SD Prep Sports:

2006 Grossmont Conference

Prep Football Week 8 Report

Game of the Year:
Cougars, Highlanders to square off for Grossmont South League lead
Steele Canyon, Helix hike GSL records to 2-0

Recap of Oct. 20games
With the Steele Canyon Cougars and Helix Highlanders both sporting 2-0 Grossmont South League records, their impeding football clash Friday, Oct. 27, at Jim Arnaiz Field at Helix High School could stand up as this year’s Grossmont South League championship game. Certainly, the winner will have the inside track to securing the rights to this year’s league banner.

The Highlanders aim to claim it from its current owners: the Cougars.

Helix entered its last game against Mt. Miguel ranked sixth among San Diego Section teams and owns five consecutive victories after opening the season 0-2 (including a forfeit loss against Logan, Utah). The Highlanders defeated the host Matadors, 17-14, in a gritty battle to improve to 5-2 overall, 2-0 in league play.

Steele Canyon ran its winning streak to four games by dealing visiting Granite Hills a 28-0 loss on the Cougars’ homecoming night. Steele Canyon is also 5-2 overall, 2-0 in league play.

Helix held the lead, then had to fight back from a deficit to post its latest gridiron victory to retain the rights for the 19th consecutive year to the Claymore Sword in the teams’ annual rivalry game. Kenny Ewert kicked the visiting Highlanders to an early 3-0 lead but Mt. Miguel stormed back on a 50-yard scoring run by quarterback Aaron Bryant to catapult the Matadors (4-3, 1-1) to a 7-3 edge.

Helix regained the lead at halftime, 10-7, on a 27-yard touchdown pass from Dorian Staton to Travon Van. The Highlanders then went up 17-7 when Larry Gist scored on a 34-yard run in the third quarter.

Bryant brought Mt. Miguel back into the game by scoring on a one-yard run. The Matadors later had a chance to win the game when Bryant (117 passing yards) lofted a pass to a wide-open receiver with just over two minutes to play but the receiver dropped the ball in a case of what could have been.

Mt. Miguel coach Tom Karlo indicated there were several other plays that could have proven decisive in the outcome.

Helix coach Donnie Van Hook was complimentary of the Matadors, calling Mt. Miguel the best team his squad had played since its 27-0 season opening loss to defending Division II champion Oceanside.

Elliott Taylor keyed the Matadors with 160 rushing yards.

Jamie Dale scored Steele Canyon’s opening two touchdowns — both on three-yard runs — and Joey Guillory (four-yard run) and Brandon Hughes (two-yard scoring pass from quarterback Nick Stathas) completed the scoring. Eric Carrillo tacked on all four extra points.

The Cougars led 21-0 at halftime. Dale finished the game credited with 113 yards to give him 664 yards and eight rushing touchdowns on the season.

Defensively, Steele Canyon recorded three interceptions — one each by Brandon Brown, Tony Minnifield and Miles Minich (who also recovered a fumble). Junior LeMarie was also credited with a fumble recovery in the game. The Cougars, who also made a successful goal line stand against Granite Hills, are allowing less than seven points in their last four games.

The loss was the second in league play for the Eagles, who dropped to 4-3 overall. Granite Hills will next play at Monte Vista (0-2, 1-5-1) on Oct. 27.

The Eagles managed just 176 offensive yards against Steele Canyon, led by Joey Sutherland (16 rushes, 52 yards).

Mt. Miguel will host Valhalla on Oct. 27 in a battle of teams with winning records. Both the Matadors and Norsemen will be vying for seeding position in the upcoming Division III playoffs.

Valhalla flattened visiting Monte Vista, 31-12, on homecoming night last week as quarterback Tomas Karagianes had a hand in three touchdowns with 117 passing yards and 94 rushing yards while teammate Zack Romero (26 rushes, 152 yards) added a four-yard scoring run and Josh Qeuja boomed a 39-yard field goal.

For the season, Karagianes has thrown for 792 yards this season while Romero has rushed for 608 yards.

