Grossmont Hills League play kicked off last Friday and, perhaps not too surprisingly, both the Helix Charter Highlanders and Granite Hills Eagles got out to 1-0 records with sizable wins.
Helix defeated the host Steele Canyon Cougars, 53-21, while Granite Hills defeated visiting Grossmont Foothillers by a score of 55-0.
Both the Highlanders and Eagles improved to 6-2 overall. Steele Canyon dropped to 1-7 on the season, 0-1 in league, while Grossmont remained winless at 0-8, 0-1 in league.
“I thought we played an overall solid game,” Helix coach Damaja Jones said. “We knew Steele has played a tough schedule and they would be ready to play us. Our mentality was to throw records out the window once we get into league play because anything can happen.
“Our guys responded by getting some early scores and getting stops. I’m proud of how they played.”
Junior quarterback Ryland Jessee had a big night in the aerial department for the Scotties with 283 passing yards with five touchdowns against one interception for a 132.8 quarterback rating. He also rushed six times for 53 yards.
The Highlanders racked up 479 total offensive yards to 158 for the Cougars.
Junior Kevin Allen III rushed 11 times for 63 yards and two touchdowns. Junior Jackson Daniels caught four passes for 154 yards and two touchdowns while junior Kyyza Matovu (two catches, 37 yards), junior Shon Martin (two catches, 29 yards), Allen (three catches, 30 yards) and senior Dorian Keirsey (one catch, 20 yards) all recorded one touchdown reception.
Junior Walker Laub completed three of seven passes for 42 yards and one touchdown as the Scotties collected 325 passing yards on the night. Junior Josh Hossmann-Lees tacked one five extra-point conversions. Senior Major Givens keyed Steele Canyon with 149 all-purpose yards – 83 rushing ad 66 on kick returns.
Givens (17 carries) and junior Johnathan Sablan (eight carries, 34 yards) scored one rushing touchdown apiece Junior Jacob Azevedo had an 82-yard in interception return for a touchdown while junior Michael Lindley had a fumble recovery.
Junior Manoouel Saka led the Cougar defense with 13 tackles. Givens averaged 11 yards on six kickoff returns while senior A.J. Cornthwaite returned one kick 22 yards. Lindley had one return for 16 yards.
Grossmont hosts Helix this Friday while Granite Hills hosts Steele Canyon as league play enters its second week.
Soaring Eagles
Granite Hills cannot afford to look past its next opponent when eyeing Helix on the end if its regular season schedule in two weeks.
The Eagles took care of business early against the Foothillers early en route to chalking up win No. 1 in league play this season.
“It was good to get off to a fast start,” Granite Hills coach Kellan Cobbs said. “The defense keeps scoring — Easton Peterson had two pick-sixes. He’s playing at an all-CIF level. Big game this week against Steele; the kids need to stay focused and keep putting together good practices.”
The Eagles scored all their points in the first half – 34 in the first quarter and 21 in the second quarter.
Parlan Sanders connected on a 50-yard touchdown pass with Colin Riley, Nico Tomasello scored on a 25-yard run, Max Turner scored on a one-yard run and Peterson returned picks 33 and 28 yards for touchdowns. Zak Darling tacked on a 60-yard scoring run, Josh Zander connected with Tomasello on a 25-yard scoring pass and Davion Green scored on a 27-yard run in the second quarter for the hosts.
Peterson has six interceptions so far this season.
