Is there such a thing as a five-peat?
The Granite Hills Eagles, flying high with four consecutive divisional section titles, will find out in the upcoming 2026 high school football season.
Granite Hills defeated top-seeded Lincoln, 41-29, to claim last year’s Division I championship after shading top-seeded San Marcos, 42-25, to win the 2024 Division I banner.
The Eagles engineered a dramatic goal-line stand to weather a late Lincoln rally, 27-26, on the final play of the game in the 2023 open Division final.
Granite Hills started its roll in 2022 by defeating Ramona, 48-12, to capture the first CIF title in school history. The Eagles went on to defeat San Ramona Valley, 31-24, in overtime to win the 2-A state bowl championship.
Is a fifth straight section banner in the works? It’s a possibility, according to head coach Kellan Cobbs.
“We have one of the hardest schedules in the county again this season,” the Granite Hills grid-iron boss said. “We will be battle tested and ready for league play. We start with four teams that are ranked in the top 12 in the county and also play Los Alamitos which finished in the top 10 in the state last year, so it’s a very difficult start to the season.
“We end with one more top team in the Southern Section (San Jacinto) and rival Helix. Our defense will be young but athletic. Our offense will hopefully put up a lot of points.”
The Eagles ended last season in the Southern California regional championship game with a 42-35 loss to Oxnard Pacifica that was decided in the waning minutes. The team’s final record was 10-4 following a 4-0 showing in Grossmont Hills League play.
Top returners include All-CIF quarterback Zac Benitez, All-CIF offensive lineman Seth Haisch, second team all-league pick Cayden Phillips at linebacker, all-league receiver/defensive back Jesse Wilhite, all-league linebacker Eurijah Schutza and three-year starter Gage Spalding.
Benitez turned in a monster season with 4,009 passing yards and 42 touchdown passes. He also rushed for 189 yards and four touchdowns.
Seven juniors scored 20 rushing touchdowns last season, led by Spalding (407 yards) with seven scores and two each by Davion Williams (451 yards), Anthony Mattar (267 yards), Seth Rodriguez (257 yards) and Schutza (14 yards). Brody Vicars tacked on one TD.
On the other hand, seven seniors racked up 37 receiving touchdowns. That’s obviously an area that needs to be re-stocked.
Defensively, Phillips ranked second on the team last season with 83 tackles, including 11 for losses and five sacks (also second on the team). Schutza contributed 65 tackles.
Wilhite (five interceptions, two fumble recoveries) is considered the top two-way player in the county.
Impact newcomers include receiver Courtney Miller-Thompson, junior tight end/receiver Jonah Hamilton and sophomore linebacker Levi Moore.
Miller-Thompson arrives from Lincoln with 1,700 career receiving yards.
Hamilton is a potential scholarship recruit. He can jump after playing the spring season on the school’s boys volleyball team.
Moore is moving up from last year’s junior varsity team.
The Eagles kick off the new season with road games at Oceanside (Aug. 21) and Mater Dei Catholic (Aug. 28), followed by home games against Mission Hills (Sept. 11), Los Alamitos (Sept. 18) and Cathedral Catholic (Sept. 25).
Granite Hills kicks off league play Oct. 9 with a home game against Steele Canyon, the runner-up in last year’s Division II CIF final.
Preseason state rankings place Cathedral Catholic at No. 11, followed by Granite Hills at No. 13, Los Alamitos at No. 14 and Mission Hills at No. 15.
Other San Diego Section teams in the top 15 rankings include No. 17 Carlsbad and No. 24 Lincoln.
Santa Margarita enters the season as the state’s No. 1 team.
Preseason section rankings place Granite Hills at No. 6 behind behind No. 1 Cathedral Catholic, No. 2 Lincoln, No. 3 La Costa Canyon, No. 4 Carlsbad and No. 5 Mission Hills. Rounding out the top 10 are No. 7 San Marcos, No. 8 Point Loma, No. 9 Torrey Pines and No. 10 Mount Miguel.
Other East County teams earning preseason rankings include No. 14 Helix, No. 22 Steele Canyon, No. 28 Christian (Division III champions in 2025), No. 35 Grossmont , No. 48 El Capitan, No. 57 Santana, No. 61 West Hills, No. 62 Monte Vista, No. 70 Valhalla, No. 75 Mountain Empire, No. 81 El Cajon Valley and No. 86 Foothills Christian.
Movement up and down will start with opening week.