Monte Vista’s two touchdowns came courtesy of Levi Miller (51-yard run) and Nick Williams (27-yard run).

Grossmont North League
Grossmont Foothillers return to familiar territory

The Grossmont High School football team finds itself in familiar territory once again two games into Grossmont North League play: undefeated and alone at the top of the league standings.

The defending league champion Foothillers took a big step toward defending their league title after downing host West Hills, 17-12, on Oct. 20. The win raised Grossmont’s record to 4-3-1 overall, but more importantly, 2-0 in league play. The loss was the fourth straight for the Wolf Pack, which dropped to 4-4 overall, 0-2 in league play.

Marcus Flores kicked a 32-yard field goal and Augie Williams scored on a three-yard run, both in the second quarter, to stake the Foothillers to a 10-3 halftime lead. The Wolf Pack narrowed the score to 10-6 in the third quarter on the second of Jonathan Wick’s two 35-yard field goals in the game but Grossmont responded with a 24-yard scoring pass from Charlie Piro to Josh Simms to go ahead 17-6 in the final quarter.

Raleigh Sevier scored on an 11-yard run for West Hills but the two-point conversion run failed, leaving the Foothillers with a five-point win.

Both teams are up for berths in the upcoming San Diego Section Division II playoffs and the Oct. 20 victory could stand up huge for Grossmont for seeding purposes.

The Foothillers have now won two consecutive games after suffering through a 0-2-1 stretch while the Wolf Pack has failed to regain the winning formula it showed in blitzing out to a 4-0 start.

West Hills, which has dropped its last four games by a total of 16 points, will attempt to get back in the victory column when it visits El Cajon Valley (0-2, 3-5-0) on Friday, Oct. 27, while Grossmont has a bye this week.

El Cajon Valley is coming off a 43-10 loss to Santana.

Williams and Khalid Waters were the primary ball-carriers against the Wolf Pack, combining for 137 yards.

Grossmont head coach Judd Hulbert feels his team has several legitimate Division I college recruits, notably among them Flores and Williams.

Hulbert said he feels Flores will be kicking on Sundays in four years. “He is very good,” the Foothillers coach said. “He already holds all of our kicking records but one and, two years ago, he was second in the county in (kicking) points.”

Last season, Flores kicked two game-winning field goals in the last seconds of both games.

Flores demonstrated why he is a top college recruit in Grossmont’s first game this season by successfully converting four extra-point attempts while adding a field goal in a 31-0 victory against Horizon Christian. He just missed hitting a 52-yard field goal. All three of his kickoffs sailed into the end zone, including two that traveled beyond the end line.

Flores holds the school record with 26 career field goals. His leg could prove pivotal in upcoming league contests against El Capitan and Santana, as well as in the playoffs.

Hulbert said Williams, who plays both running back and safety, has great speed, great talent and, perhaps most important of all, a 4.6 GPA. “All of the Ivy League schools and high academic schools from all over the place want him,” Hulbert said.

Williams has rushed for 573 yards and nine touchdowns this season.

Sevier has rushed for more than 700 yards while scoring seven touchdowns as the main ground force for West Hills this season. Quarterback Eric Fiege has thrown for 767 yards and seven touchdowns — much of that to top wideout Trevor Kolocheski (24 receptions for 402 yards, six touchdowns).

El Cajon Valley counters with Kianie Brooks, who has piled up the yardage this season (nearly 2,000 yards passing and rushing combined touchdowns with 17 touchdowns) but the overall play of the Braves has been inconsistent.

Brooks totaled 173 yards in the loss to Santana, scoring on a three-yard run. El Cajon Valley moved the ball offensively with nearly 400 yards to its credit but failed to execute on critical plays.

The Sultans have the task this week of taking on the second-ranked team in the section: the El Capitan Vaqueros. Santana will hope to play not only the role of visitors but also of spoiler’s.

