SD Prep Sports:

2006 Grossmont Conference

Prep Football Week 7 Report

Cougars take a bite out of Norsemen

Steele Canyon wins inaugural battle for the Jamacha Helmet

EL CAJON, Oct. 12, 2006 -- The Steele Canyon High School football team began defense of its Grossmont South League championship title by raising the Jamacha Helmet following a 31-7 victory at Valhalla on Oct. 12.

“We took our first step in league,” Cougars head coach Ron Boehmke told his team following the regionally-televised game. “We want to take a step up each week. We need to take one step at a time.”

For Steele Canyon, it was a giant first step.

The Cougars led the entire distance in the battle of new-found rivals, expanding on modest 3-0 first quarter lead with a pair of second quarter touchdowns for a 17-0 halftime lead and then two more unanswered second half touchdowns to build an insurmountable 31-0 lead.

Valhalla broke the shutout with 3:28 left in the game.

The first thing Boehmke did after being awarded the Jamacha Helmet — half Norseman orange and half Cougar navy blue — was to peel off a Steele Canyon logo decal from the helmet of one of his players and affix it to the bare side of the trophy. Boehmke then thrust the helmet — now sporting the logos of each team on either side — high into the nighttime air amid delirious chants of approval from victorious Cougar players.

Steele Canyon leads 1-0 in the teams’ new rivalry game.

“We need to keep working to keep up with that timetable,” Boehmke told his team before breaking up the post-game huddle.

The Cougars, who improved to 1-0 in league play, 4-2 overall, host Granite Hills (0-1, 4-2) on Friday, Oct. 20 in a homecoming contest. After that, Steele Canyon will experience an Oct. 27 away clash with sixth-ranked Helix, which downed Granite Hills x-x on Oct. 13 for its fourth consecutive win after a season opening loss to Oceanside and a just-announced forfeit loss to Logan (Utah) on Sept. 8.

The Cougars will host Monte Vista on Nov. 3 and conclude league play Nov. 9 at Mt. Miguel.

The key for the Cougars will be to maintain composure while continuing to grow. Besides retaining the rights to the league title, Steele Canyon also has some unfinished business to attend to: namely, make amends for last year’s first-round exit in the San Diego Section Division III playoffs.

According to Boehmke’s post-game assessment, the Cougars appear right on track this season.

Steele Canyon parlayed a Valhalla fumble (recovered by Tim Orange) into a 3-0 lead on Eric Carrillo’s 30-yard field goal. The Norsemen also fumbled on their second possession of the game, with the Cougars recovering the ball on the host’s 45-yard line.

Brandon Hughes broke off a 52yard run to give the visitors a 10-0 lead on the first play of the second quarter. After stopping the hosts on fourth-down-and-two from their own 12-yard line, the Cougars proceeded to match 89 yards for the decisive score of the game as Tony Minnifield later hauled in an 18-yard scoring pass from quarterback Nick Stathas to raise the Steele Canyon lead to 17-0.

Minnifield scored his second touchdown of the game on a 48-yard catch and run with 10:09 remaining in the third quarter and Joey Guillory bulled in from one-yard out with 9:28 to play in the final period.

Valhalla quarterback Tomas Karagianes, who rushed for five touchdowns and passed for two more in a 49-35 victory at Santana the previous week, scored on a one-yard run to avert a shutout loss.

With the setback, the Norsemen fell to 0-1 in league play, 3-3 overall.

The game, however, was played amid a festive atmosphere and championed all that is great about high school football. Steele Canyon cheerleaders personally welcomed every fan through the visitors’ gate and the school’s mascot, Scratch, posed for endless photographs as well as entered into some good-natured antics with fans throughout the game.

Valhalla High’s band put on a 1970s-themed field show that also included an appearance by the Hillsdale Middle School band. Rifle twirlers wowed the crowd on both sides of the field with their dexterity.

The inaugural battle for the Jamacha Helmet was a smashing success.

Steele Canyon players pinpointed their success in the game to the play of the team’s offensive line.

“Our offensive line stepped up. Nick Stathas — he had a great game, so did all the receivers. They kept their feet moving,” said Jamie Dale, who rushed for 108 yards on 27 carries to give him 650 rushing yards on the season and a 108.3 per game average.

