The first round of Grossmont Valley League play kicked off last Friday with the three winners emerging with 1-0 league records: the Grossmont Foothillers, Santana Sultans and, yes, West Hills Wolf Pack.
Grossmont defeated the visiting Valhalla Norsemen, 38-8, while Santana shaded the host El Cajon Valley Braves, 21-14. West Hills found it timely to record its first win of the season with a tight 7-6 win over visiting Monte Vista Monarchs.
Forging ahead
Grossmont recorded its third consecutive win to improve to 5-1 on the season courtesy of three touchdown passes from junior Tyler Holmes, who completed 15 of 25 attempts for 193 yards to go with seven carries for 14 yards.
Touchdown receptions went to senior Colton Burke (once catch, 30 yards), senior Randy Ballard (four catches, 83 yards) and junior A.J. Hooker (three catches, 29 yards).
Sophomore Corbin Dow keyed the Hillers on the ground with 86 yards on 16 carries and two touchdowns.
Grossmont out-gained Valhalla 308-121. Junior Logan Struck also had three catches for 26 yards.
Each team had three sacks on defense — one each by senior Lorenzo Matos and junior Liam Hypes and a half-sack each by junior Nathan Sullivan and senior Brody Shartel for the Norsemen and one sack each by senior Ryder Robinson, sophomore Vinny Michaelson and senior Maddox Yeargan for the Foothillers, who overall logged 12 tackles for losses.
Matos led VHS with eight tackles, including two for losses.
Juniors Nate Clark and Rhyden Doehring each had fumble recoveries.
The Foothillers return to the gridiron this Friday against Santana in an instant matchup of prime league contenders. The Sultans (4-2 overall) returned to the win column to snap a two-game losing streak following a 3-0 start.
It’s a pairing not only vital to the league standings but also playoff seeding. Grossmont entered the week at No. 21 in the section rankings while Santana is No. 51.
The Foothillers would rank fifth out of the 12 teams in the Division II tier (Steele Canyon would be No. 2) while the Sultans would be near the bottom of Division IV (headed by the Christian Patriots).
Santana overcame four interceptions to post the win over the Braves (2-4 overall). Sophomore Julian Mayers (30 carries, 137 yards) scored two rushing touchdowns and junior Kolten Thornton (three carries, 14 yards) added one to power the Sultans.
The game was not necessarily big on offense as Santana out-gained ECV 185-119 in total yards. Santana’s 151 rushing yards helped keep the ball on its side of the field more.
Senior Jaquari Wash completed six of 20 passing attempts for 69 yards and one touchdown to junior Amir Miller (two catches, 35 yards).
Santana senior Jordyn Gillissie had seven tackles, one sack and two quarterback hurries.
Juniors Gavino Kendall-Pinal and Rashaunn Barr and seniors Leo Jones and Devaun Alexis each had one interception. Senior Paul Marcelin racked up 15 tackles.
ECV next laces up its boots this Friday at Monte Vista (3-3 overall) with the winner going 1-1 in league play to stay in the championship race.
West Hills 7, Monte Vista 6
Both teams had chances to break the early goose-egg. The Monarchs turned the ball over on downs inside the Wolf Pack 12-yard line while West Hills senior kicker Christian Slojkowski missed a 32-yard field goal attempt.
Senior Anthony Gastelo scooped up a fumble on a muffed punt by West Hills (1-5 overall) and went the other way for a 15-yard touchdown. But the point-after attempt failed, leaving the Monarchs with a 6-0 lead.
West Hills’ game-winning touchdown came in the fourth quarter as junior Evin Dill (39 rushing yards, 149 passing yards) scored on a two-yard keeper and Slojkowski was true on the PAT attempt.
The Wolf Pack next plays Friday at Valhalla.