The game expects to be a long one with the passing attacks of both teams. Sultan QB Collin Taylor threw for 208 yards and five touchdowns against El Cajon Valley to give him 1,237 passing yards and 19 touchdowns in seven games. Jon Tippin tied his own school record with 29 points in the game on four touchdowns, three extra-point kicks and one two-point conversion run. He leads the Grossmont Conference with 110 points.

Santana, at 4-2 overall and 1-0 in league play, is only playing nine games this season and can guarantee itself a winning campaign by winning one of its final three games. A pair of victories — or a sweep – could hand the Sultans one of the higher seeds in the upcoming Division IV playoffs.

El Capitan quarterback Ryan Lindley leads the section with 2,076 passing yards and 20 touchdowns. His main targets thus far include A. J. Conti (41 catches for 825 yards, five touchdowns), Ben Noy (36 catches for 565 yards, nine touchdowns) and Michael Holz (29 catches for 385 yards, three touchdowns). The Vaqueros are not a one-dimensional team, as Ben Wilkins has displayed with 454 rushing yards and six touchdowns.

Conti, who also serves as the team’s place-kicker, had recorded 22 extra-points and two field goals this season to rank as the Grossmont Conference’s top kickers.

El Capitan is off to a 7-0-0 start (1-0-0 in league) for the first time in the Lakeside school’s 48-year history and community pride is running rampant as the team zeroes in on a possible perfect 10-0-0 season, Grossmont North League championship title and top seed in the upcoming Division III playoffs.

Postseason
The San Diego Section playoffs kick off Nov. 17.

The Division I, Division II, Division III and Division IV championship games are scheduled Monday, Dec. 4, at Qualcomm Stadium. The Division V championship game is scheduled Friday, Dec. 8, at a site yet to be announced.

Twelve teams qualify for the Division I, Division II, Division III and Division V playoffs and 10 teams for the Division IV playoffs. Current divisional alignments may be amended on Oct. 27, according to a release from the offices of the San Diego Section.

Quarterfinal-round play is scheduled Nov. 24, with semifinals following on Nov. 30 (Dec. 1 for Division V).

The inaugural state bowl games are slated following the section finals at The Home Depot Center in Carson.

Coastal League
Christian evened its league record at 1-1 while upping its overall record to 5-2 by dismantling Army-Navy Academy, 65-0, Oct. 20 at Granite Hills High School. Danny Mitchell threw three touchdown passes and ran for another score while Lawrence Walker scored twice on long runs and Kyler Dwyer returned a kickoff 76 yards for a touchdown while nailing a 37-yard field goal and kicking eight extra points in the game.

The Patriots wasted little time in pouncing on their opponent, leading 31-0 after the opening quarter and 45-0 at halftime. Christian rolled across 21 points in the third quarter.

Walker rushed for 134 yards while Mitchell passed for 123 yards. On defense, Sammy Sniff intercepted a school-record three passes.

Kurt Metcalfe returned an interception 45 yards for a touchdown and also scored on a seven-yard run. Mitchell fired a 44-yard scoring strike to Chris Camp and hit Jordan Graves on a 10-yard scoring pass in the second half. Patrick Kelly rounded out the scoring in the game on a one-yard run.

The Patriots had five interceptions in the game, with John Ferreira recording a pick and also making a fumble recovery.

Christian next plays Oct. 28 against Bishop's (2-0, 6-1) at La Jolla High School.

Measuring up
Grossmont Conference
Overall Records (Through Oct. 21)
El Capitan 7-0-0
Helix 5-2-0
Steele Canyon 5-2-0
Santana 4-2-0
Grossmont 4-3-1
Granite Hills 4-3-0
Mt. Miguel 4-3-0
Valhalla 4-3-0
West Hills 4-4-0
El Cajon Valley 3-5-0
Monte Vista 1-5-1

Coastal League
Overall Records
(Through Oct. 21)
Christian 5-2

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 (3-2-1)
5. La Costa Canyon (3-2-0)
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
Warner Springs (6-0-0)
San Pasqual Academy (60-0)