Guillory added 38 rushing yards it the game as the Cougars broke the 200-yard rushing mark for the third consecutive game — all victories.

“Our offensive line is monsters. You could have put on my helmet and scored that last touchdown,” Guillory said.

Stathas, who seems to be gaining confidence with each game in his first year behind center, finished the game with 10 completions in 12 attempts for 134 yards and two touchdowns.

Minnifield’s marathon catch and carry effectively sealed the outcome at 24-0 with the strong play of the Cougars defense all night long.

“I caught the ball and, with the blocking I had, all I had to do was run,” Minnifeld said.

Simply put, Steele Canyon clicked on both sides of the ball.

Karagianes seemed to lead his receivers just a bit on each pass. Valhalla was missing a big offensive weapon in Spencer Myers, who stood injured on the sideline on crutches. Myers had collected 499 rushing yards while averaging 99.8 yards per game in the Norsemen’s first five games. He also had amassed 38 scoring points on three touchdowns, 14 extra-point conversions and two field goals.

Zack Romero led Vahalla against Steele Canyon with 101 yards on 19 carries.

The Norsemen host Monte Vista on Oct. 20. The Monarchs (0-1, 1-4-1) are coming off a 28-7 loss to visiting Mt. Miguel in the battle of Spring Valley teams on Oct. 13.

Grossmont South League
Helix 43, Granite Hills 14
Eric Forney rushed for a career-best 205 yards and scored three touchdowns to lead the Highlanders, whose record officially dipped to 4-2 overall after the forfeit announcement made prior to the team’s Oct. 13 game against the Eagles. The Scotties scored the first 30 points of the contest, leading 16-0 at halftime.

Forney (507 rushing yards, 10 touchdowns on the season) opened scoring on a 60-yard run. Kenny Ewert kicked a 31-yard field goal and Forney followed with scoring runs of 15 and 13 yards. Jojo Phillips added a one-yard rushing touchdown while Trevon Van scored on a 13-yard run and Isaiah Sims rocketed 54 yards for a score.

Jared Francis scored on a 92-yard kickoff return and Tyler Whittingham broke off a 43-yard scoring run to account for Granite Hills’ two touchdowns.

Helix, which was braced by four quarterback sacks in the first half, limited the Eagles to 126 rushing yards and 113 passing yards. Meanwhile, the Highlanders came up just five yards short of posting 500 yards in total offense.

Joey Sutherland led Granite Hills with 91 rushing yards while Brendan Carter caught five passes for 46 yards. Francis racked up 132 yards in kickoff return yards on three attempts.

Mt. Miguel 28, Monte Vista 7
Kenny Vaughn scored on a 56-yard fake punt to ignite the visiting Matadors (1-0, 4-2). Elliott Taylor (24 rushes, 134 yards) keyed the Matadors, who put the game away with two unanswered touchdowns late in the game after Monte Vista’s Lonnie Alexander had halved the Mt. Miguel lead to 14-7 on a one-yard run in the third quarter.

Grossmont North League
El Capitan 13, West Hills 6
The visiting Vaqueros remained undefeated at 7-0-0 as Ben Wilkins scored on a one-yard run in the fourth quarter to break a 6-6 tie. El Capitan, which is off to its best start in the 48-year history of the Lakeside school, never trailed after taking a 6-0 lead on a 35-yard scoring pass from Ryan Lindley to A.J. Conti in the first quarter.

But the third-ranked Vaqueros’ high-powered offense was kept under control for much of the rest of the game as West Hills eventually tied the game on a one-yard run in the third quarter. Both teams missed extra-point conversions on their respective touchdowns.

Lindley, who entered the game as the section’s top passer with 1,912 yards and 19 touchdowns, finished the high profile matchup against the Wolf Pack with 160 yards and one score to give him more than 2,000 passing yards and 20 touchdowns for the season.

The loss was the third in a row for West Hills (0-1, 4-3) after starting the season 4-0 with some very impressive victories.

Raleigh Sevier was credited with 160 rushing yards in the game for the Wolf Pack, which twice had chances to win the game after the Vaqueros took a seven-point lead with just over nine minutes left in the game. However, the El Capitan defense stood tallest in the final moments of the contest.

