The Granite Hills High School football team is entering the meat of its 2026 schedule.
The No. 5-ranked Eagles (3-1) host No. 4-ranked Cathedral Catholic (2-2) this Friday in a high profile non-league game then jump right into Grossmont Hills League play with home games against the Grossmont Foothillers (Oct. 2) and Steele Canyon Cougars (Oct. 9).
Granite Hills closes out regular season play with three road games: at Mt. Miguel (Oct. 16), at San Jacinto (Oct. 23) and at Helix (Oct. 30).
The San Diego Section playoffs follow, plus the state playoffs.
Grossmont reached the season midpoint 4-1 following last Friday’s 54-45 non-league win over the visiting Otay Ranch Mustangs. Steele Canyon returned to the win column with a 35-0 homecoming win over El Capitan last Friday.
Helix is 3-2 after dropping a 24-19 thriller to visiting Cathedral Catholic.
There appears to be a lot more parity this season than in other years, so anything is possible on any given day.
For now, Granite Hills remains four-time defending league and CIF champions. There’s a lot of established tradition there.
“We still have a ways to go, two good wins these past two weeks, we have to build on that this week against Cathedral and continue to get better and ready for the playoffs,” said
Granite Hills head coach Kellan Cobbs in the wake of last Friday’s 35-7 non-league win against visiting Los Alamitos. “The second half of the season is typically where we hit our stride. We have a great challenge this week with probably the best team in San Diego.”
Last Friday’s clash against Los Alamitos was not a runaway until the second half. The Eagles led 14-0 at halftime but put the game away with a 21-0 run in the third quarter.
Senior quarterback Zac Benitez completed 14 of 24 passing attempts for 177 yards with three touchdowns while senior Gage Spalding rushed nine times for 105 yards and scored two touchdowns.
Senior Courtney Miller-Thompson (five catches, 106 yards), senior Jesse Wilhite (two catches, 15 yards) and sophomore Manny Walker (two catches, nine yards) each caught one scoring pass.
Junior Jonah Hamilton had three catches for 44 yards while senior Brody Vicars had one catch for 19 yards.
Granite Hills racked up 346 yards in total offense as freshman Jeriah Searcy tacked on 38 yards on three pass completions.
Benitez logged 187 total yards while Miller-Thompson had 113 total yards.
Senior Cayden Phillips and Eurijah Schutza keyed the defense with 10 tackles each. The hosts turned in four sacks and eight tackles for losses, including three by senior Travin Shabazz. Phillips, senior Jaylen Smith, Schutza and junior Silas Miller each recorded one sack.
The Eagles added interceptions by junior Ty Spencer and Wilhite and one fumble recovery by senior Gabe Luera to down the Griffins (0-5).
Helix on upswing
The host Highlanders hung close to the Dons through a scoreless first quarter and 10-6 Cathedral halftime lead.
Cathedral went up 17-6 through three quarters before the Scotties came through with 13 points in the fourth quarter.
Senior Caden Thompson passed for 224 yards and three touchdowns to keep the Scotties afloat. He also rushed nine times for 22 yards.
The hosts racked up 304 yards in total offense against the Cathedral defense. Junior Jeremy Robinson (three catches, 87 yards), junior Jermy Stevens (four catches, 84 yards) and senior Dario Bartoletti (one catch, eight yards) each caught scoring passes. Junior Jacob Andrew-Johnson added five catches fo 52 yards).
Robinson had one catch measuring 75 yards while Steven logged one for 38 yards.
Junior Stephon Fuentes led Helix on the ground with 55 yards on seven carries. He broke one run for 19-yards.
Senior Jeremy Davis led the Helix defense with 11 tackles while senior LaMarquis Sutton turned in nine defensive stops.
With three wins in their last four games, the Highglanders have moved up to the No. 8 sport in the section rankings.
“What I like the most about the first half is that we continue to get better each and every week, and every week our opponent has been a little better, so the improvements have come over quality opponents,” Helix head coach Damaja Jones said. “The second half of our season we are looking to continue to stay healthy. That will be our biggest challenge.”
The Scotties next host Mater Dei Catholic (0-5) this Friday in their last non-league contest of regular season play.
Christian still unbeaten
The Patriots upped their record to 4-0 after muzzling the Calexico Bulldogs, 44-0, last Friday in non-league play. Senior Kai Rosier turned in a big game with 235 passing yards and three touchdowns while also rushing for 21 yards and a score. He logged a 158.6 quarterback efficiency rating.
The Pats racked up 375 total offensive yards while improving to 4-0 on the season.
Sophomore Julian Morones rushed eight times for 119 yards and three touchdowns to carry the team on the ground. Senior Soren Lucey caught two passes fr 75 yards and one touchdown while junior Connor Nguyen had three catches for 105 yards and one TD.
Senior Quentin Uhland had one catch for 29 yards.
Rosier racked up 256 total yards.
Senior Xander Molina led the team with five tackles.
Christian next plays at Monte Vista (2-2) this Friday in another non-league game before hosting the San Diego Cavers in its City Conference Eastern League opener on Oct. 3.
Home of the Braves
El Cajon Valley won for the second consecurtive week to turn around a wodeful 0-3 start by hanging a 26-15 non-league loss on the host Castle Park Trojans (2-3).
Sophomore quarterback T.J. Ibrahimi passed for 285 yards with four touchdowns and one interception to lead the latest victory. He tossed three TD passes to senior Amir Miller (four catches, 113 yards) and one scoring pass to senior Gavino Kendall-Pinal (five catches, 103 yards).
Senior Janvier Kashindi added 62 rushing yards on eight carries. Senior Rashaunn Barr had two catches for 68 yards.
