The 2026 high school football season took an exciting turn last Friday for the El Capitan Vaqueros as they recorded their third consecutive victory by derailing the visiting West Hills Wolf Pack, previously undefeated in Grossmont Valley League play, by a tenuous score of 20-19.
“It was a crazy game played hard by both teams,” El Capitan head coach Ron Burner said.
“It went back and forth most of the game up until late in the fourth. Their kicker was knocked out of the game on a run, so they had to go for two points each time — and made each one.
“We scored and kicked off with about five minutes left. We held them and then just had to get a first down or two to seal the game. We busted off a long 60-yard run but as one of their guys was trying to make a tackle another defender came and punched out the ball.
They recovered and went down and scored and then got the two-point conversion to go ahead 23-22.
“We had a penalty on the kickoff, so we started from our 10. We moved the ball all the way up the field with no timeouts and 52 seconds remaining. We ran a few out-passes and then an out-and-up. The defender was beat bad and grabbed onto our receiver for a pass interference call. We had 15 seconds left on the 23-yard line, so we kicked the field goal to win the game.
“Both teams had some pretty good plays with West Hills running a reverse for a TD and a two-point conversion on their last TD to go ahead by one.”
Senior Anthony Mattar (nine carries, 64 yards) scored two rushing touchdowns for El Capitan while senior Elijah Arzu (six catches, 103 yards) had a receiving TD from junior quarterback Hayden Passanisi (130 passing yards).
Senior Ryder Powers blocked a punt and also kicked the game winning field goal.
Additionally, junior Michael Castillo had 12 carries for 61 yards while Arzu had four carries for 32 yards.
The Vaqueros host El Cajon Valley (0-3 in league, 2-6 overall) this Friday and close out regular season play Oct. 30 at Valhalla.
WH senior quarterback Evin Dill passed for 183 yards and one touchdown and rushed for 76 yards and another score. Sophomore Xavier Moffat had one catch for a 40-yard touchdown while rushing twice for 39 yards and one TD.
Junior Rene Varela-Ugalde caught six passes for 77 yards wnile senior Zach Waters recorded three tackles for losses.
Senior E.J. Lee-Fields and junior Chuck Rosolino each scored on two-point rushing conversions.
Santana 20, Valhalla 19
Could anyone stop the marauding Valhalla Norsemen? The Santana Sultans finally seemed to have found an answer in last Friday’s road win in El Cajon.
“It was a fun game,” Santana head coach Tim Estes underscored. “Our defense played great, holding them to just two offensive touchdowns. Dillon Timanus blocked a PAT and had an interception. Their offense had only one real scoring drive. They had a pick-six, and we mishandled a punt that resulted in our punter being tackled at the seven-yard line.
“We were down 19–7 but battled back to win 20–19. Our offense did a great job running the ball and keeping their offense off the field.
“It was a true team effort. Valhalla is a good team that has put up a lot of points this year, and we knew we needed everyone to contribute and make plays in all three phases of the game to come away with the win. It was great to see the entire team step up when it mattered most.”
Senior QB Ethan Miller passed for 171 yards and two touchdowns — one each to seniors Denton Goar (five catches, 49 yards) and Kolton Thornton (nine catches, 60 yards). Sophomore Landon Braaksma (nine carries, 56 yards) scored one rushing TD.
Junior Julian Mayers had 24 carries for 90 yards.
Valhalla received touchdowns from sophomore T’Marrion Williams (pick six), freshman A.J. Wright (three catches, 16 yards) and senior Jayden Hunter (12 carries, 81 yards).
“We have Monte Vista next,” Estes said. “Their record (3-5 overall) doesn’t show it but they are a very tough team. We are still working on the game plan for them. I am looking forward to playing them on Friday night.”
