The Mt. Miguel Matadors suffered just one regular season loss last season — that being 24-13 to the Bishop’s Knights. The Matadors avenged that loss last Friday by a score of 34-14 to remain the East County’s lone undefeated high school football team through four weeks of play.
The Spring Valley team has inched its way up to No. 11 among the 87 San Diego Section 11-person football teams ranked by CalPreps.
The top four teams in the final rankings qualify for the Open Division playoffs and the next 12 for Division I. At the moment, No. 5 Granite Hills (3-1), No. 11 Mt. Miguel (4-0) and No. 13 Helix Charter (2-2) all would qualify for the Division I playoffs if the rankings ended this week. There’s a good chance they could meet one another, which would produced fireworks between them.
The Matadors play both in upcoming Grossmont Hills League play, so that could serve as a preview.
In the meantime, all three teams are coming off big wins last Friday.
Granite Hills returned to the victory column by bulldozing visiting Eastlake, 49-16, while Helix stunned host Madison, 23-20, besides Mt. Miguel’s rock-solid win.
Other East County winners last week included Steele Canyon (19-13 over visiting El Capitan), West Hills (7-0 over visiting Morse), Santana (26-25 at Olympian), Monte Vista (35-28 over visiting Coastal Academy) and Foothills Christian (55-42 at Sage Hill).
That’s eight wins; that’s a solid showing for East County squads.
Mt. Miguel piled up 400 yards in total offense against Bishop’s (1-2) with juniors Zane Rottier and K.J. Shields each scoring two touchdowns in the second half as the Matadors ripped open a decisive 34-7 lead.
Junior Nesean Harvey keyed the visitors with eight tackles. Senior Dominic De Arcos had one sack while sophomore Dominic Lopez blocked one punt.
Senior Isaiah Jackson rushed for 147 yards and one touchdown and junior Jerome Stevens passed for 152 yards and one score to senior Harlem Harris (three catches, 79 yards) as Helix shaded the Warhawks (1-3). The game-winning points came on a last-second 27-yard field goal by Aubrey Lane, who finished the game with five kicking points by converting two of three extra-point attempts.
Senior Bradford Tharpe logged one interception on defense for the Scotties, who have now won two consecutive games following a 0-2 start to the season. Junior Jeremy Davis added one sack to go with a team-leading 10 tackles whole junior A.J. Alvarado had two tackles for losses.
Sophomore Gavin Caha passed for 201 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for another score to pace Steele Canyon past the vis¬iting Vaqueros, who have now dropped their last three games. Senior Austin Haisch caught 10 passes for 115 yards, including two touchdowns, for the hosts.
Senior Marquis Gamble recorded one sack and one fumble recovery while senior Stefan Raschtshenia also had one fumble recovery. Caha also averaged 45 yards on two punts.
El Capitan (1-3) scored two touchdowns in the game as senior Brandt Barker passed to senior Ayden Benegas for two receiving scores. Barker completed 11 passes for 186 yards while Benegas had six receptions for 91 yards. Benegas also rushed six times for 35 yards.
Junior Logan Dulyea caught one pass for 41 yards while senior Brady Joralemon had five carries for 37 yards. Senior Aaron Altamirano keyed the Vaqueros defensively with 16 tackles. Juniors Brewin Ford and Josh Vasquez each had one sack while senior Riley Jones had one interception.
Senior Kaedyn Hallman rushed for 97 yards and scored two touchdowns to lift the Santana Sultans (3-1) past the host Olympian Eagles (1-3).
Sophomore Ethan Miller passed for 129 yards with a 42-yard completion to senior Noah Qualin.
Sophomore Kolten Thornton amassed 14 tackles, including 11 solo stops, two tackles for losses and a 38-yard interception return, to key the Santana defense
Host West Hills scored on its first drive, then put the clamps on the visiting Tigers’ offense to nab the shutout victory to even its record at 2-2.
Junior Anthony Rosalino passed 10 yards to senior Edgard Leon for the game’s lone touchdown and the Wolf Pack defense proceeded to limit Morse to 46 rushing yards in the game. Junior Jacob Romero gained 79 rushing yards for the victors.
Monte Vista eclipsed Coastal Academy on a 24-yard scoring pass from junior Derrick Taylor to junior Rahshawn Florence with 16 seconds to play for the one-point win. Senior Alex Villanueva rushed for 208 yards and scored four times to buttress the Monarchs (2-2).
East County Football Log
NON-LEAGUE
Friday, Sept. 13
Granite Hills 49, Eastlake 16
Mt. Miguel 34, Bishop’s 14
Helix 23, Madison 20
Steele Canyon 19, El Capitan 13
Santana 26, Olympian 25
West Hills 7, Morse 0
Monte Vista 35, Coastal Academy 31
Foothills Christian 55, Sage Hill 42
Southwest San Diego 31, Valhalla 14
Santa Fe Christian 21, Christian 6
Crawford 35, Mountain Empire 0
Holtville 56, El Cajon Valley 0
Friday, Sept. 20
All games at 7 p.m. unless noted
Helix at Cathedral Catholic
Steele Canyon at Valhalla
West Hills at Patrick Henry
El Capitan at Montgomery
El Cajon Valley at Clairemont
Otay Ranch at Grossmont
Cornerstone Christian at Foothills Christian
Byes: Santana, Monte Vista, Mt. Miguel, Granite Hills, Christian, Mountain Empire
CALPREPS TOP 40 RANKINGS
SAN DIEGO SECTION WEEK 4
1. Lincoln (2-2), 2. La Costa Canyon (4-0), 3. Carlsbad (3-1), 4. Cathedral Catholic (3-1), 5. Granite Hills (3-1), 6. San Marcos (4-0), 7. Mission Hills (3-1), 8. Rancho Bernardo (4-0), 9. El Camino (2-1), 10. La Jolla (3-1), 11. Mt. Miguel (4-0), 12. Del Norte (2-2), 13. Helix (2-2), 14. Poway (3-1), 15. Oceanside (2-2), 16. Brawley (3-0), 17. Torrey Pines (1-3), 18. Mater Dei Catholic (0-3), 19. Scripps Ranch (4-0), 20. Santa Fe Christian (3-1), 21. Madison (1-3), 22. University City (3-0), 23. Bishop’s (1-2), 24. Mt. Carmel (4-0), 25. La Jolla Country Day (2-2), 26. Pt. Loma (1-2), 27. Central Union (3-1), 28. Imperial (4-0), 29. Steele Canyon (3-1), 30. St. Augustine (0-4), 31. Valley Center (3-1), 32. Patrick Henry (3-1), 33. Christian (2-2), 34. Eastlake (1-3), 35. Holtville (4-0), 36. Chula Vista (3-1), 37. Grossmont (2-1), 38. Escondido (2-1), 39. San Diego (3-1), 40. Ramona (1-3). Others: 70. Monte Vista (2-2), 74. El Cajon Valley (0-4), 78. Valhalla (2-2), 86. Mountain Empire (1-3)
