Watch out, the East County’s big guns have started to fire salvos! That means trouble.
The Helix Highlanders recorded their third consecutive win and the Granite Hills Eagles won for the second consecutive week in downing a pair of highly regarded adversaries in non-league play last Friday.
Granite Hills edged the No. 1 Mission Hills Grizzles, 28-27, while Helix topped No. 10 Oceanside 20-13.
The Granite Hills-Mission Hills contest came down to a missed two-point conversion on the part of the Grizzlies in a bid to win the game.
“It was a good game,” Eagles head coach Kellan Cobbs said. “It was tied up 21-21 with about three minutes left in the game. We drove down and scored with about 50 seconds left. They then went down and scored with 13 seconds left went for two points but they didn’t get it.”
Quite a dramatic ending, indeed.
Senior quarterback Zac Benitez completed 17 of 23 passes for 250 yards and two touchdowns while rushing 18 times for 43 yards and two scores to spearheaded the Eagles offensively. Senior Courtney Miller-Thompson caught six passes for 54 yards and one touchdown while junior Jonah Hamilton had four catches for 86 yards and one TD.
Hamilton logged one catch for 67 yards. Other pass-catchers included senior Jesse Wilhite (two catches, 51 yards), sophomore Manny Walker (four catches, 49 yards) and junior Jaden Sheridan (one catch, 10 yards).
Granite Hills rolled up 396 yards in total offense with 146 rushing yards split between Benitez, senior Gage Spalding (15 carries, 77 yards), junior Niko Williams (seven carries, 18 yards) and Miller-Thompson (two carries, eight yards).
Wilhite collected 106 all-purpose yards while Benitez racked up 293 total yards.
Senior Jacob Nunez had four kicking points.
The Eagles defense weathered 458 yards in total offense by Mission Hills. Seniors Cayden Phillips and Eurijah Schutza led the GHHS defense with 10 tackles each. Wilhite had one interception while sophomore Jamir Alverez recovered a fumble.
At 2-1, Granite Hills next encounters Los Alamitos (0-4) in a home game this Friday.
The Helix-Oceanside rivalry has included several CIF playoff matchups, among them championship games. The Highlanders snapped a seven-game losing streak against the Pirates with this year’s road victory.
The Scotties generated 223 yards in total offense with one passing score and one rushing score from senior signal-caller Caden Thompson (116 passing yards, 33 rushing yards, 149 total yards). Junior Stephon Fuentes did the bulk of the ball-carrying with 18 attempts for 69 yards.
Junior Jeremy Robinson caught three passes for 78 yards and one touchdown while junior Jacob Andrew-Johnson had two catches for 37 yards. Junior Jacob Martin-Del Campo recorded two of three PAT conversions.
Helix used ball possession to keep the Oceanside defense on the field and the Pirates offense off the field, including a 20-play scoring drive in the second quarter that featured three fourth-down conversions.
The Highlanders led 7-6 at halftime. An interception by senior Jordan Fuga halted one O-Side drive that had reached Helix territory. The East County visitors reeled off 20 unanswered points following an early Pirates touchdown by junior Neke Letuli (14 carries, 65 yards).
The Scotties and Pirates met nine times in the playoffs from 2000-14. Oceanside leads the section with 17 CIF division titles.
At 3-1, the No. 10 Highlanders now prepare to host No. 3 Cathedral Catholic, which is coming off a commanding 63-0 non-league win at Mater Dei Catholic (0-4) for its first win of the season.
