Posted Oct. 3, 2005

Just how good are the Santana Sultans? Just how good are the Valhalla Norsemen? Both teams will find out when they put their respective undefeated records on the line in a highly anticipated matchup on Friday, Oct. 7, at Valhalla High School.

Santana enters the high profile contest 5-0; Valhalla is 4-0.

Kickoff for the game pitting East County unbeatens is 7 p.m.

The Sultans matched last year’s 5-0 start after defeating El Centro Southwest, 23-15, on Sept. 30. Santana fought back from a 7-0 halftime deficit in the desert on three second-half touchdowns and a 30-yard field goal. Collin Taylor, who passed for 236 yards, scored twice on short runs while Jonathan Tippin, who had 123 receiving yards, ripped off a 62-yard scoring run to seal the non-league victory.

The Sultans fought back from an early deficit ton take a 17-7 lead in the fourth quarter. The host Eagles responded with a touchdown and successful two-point conversion to trim the visitors’ lead to two points, 17-15, before Tippin’s romp gave the Sultans some much-needed breathing room.

The 15 points were the most points scored in one games this season against the Santana defense. In four games, the Sultans have outscored opponents 134-22.

Tippin had 238 all-purpose yards in the win, including 115 rushing yards. Richard Martinez keyed the Sultans defense with a pair of touchdowns. Santana had four picks overall in the contest.

Valhalla, led by San Diego Section rushing leader Garen Demery, has also shined on both sides of the ball to start this season with a 198-58 scoring differential. The Norsemen, who had last week off, blasted their last opponent, El Capitan, by a score of 70-7 on Sept. 23.

Demery enters the Oct. 7 matchup with 977 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns to his credit. Other contributors, on offense and defense, to the Norsemen’s perfect start include Ryan Denton, Tomas Karagianes, Jonathan Murray, Mike Howard, Spencer Myers, Gabe Cruz, Kevin Hirsch, Sam Bauchmann and Nick Ruiz, among others, especially the team’s unsung heroes in the trenches (offensive and defensive linemen).

Santana will be mindful of last year’s second-half downturn that saw the team finish 1-4 in its final five games to miss the divisional playoffs. The Norsemen have much to prove over the course of the second half of the season as well after engineering a strong start last season only to finish 5-5 and also be left out of the postseason playoffs.

Both teams will also be out to prove to critics that they are worthy playoff qualifiers this season despite racking up a combined 9-0 record against teams with combined 10-27 records. Santana’s five wins this season have come against teams with a combined 4-17 record while the Norsemen’s four victories have come against teams with a combined 6-10 record.

Valhalla will also be out to regain its Top 10 position in the weekly San Diego Sportswriters/Broadcasters poll. The Norsemen had risen as high as ninth in the rankings but dropped out this week after not playing last week.

Rancho Bernardo (4-0), Mira Mesa (3-1-1), Oceanside (4-0), Valley Center (4-0), Torrey Pines (4-1), San Pasqual (4-0), Vista (2-1-1), Carlsbad (3-1), La Costa Canyon (4-1) and Cathedral Catholic (3-1) entered this week as the top 10-ranked teams in the San Diego Section.

Other teams receiving votes in the weekly poll included, in descending order, Valhalla, Santa Fe Christian, Castle Park, Eastlake, Santana, West Hills, El Cajon Valley and Otay Ranch.

The Braves continued their own playoff quest by upping their record to 4-1 after defeating the host Bulldogs on Sept. 30. Section passing leader Abraham Muheize threw three touchdown passes — two to Clifton Thomas — as El Cajon Valley never trailed in the non-league contest. Muheize, who passed for 253 yards in the win against the Bulldogs (2-3), also hit Jon Cortez on a scoring strike while Nate Schad scored on a short touchdown run. Both of Thomas’ catches went for long distance — 69 and 56 yards.

Muheize has passed for 1,458 yards and 19 touchdowns this season.

In five games, the Braves have outscored opponents by a combined 195-86 margin. Like Valhalla and Santana, El Cajon Valley failed to qualify for last year’s playoffs, finishing 4-6.

The Braves next host a resurgent Steele Canyon Cougars squad (2-2) that has won its last two games. Kickoff is 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 7.

The Wolf Pack improved to 4-1 after racking up eight touchdowns against the visiting Eagles. Trevor Kolocheski caught four scoring passes from Philip Staback, who finished the night with six touchdown throws and 379 passing yards overall. Staback also threw scoring passes to Ryan Sevier (74 yards) and Daniel Craig (37 yards).

West Hills scored early and often, leading 21-7 at the end of the first quarter and 42-20 at halftime. The Wolf Pack outscored Granite Hills (2-2) by a 21-7 second-half margin. E.J. Brown (one-yard run) and Tyler Wright (15-yard run) both added rushing touchdowns for the winners, who will next play at Mt. Miguel on Friday, Oct. 7.

Staback enters that game with 1,087 passing yards and 14 touchdowns to his credit.

