which would be the first in school history — comes to a climactic conclusion Thursday, Nov. 9, when the Vaqueros invade the home turf of the defending Grossmont League champion Grossmont Foothillers.

The scenario could not be a more perfect set-up: a duel between the reigning champions and the would-be champions.

El Capitan secured itself at least a tie for this year’s GNL title after defeating El Cajon Valley, 44-12, on Nov. 3, while Grossmont stumbled in a 45-35 loss at Santana to drop from the league lead.

However, the Foothillers can retain at least a share of this year’s league championship by ending the Vaqueros’ quest for a perfect season.

El Capitan is 3-0-0 in league play, 9-0-0 overall. Grossmont is 2-1-0 in league play, 4-4-1 overall.

The Foothillers could also be playing for a home date in the upcoming Division II playoffs. A loss to El Capitan would likely send Grossmont on the road for a first-round playoff game.

Quarterback Ryan Lindley passed for four touchdowns — two to Ben Noy — and backup Tanner Rust also tossed a scoring pass to pace El Capitan’s ninth consecutive win. Lindley opened the scoring on a 63-yard pass to Noy, then threw an eight-yard scoring pass to Michael Holz after the Braves had narrow the score to 7-6 on a 15-yard touchdowns pass from Kianie Brooks to Jon Bermudes.

The Vaqueors, who last captured the league title in 2000, took a 30-6 first half lead when Lindley hit Noy on an eight-yard scoring pass, the El Capitan defense recorded a two-point safety when Brooks was tackled in the end zone, and Lindley connected with Anthony Lybarger on a one-yard touchdown pass.

The visitors scored twice more in the second half before El Cajon Valley could finally reach the end zone again. Taelor Worrell returned an intercepted pass 30 yards for a touchdown while A.J. Conti grabbed a 41-yard scoring pass from Rust. Conti also supplied six extra point conversions in the game.

Brooks closed out scoring — and perhaps the Braves’ season — when he fired a 19-yard scoring pass to Damien Williams in the fourth quarter.

The winners recorded six turnovers in the matchup.

El Cajon Valley finishes regular season play 3-7 overall, 0-4 in Grossmont North League play and will now await the San Diego Section playoff seeding committee’s verdict for inclusion in the upcoming Division III playoffs. The Braves, who advanced to last year’s Division II title game but have struggled through this season in a rebuilding mode, could conceivably snare one of the final berths in the division based on strength of schedule.

Brooks finished regular season play with 1,529 passing yards and 14 touchdowns while rushing for 578 yards and seven more scores for a total offensive output of 2,107 yards and 21 touchdowns.

Lindley, who indicated this week that he plans to attend San Diego State University next year, enters Thursday’s game at Grossmont with 2,576 passing yards and 27 touchdowns. Conti leads the Vaq receiving corps with 51 catches for 947 yards and seven touchdowns while Noy has 47 catches for 750 yards and 12 scores. Holz has caught 40 aerials for 537 yards and five touchdowns.

Noy amassed 97 receiving yards in the game against El Cajon Valley but left the field with an injury.

Meanwhile, Grossmont led throughout the first half of its game against Santana before surrendering five unanswered touchdowns to fall behind 42-28. The Foothillers led 28-21 at halftime thanks to a 10-yard touchdown run by Augie Williams, a 98-yard interception return by Khalid Waters, a 47-yard interception return by Michael Bartlett and a 68-yard scoring pass from Charlie Piro to Josh Simms.

But the Sultans answered back with five scores (four passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown) by quarterback Collin Taylor. Kyle Romero (three yards), Jon Tippin (28 yards) and Brandon Walker (28 yards) each caught scoring passes, Taylor rushed for a one-yard score and then Taylor passed 42 yards to Blake Kahler to complete the amazing 35-point explosion on the scoreboard. After Grossmont’s Will Keyes scored on a one-yard run to narrow the score to 42-35, Santana’s Anthony Moreno kicked a 25-yard field goal to complete scoring in the game.

Taylor, who racked up 473 passing yards and five touchdowns, opened scoring in the game by hitting favorite target Tippin on a 10-yard pass. The Sultans signal-caller set a school record for total yards in one game with 547 yards, including 74 rushing yards. For the season, Taylor has passed for 1,794 yards and 24 touchdowns while Tippin has 53 catches for 860 yards and 12 touchdowns.

The Foothillers had appeared back on track after winning its previous two games but the Sultans bounced back admirably from a 38-0 loss to the Vaqueros the previous week.

With the inspirational victory, Santana kept alive its hopes of a high seed in the upcoming Division IV playoffs as well as a share of the Grossmont North League title should the Foothillers upset the Vaqueros. Santana (2-1 in league) will attempt to finish regular season play 6-3 by beating cross-town rival West Hills (1-2, 5-4) in the teams’ annual Battle of Santee. Conversely, the Wolf Pack — not too long ago mired in a four-game losing streak — can finish regular season play with a 6-4 record with a victory against the Sultans.

Grossmont South League title is Helix's for the taking
Helix can claim sole possession of this year’s Grossmont South League title by defeating visiting Monte Vista on Nov. 9. The Highlanders are coming off a 21-0 victory against visiting Valhalla and, excluding a forfeit loss against Logan (Utah) in the second week of the season, have won their last eight games on the field (seven which officially count as victories).

At 4-0 in league play and 7-2 overall, Helix is positioned to snare one of the top seeds in the upcoming Division II playoffs.