Adam Denick keyed the victors with 12 tackles while Tommy Towns, the Vaqueros’ leading tackler on the season, was credited with 10 stops. Michael Holz, whose 29-yard clutch 29-yard catch on offense helped set up the game-winning touchdown, was credited with two sacks in the game.

“Our defense came out with fire. We did everything we could to stop them,” Towns told KUSI-TV’s “Prep Pigskin Report.”

“We have a team with a lot of heart,” El Capitan’s Conti added.

The Vaqueros kicked off the 2002 season 6-0-1. El Capitan has a bye this week before hosting Santana (0-0, 3-2) on Oct. 27. West Hills hosts defending league champion Grossmont on Oct. 20.

Grossmont 45, El Cajon Valley 7
The host Foothillers (3-3-1) snapped a three-game winless streak (0-2-1) behind a four-touchdown performance by Augie Williams (24 rushes, 139 yards) and a pair of scores by Khalid Waters. After a 43-yard field goal by Marcus Flores, Williams reeled off four consecutive touchdown runs to give Grossmont a commanding 31-0 lead. Waters capped the scoring in the game on a 95-yard kickoff return and a 57-yard run from scrimmage.

Kianie Brooks gave the Braves (0-1, 3-4) their only touchdown on a 15-yard run in the final quarter.

The victory kept the team’s rivalry game award, the Peace Pipe, in Foothiller hands for the eighth consecutive season.

El Cajon Valley hosts Santana on Oct. 20, starting at 6:30 p.m. (All other Grossmont Conference games kick off at 7 p.m.)

Coastal League
Santa Fe Christian 30, Christian 14
The Eagles scored the final 14 points of the game to pull away and spoil the Patriots’ homecoming game Oct. 14 at Granite Hills High School. Kyler Dwyer scored both touchdowns for Christian, including a 68-yard pass reception from quarterback Danny Mitchell to finish with 151 offensive yards in the game. But what SFC’s Corbin Cutshaw started on scoring runs of one and 49 yards, teammates Mac Zimdars (20 yards) and Keaton Marks (17 yards) finished with fourth-quarter touchdown scampers.

The Eagles improved to 4-2 with the league win while the Patriots, who next host Army-Navy Academy (0-1, 4-2) Oct. 20 at Granite Hills High School, dropped to 4-2 on the season, 0-1 in league play.

Pacific League
Midway Baptist 8, Foothills Christian 0
The Knights (0-3, 0-6) enjoyed one of their most competitive outings of the season but fell just short of possibly sending the game into overtime as Brandon Johnston was stopped a yard short of the goal line on fourth down with less than one minute remaining in the contest at Junior Seau Field.

Midway Baptist (1-2, 2-5) to capped a lengthy scoring drive in the third quarter with a one-yard scoring run and successful two-point conversion.

Foothills Christian hosts Calipatria (1-1, 3-3) in a league game Oct. 20.

Measuring up
Grossmont Conference
Overall Records (Through Oct. 14)
El Capitan 7-0-0
Helix 4-2-0
Steele Canyon 4-2-0
Granite Hills 4-2-0
Santana 3-2-0
West Hills 4-3-0
Mt. Miguel 4-2-0
Valhalla 3-3-0
Grossmont 3-3-1
El Cajon Valley 3-4-0
Monte Vista 1-4-1

Coastal League
Overall Records
(Through Oct. 17)
Christian 4-2

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 at Sweetwater
26: Mar Vista at Hilltop
November
2: Carlsbad at Rancho Buena Vista
9: Cathedral Catholic vs. St. Augustine

San Diego Section Rankings
SD Sportscasters/Broadcasters Poll
(Oct. 16)
(Records throiugh Oct. 14)
1. Torry Pines (6-0-0)
2. El Capitan (7-0-0)
3. Carlsbad (4-0-1)
4. Oceanside (3-2-0)
5. La Costa Canyon (3-2-1)
6. Helix (4-2-0)
7. Mission Hills (5-1-0)
8. Escondido (5-2-0)
9. Poway (4-2-0)
10. Mission Bay (5-1-0)

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

San Diego Section: The Undefeated
(Through Oct. 14)

Division I
Torrey Pines (6-0-0)
Carlsbad (4-0-1)

Division III
El Capitan (7-0-0)

Eight-Man
Borrego Springs (5-0-0)
Warner Springs (5-0-0)
San Pasqual Academy (4-0-0)