Granite Hills, which saw its two-game winning streak ended, received two touchdowns from Cullen Hayes and one each from Ronnie Corpus and Joey Sutherland. The Eagles will seek to return to the win column when they next play at Sweetwater (0-3-1) on Oct. 7.

The Matadors (2-2) handed El Capitan (2-3) its third consecutive defeat as quarterback Jeff Freeman tossed a pair of scoring passes while also rushing for a touchdown. Laron Rush (seven yards) and Warren Thodile (25 yards) each caught touchdown passes for the Matadors, who closed the door on a Vaquero comeback attempt with a pair of fourth-quarter rushing scores. Karlin Stewart’s 37-yard scoring burst gave Mt. Miguel a 34-21 lead after El Capitan had closed the margin to 28-21 on a 12-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Lindley to Shawn Callen.

The Matadors opened up a 13-0 lead when Vince Gaxiola scored on a fumble recovery and Freeman later hit Rush. The score stood 13-7 at halftime in Mt. Miguel’s favor. El Capitan responded to take a 14-13 lead on a pair of touchdown scores by Adam Denick (three-yard run) and Callen (seven-yard pass from Lindley). However, the Matadors promptly replied with a pair of unanswered scores of their own while adding a two-point conversion, to regain the lead. A 20-7 scoring edge in the final quarter of play sealed the verdict for the visitors.

The game was a battle of quarterbacks: Lindley passed for 199 yards while Freeman passed for 164 yards. On the season, Lindley has thrown for 1,011 yards and eight scores while Freeman has passed for 727 yards and four touchdowns.

Mt. Miguel will host defending Grossmont North League champion West Hills on Friday, Oct. 7, while El Capitan will play defending San Diego Section Division IV champion Santa Fe Christian (x-x) on Oct. 7 at West Hills High School.

The Foothillers (2-2) won their second game in a row after downing the host Vikings in a battle of playoff qualifiers from last season. Running backs Augie Williams (106 yards) and Jeff Waters (93 yards) keyed Grossmont. Williams scored twice from distances of three and two yards while quarterback Charlie Piro (122 passing yards) and receiver Luis Gonzales (six catches for 88 yards) hooked up on a 20-yard score. Grossmont’s defense held up, holding La Jolla to negligible rushing yardage. The Vikings’ lone touchdown in the game came on a blocked punt recovery in the end zone.

The Foothillers will be out to make it three wins in a row when they host winless Monte Vista (0-4) on Friday, Oct. 7. Kickoff is 7 p.m.

A defensive stand late in the fourth quarter sealed the win for the Cougars, who evened their record at 2-2 following a 0-2 start. Steele Canyon trailed the visiting Lancers, 7-6, on the strength of two field goals by Ricky Araiza before quarterback Ross Epperson scored from six yards out in the fourth quarter. Epperson then threw a successful two-point touchdown conversion to Eric Carrillo to erase Hilltop’s lead. It was then time for the Cougar defense to take control, stopping the Lancers’ Tyler Trenga on a fourth-down and short-yardage play late in the game. Hilltop, which looks to have the talent to break out from its 1-9 season in 2004, had led 7-3 at halftime on a three-yard touchdown run by Kevin Diaz.

The Patriots (3-1-1) extended their unbeaten streak to three games (2-0-1) by scoring the final two touchdowns of the game against the unbeaten Tigers (3-0-1). Scott Allen (four yards) and Lawrence Walker (72 yards) each scored rushing touchdowns for Christian, which trailed 14-0 at halftime. After the Patriots tied the score at the end of three quarters, neither team was able to find the end zone in the final period. Christian’s Pat Kelly was credited with the block on a potential game-winning field goal attempt by Imperial in the dying seconds of the game. Walker was credited with 184 rushing yards for the Patriots, who have a week off before meeting Army-Navy (3-1) in a Coastal League matchup on Oct. 15.

Monte Vista and Helix – the dominant powers in last year’s Grossmont South League – both suffered their fourth consecutive losses to kick off play this season. Monte Vista (0-4) fell 36-24 to visiting Cathedral Catholic (4-1) while Helix (1-4) suffered a 45-21 setback at undefeated Otay Ranch (5-0).

For the second week in a row, Monte Vista’s Jules Dawson returned a kickoff for a touchdown (95 yards against Cathedral Catholic) but it wasn’t enough to keep the Monarchs out of the loss column. Demetrius Sumler paced the Dons with 263 rushing yards and four touchdowns.

Helix received touchdowns from Justin Johnson, Kenslow Smith and Derrick Perrault in its loss to Otay Ranch, which now owns a 13-2 record midway through its second varsity season. The Highlanders never led in the game but closed to within 24-21 midway through the third quarter?

Venture Christian defeated Calvary Christian, 31-28, to improve to 3-0 on the season. Ben Robertson, T.J. Najera, Erik Molumby and Brandon Johnston all scored touchdowns for Venture Christian. Molumby also stood out on defense with four sacks and one blocked punt.