The Grossmont High School football team logged a 9-2 overall record, 5-0 as Grossmont Valley League champions in 2025-26.
However, the Foothillers’ stay in the San Diego Section Division II playoffs was brief. After earning the No. 9 seed, Grossmont held an early 12-3 lead in its opening round game before being out-scored 42-8 over the final three quarters by the eighth-seeded St. Augustine Saints.
It was a humbling ending to an otherwise lofty season.
The Foothillers are back in the Grossmont Hills League lineup this season playing teams like Granite Hills, Helix Charter, Mount Miguel and Steele Canyon.
It’s a tough league. Granite Hills is a reigning four-time CIF champion while Steele Canyon captured last year’s Division II runner-up honors. Mount Miguel won the 2023 Division IV title. Helix has a storied tradition with 11 section titles across various divisions.
The schedule will include four league games and six non-league games.
Top returners for the Foothillers include senior quarterback Tyler Holmes, junior running back Corbin Dow, junior offensive/defensive lineman Kaiden Flores, senior defensive back Kaiden Ong, junior defensive lineman Vinny Michelson, senior receiver Jonah Martinez and senior defensive back Jonah Yost.
Holmes, Dow, Flores, Ong and Michelson all received all-league recognition last year.
Holmes passed for 1,848 yards with 25 touchdowns against seven interceptions. He also rushed for 547 yards on 129 attempts with nine touchdowns for a 96.8 quarterback rating.
Dow rushed for 1,002 yards on 135 carries (7.4 average) and also reached the end zone nine times. Martinez averaged 11.6 yards per catch with two touchdowns.
On the defensive side, Ong logged 31 tackles with four interceptions and one fumble recovery last season while Yost made 17 stops.
Impact newcomers include junior receivers Cedric Norris and Marquise Edmonds, junior receiver/defensive back Jamar McClendon, junior running back Jacob Fee and junior defensive lineman Diego Encinas.
The Foothillers have been an offensive powerhouse under head coach Anthony Lawrence, a Grossmont High alumnus who passed for 12,628 yards with 120 touchdowns while attending the University of San Diego after passing for 9,079 yards and 96 touchdowns as a prep with the Hillers.
“The goal is always to win every game,” said Lawrence, who earned honors as the Pioneer Football League Offensive Player of the Year both as a junior in 2017 and senior in 2018 at USD. “With our schedule that’s a big goal. We want to be better than last year and play competitive in every game. We lost a lot of seniors on defense but we have good young guys ready to play.”
The Foothillers kick off the 2026 prep season with a road game at Madison on Aug. 21, followed by back-to-back home games against La Jolla (Aug. 28) and Bonita Vista (Sept. 4).
