The 2024 high school regular season kicked off with the Grossmont Foothillers and Patrick Henry Patriots slugging it out in a scoring fest that featured 125 points between the teams in a 77-48 Patrick Henry non-league win.
The Foothillers had the chance to close out the regular season with an even higher scoring game against the host Granite Hills Eagles in a Grossmont Hills League clash. The teams combined for a San Diego Section record 136 points with the Eagles setting a section record for most points scored in a single game in a 90-46 win.
The teams combined for 20 touchdowns (13 by the Eagles and seven by the visiting Foothillers) and 1,187 total offensive yards (631 by the hosts and 556 by visitors) in the marathon game that featured a whopping 213 plays from scrimmage.
Fans who witnessed the history-making game actually got two games’ worth of plays for the price of one ticket.
Granite Hills head coach Kellan Cobbs said it was the “craziest” game he’d ever coached.
Granite Hills senior Max Turner (three rushing, one receiving) and Grossmont junior Noah Walker (four receiving) led the scoring parade with four touchdowns apiece. Turner rushed 13 times for 164 yards and caught two passes for 13 yards. Walker had 10 catches for 145 yards.
Overall, there were 14 passing touchdowns and six rushing touchdowns in the thrill-a-minute contest.
Granite Hills sophomore signal-caller Zac Benitez completed 28 of 41 passing attempts for 371 yards and eight touchdowns while Foothillers senior quarterback Thomas Donovan completed 28 of 46 attempts for 515 yards with six touchdowns and two interceptions. Benitez finished with a 136.3 passing rating.
Granite senior Trenton Ingram caught five passes for 107 yards and three touchdowns while senior teammate Lathan Fry had six catches for 84 yards and two scores. Senior Brenden Lewis (11 catches, 126 yards) and junior Emilio Vera (one catch, eight yards) matched Turner with one receiving TD.
Sophomores Gage Spalding (three carries, 41 yards) and An¬thony Mattar (four carries, 36 yards) each scored one rushing touchdown for Granite Hills.
Grossmont senior Parker Vanderbergh had seven catches for 190 yards and one touch-down while senior Amari Riley had five catches for 145 yards and one touchdown. Foothillers junior Damar Smith rushed 23 times for 79 yards and one touchdown.
The 2024 season continues for both teams. Both the Eagles (No. 3 seed in Division I) and Foothillers (No. 3 seed in Division IV) will have byes in the opening round of the playoffs.
Granite Hills finished as last year’s Open Division champion while Grossmont finished runner-up in the Division III championship game.