Eric Forney scored on a two-yard and added a two-point conversion run while Travon Van scored on a 25-yard scamper and Kenny Ewert delivered two field goals to account for the scoring in a game otherwise dominated by stalwart defense by both teams.

Steele Canyon (3-1, 6-3) travels to Mt. Miguel (2-2, 5-4) to close out regular season play. Both the Cougars and Matadors are vying for seeding position in the upcoming Division III playoffs.

Steele Canyon defeating visiting Monte Vista, 42-6, on Nov. 3 while Mt. Miguel is coming off a 23-20 setback at Granite Hills.

Nick Stathas threw a pair of touchdown passes to Eric Carrillo and Jamie Dale and Joey Guillory each scored two rushing touchdowns to key Steele Canyon’s victory. The Cougars scored all 42 of their points in the first half.

For the season, Dale has run for 1,014 yards and scored eight rushing touchdowns. Dale ran for 127 yards against the Monarchs (0-4, 1-7-1) while Stathas passed for 180 yards.

Granite Hills assured itself of its first winning season since 1995 by defeating the Matadors. The host Eagles never trailed in the contest, leading 7-6 after the opening quarter and 21-6 at halftime.

Brendan Carter kicked off scoring on a 65-yard touchdown run and Chris Misensol followed with scoring passes to Chase Ketchum (three yards) and Justin Montgomery (37 yards). A Kenny Vaughn seven-yard run brought the score to 21-14 in Granite Hills’ favor but the Eagles responded with a two-point safety when the ball was snapped out of the end zone to gain some additional breathing room on the scoreboard at 23-14. The Matadors’ Elliot Taylor scored his second touchdown of the game on a one-yard run (after earlier rambling 41 yards) but the extra point was blocked, leaving the visitors three points shy on the scoreboard.

The Eagles secured the victory when the visitors misfired on the ensuing onside kick attempt.

Granite Hills totaled 218 rushing yards, led by Joey Sutherland (11 carries, 82 yards), Brendan Carter (five carries, 71 yards) and Bradley Carter (two carries, 54 yards). Misensol completed six of 13 passes for 85 yards. Montgomery had two catches for 57 yards.

On defense, Jared Francis blocked one point-after-touchdown attempt.

For the Matadors, Taylor enters Thursday’s game against Steele Canyon with 1,081 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns.

The Eagles can virtually assure themselves a place in the upcoming Division I playoffs by defeating host Valhalla on Nov. 9 while the Norsemen jockey for a possible home game in the first round of the Division III playoffs.

Strength of schedule is a prime determining factor in playoff seeding this season and four of Granite Hills’ six wins have come against teams with sub-.500 records. The Eagles do own victories against West Hills and Mt. Miguel and a win against Valhalla would erase any doubt about Granite Hills’ playoff worthiness in the section’s largest enrollment division.

Coastal League
Christian, which booted Bishop’s by a 28-26 score on Oct. 28, to move into position to challenge for this year’s Coastal League championship title, saw those hopes dip a bit after coming up short 27-7 in a Nov. 3 loss at Francis Parker. Kyler Dwyer scored the Patriots’ lone touchdown on a 12-yard run in the first quarter but the host Lancers ended the game with 27 unanswered points, including two scores by two-way standout Gino Gordon.

Christian enters Friday’s regular season finale against Horizon Christian at Granite Hills High School (7:30 p.m. kickoff) with a 2-2 league record and 6-3 overall record. Horizon Christian is 2-2, 3-6.

Santa Fe Christian tops the league standings at 4-0, 7-2 overall.

In the victory against Bishop’s, Lawrence Walker scored two touchdowns while Chris Camp and Pat Kelly also each scored once. Dwyer kicked all four extra points while Bishop’s failed on two of its four point-after conversions to account for the difference in the final score.

Measuring up
Grossmont Conference
Overall Records (Through Nov. 4)
El Capitan 9-0-0
Helix 7-2-0
Steele Canyon 6-3-0
Granite Hills 6-3-0
Mt. Miguel 5-4-0
Santana 5-3-0
West Hills 5-4-0
Grossmont 4-4-1
Valhalla 4-5-0
El Cajon Valley 3-7-0
Monte Vista 1-7-1

Coastal League
Overall Records
(Through Nov. 4)
Christian 6-3

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: Cathedral Catholic vs. St. Augustine

San Diego Section Rankings
SD Sportscasters/Broadcasters Poll
(Oct. 23)
(Records throiugh Oct. 21)
1. Torry Pines (7-0-0)
2. El Capitan (7-0-0)
3. Carlsbad (5-0-1)
4. Oceanside (4-2-1)
5. La Costa Canyon (5-2-0)
6. Helix (5-2-0)
7. Mission Hills (6-1-0)
8. Poway (5-2-0)
9. Escondido (5-2-0)
10. Mission Bay (6-1-0)

Others (in order of votes): Hoover (6-1), Santa Fe Chrisitan (5-2), Point Loma (6-1), Steele Canyon (5-2), El Camino (5-3), St. Augustine (4-3), Brawley (5-1), Mira Mesa (3-4), Scripps Ranch (5-2).

San Diego Section: The Undefeated
(Through Nov. 4)

Division I
Torrey Pines (9-0-0)
Carlsbad (6-0-2)

Division III
El Capitan (9-0-0)

Eight-Man
San Pasqual Academy (8-0-0)