Five East County high school football teams remain undefeated through the opening three weeks of the new season. The Grossmont Foothillers, Santana Sultans and West Hills Wolf Pack are all 3-0 while the Christian Patriots and Valhalla Norsemen are both 2-0.
The perfect starts bode well for what is a long and winding season for most teams.
“It’s nice to get off to a good start, but regardless of the start, championships are won in October and November,” West Hills head coach Casey Ash said. “If we stay healthy and continue to improve, we will put ourselves in position to contend. The defense has led the way so far, but we have received really solid play from our quarterback and offensive line as well.”
Senior quarterback Evin Dill passed for 68 yards and one touchdown and rushed for 105 yards and one touchdown to key the Wolf Pack offense.
West Hills handed Mira Mesa (2-1) its first loss of the season with 297 total yards in offense, buttressed by 229 rushing yards. Junior Marquis Leath rushed four times for 42 yards while junior Evan Dorris rushed four times for 36 yards. Senior E.J. Lee-Fields had seven carries for 28 yards.
Junior Chuck Rosolino had three catches for 35 yards while Leath caught two passes for 28 yards. Leath collected 70 all-purpose yards while Rosolino had 53 all-purpose yards (35 receiving, 18 kick returns).
Dill racked up 173 total yards. Junior Jackson Davis caught a five-yard scoring pass.
Defensively, Lee-Fields led the Wolf Pack with eight tackles while junior Enzo Magnarelli had six stops, including five unassisted tackles. Junior Ryan Hamilton had one sack while seniors Zach Waters and Seth Creech shared one sack. Senior Caden Johnson had one interception.
West Hills next plays at Hilltop (2-1) on Friday in a bid to pile up a 4-0 start.
Grossmont 28, Bonita Vista 14
Senior quarterback Tyler Holmes had another big day both with his arm and his legs in last Friday’s non-league win against the visiting Barons (0-3). Holmes competed 23 of 37 passing attempts for 296 yard with three touchdowns and two interceptions. He also rushed 12 times for 51 yards to lead the Foothillers with 347 total yards.
Senior Jonah Martinez keyed Grossmont’s receiver corps with six catches for 143 yards and one touchdown while senior Nate Clark had nine catches for 109 yards and one touchdown. Junior Jackson Baird caught a four-yard scoring pass.
Senior Rudy Gomez led the Foothiller defense with 15 tackles while junior Vinny Michelson made 11 stops, including three tackles for losses. Baird logged two sacks while junior Izrael Lewis had one sack. Junior Diego Encinas had one fumble recovery.
“We cannot complain about a win, especially against a tough Bonita Vista team, but we have a lot to clean up for the rest of the season,” Grossmont head coach Anthony Lawrence said. “We have a big test at Point Loma this week.”
The No. 6-ranked Pointers improved to 3-0 on the season following last Friday’s 52-25 Battle for the Shoe rivalry game win against La Jolla.
Santana 35, Brawley 0
The host Sultans received 304 passing yards and three touchdowns from senior Ethan Miller, who also rushed for one score.
Senior Kolton Thornton caught five passes for 148 yards, including one for 75 yards, and two touchdowns while senior Dillon Timanus had two catches for 17 yards and one TD. Senior Denton Goar had seven catches for 71 yards, including one measuring 42 yards.
Junior Julian Mayers had eight carries for 71 yards with one touchdown while Thornton had one carry for 14 yards to finish the game with 162 total yards.
Senior Brayton Knight had 11 tackles, including eight solo and two for a loss, while junior Cameron Cipro and Tatum Morehouse each had eight tackles.
Junior Ryder Miller had seven tackles while Thornton chipped in with six unassisted stops.
Senior Brody Tena had two fumble recoveries. Cipro had one caused fumble.
Senior Brenden Varner had four catches 27 yards and was successful on all five PAT conversions.
“It was a fun game,” Santana head coach Tim Estes said. “Brawley (0-3) is better than their record shows. They have some talented players. I am glad we played them early.
“Our offense has done a really good job of spreading the ball around to different players. We had nine different players with receptions and five with rushing attempts. Our defense has done a great job getting to the football and creating turnovers.”
Christian 17, Bishop’s 3
With an early injury to senior quarterback Kaleb Runkle, senior Kai Rosier stepped in to lead the Patriots to the key non-league victory over the Knights. Rosier rushed 10 times for nine yards with two touchdowns and completed five of eight passing attempts for 48 yards.
Sophomore Julian Morones also stepped up with 107 rushing yards on 20 carries. He also completed one pass.
Before he left the game, Runkle had three carries for 29 yards and completed two passes for seven yards.
It added up to a gritty win for the Patriots, who next play at Olympian (1-2) this Friday.
Valhalla 66, Castle Park 0
The Norsemen remained undefeated on the strength of nine touchdowns against Castle Park, including six by sophomore Camryn Conley — two receiving, two on punt returns and two on kickoff returns.
Senior Jayden Hunter scored two rushing touchdowns Three other Valhalla players each scored once: freshmen A.J. Wright (receiving), Tyrell Brown (receiving) and Deven Segovia (rushing).
Conley had two kickoff returns for 69 yards and two punt returns for 137 yards including one for 69 yards. He added 74 yards on three catches for 280 all-purpose yards.
Senior quarterback Jeremiah Loper completed five of eight passing attempts for 151 yards and three touchdowns — two to Conley. Junior Adrian Wilson completed two passes for 66 yards — both for touchdowns.
Lopez also had one carry for 20 yards to finish the game with a 145.8 quarterback rating. During his time behind center, Wilson notched a 177.1 QB rating.
Hunter had seven carries for 60 yards while Segovia had three carries for 37 yards. Wright had three catches for 86 yards while Brown had one catch for 57 yards.
The Norsemen generated 478 all-purpose yards against the Trojans (1-2). Valhalla will seek a third consecutive win this Friday against visiting Mar Vista (2-1).
Helix 27, St. Augustine 20
Juniors Jacob Andrew-Johnson (98 yards) and Jeremy Robinson (88 yards) each reutrned intercepted passes for touchdowns to key the Highlanders to their second consecutive win.
“It was a gutsy win, we were down early because a turnover and their offense capitalize,” Helix head coach Damaja Joens said.
“Our defense played awesome with two interceptions returned for touchdowns and multiple sacks at the end of the game to secure the victory.
That was our third road game in a row and had to fight and claw to win. This week we have a huge test vs an old rival in O-Side.”
The No. 15 Highlanders host No. 10 Oceanside this Friday.
