The moment has finally arrived, and it didn’t disappoint without its share of fanfare — or upsets, for that matter.
No. 4 Granite Hills and No. 11 Mt. Miguel, both 5-1 on the season, established themselves as the teams to beat in the Grossmont Hills League with league-opening wins over Steele Canyon (39-0) and Grossmont (63-26), respectively.
Meanwhile in the Grossmont Valley League, the Valhalla Norsemen snatched a 31-14 win over the visiting Santana Sultans while El Capitan topped Monte Vista, 39-21, to also go 1-0 in league play. Tack on a 28-6 win by West Hills over El Cajon Valley.
There’s a lot more to be settled over the remaining four weeks of regular season play, including a huge non-league clash between Granite Hills and No. 2 Cathedral Catholic that could scramble the seeding for the upcoming Open Division playoffs.
Granite Hills 39, Steele Canyon 0
The Eagles opened defense of their league title with the shutout win over the neighborhood rival Cougars. Senior Max Turner rushed six times for 125 yards and two touchdowns to lead the 143-yard ground attack while sophomore Zac Benitez passed for 210 yards and three scores.
Benitez also rushed for 18 yards to collect 228 total yards while Turner had four receiving yards for 129 total yards in the game.
Benitez completed touchdown passes to senior Brendan Lewis (two catches, 70 yards), senior Lathan Fry (three catches, 39 yards) and Turner (one catch, four yards). Senior Trenton Ingram had one catch for 72 yards, though he did not score.
Granite Hills out-gained Steele Canyon 353-231 in total yards. Turner led the hosts with 18 points on three touchdowns (two rushing, one receiving).
Senior Trevor Smith keyed the Eagles defensively with 12 tackles while junior Brayden Wells, sophomore Travin Shahbaz and senior Jonathan Deleon each recorded one sack. Senior Parker Vance caused a fumble while Wells recovered the loose ball. Senior Luis Huertas returned an intercepted pass 27 yards for a defensive touchdown.
Smith had two punt returns in the game for 47 yards, including one return for 32 yards. Senior Trent Whillock chipped in with three kicking points.
The loss was the second consecutive for the Cougars (0-1, 4-3). Senior Jacob Vazquez led the visitors with 94 rushing yards on 18 carries while senior John Weaver IV had 54 yards on 13 carries.
“The kids did a good job Friday against Steele Canyon,” Eagles head coach Kellan Cobbs said. “The offense was creating big plays and the defense created turnovers. If we are going to beat Cathedral (in Friday’s non-league game), we will need to sustain drives on offense. They do a great job of clock control, so we can’t afford to have any three-and-outs. We will need to limit No. 9 (sophomore athlete Honor Faalave) and No. 6 (junior receiver P.J. Johnson) on explosive plays and must win first down on defense. If we can get them to third and long, we will be in a good spot.”
The Dons are coming off a 42-0 non-league win over St. Augustine in the teams’ annual Holy Bowl encounter. Faalave and senior Jonathan Solomon each scored two rushing touchdowns while Parker returned a punt 45 yards for a touchdown.
Mt. Miguel 63, Grossmont 26
The Matadors got back in the win column in a ferocious way as junior quarterback A.J. Stowers passed
for 318 yards and five touchdowns and rushed for another score.
Mt. Miguel racked up 553 total offensive yards in the contest and nine touchdowns.
Senior Ezelle Buchanan (four catches, 89 yards) had two receiving touchdowns. Junior A.J. Logan had six catches for 83 yards and one touchdown while junior Brandon Arrington had two catchers for 35 yards and one touchdown while also returning a kickoff for a touchdown.
Junior Parris Vernon had one rushing and one receiving touch¬down. Arrington had one carry for 33 yards while junior K.J. Shields had three carries for 32 yards and one touchdown.
Vernon had 65 receiving yards on four catches while Stowers gained 50 yards on two carries. Junior Mekhi Yancy had six carries for 58 yards. Senior Delontay Williams had two catches for 43 yards.
Senior Clint Ettleman nailed nine PAT conversions.
Stowers has passed for 1,358 yards and 12touchdowns in five games while Logan has accumulated 605 receiving yards and six touchdowns.
The Foothillers dropped to 3-3 overall in an up-and-down season.
El Capitan 39, Monte Vista 21
Senior Brandt Barker passed for 242 yards and two touchdowns and senior Brady Joralemon rushed for 54 yards and two touchdowns to help the Vaqueros even their overall record at 3-3.
Junior Brody Copp (seven carries, 54 yards) scored one rushing touchdown for El Capitan while sophomores Michael Valencia (seven catches, 143 yards) and Braiden Linder (three catches, 26 yards) each caught scoring passes. Senior Ayden Banegas had four catches for 78 yards.
The Vaqueros out-gained the Monarchs (2-4 overall) 380-225 in total yards.
Senior Aaron Altamirano keyed the Vaqs on defense with 12 tackles while senior Evan Ortega had a fumble recovery.
Senior Brayden Ford had eight kicking points on five successful PAT conversions and a 29-yard field goal to further boost El Cap on the scoreboard.
“We started league last week against. Monte Vista and came out on top,” El Capitan coach Ron Burner said. “It was a hard fought-game for sure.
“We are going to have to play great football and stay healthy if we are going to have a chance to win league. We are already down two starters —who we hope to get back by the Santana game (on Oct. 18).
Senior Alex Villanueva (22 car¬ries, 79 yards) scored three touchdowns for Monte Vista — two rushing and one on a kickoff return.
Valhalla 31, Santana 14
The host Norsemen scored a big win at the right time of the season to put their hat in the ring for a league championship. Junior quarterback Jackson Newman rushed 19 times for 190 yards and two touchdowns while senior Joshua Armstrong had 11 carries for 49 yards and one rushing touchdown.
Newman also passed for 56 yards to amass 246 total yards in the game. Junior Lorenzo Matos returned an intercepted pass for a touchdown while junior Anderson Turner logged seven kicking points on four extra-point conversions and a 33-yard field goal.
Senior Evan Hanulak also had an interception while senior Albert Kerota had a fumble recovery on defense.
Valhalla was dominant with 365 total offensive yards to 201 for the Sultans (0-1, 4-2).
Senior Kaedyn Hallman (13 carries, 71 yards) scored one rushing touchdown while freshman Tatum Morehouse scored on a fumble recovery for Santana, which had a three-game winning streak snapped.
West Hills 28, El Cajon Valley 6
Senior Joey Hamilton (49 passing yards) completed a touchdown to senior Brayden Reed (two catches, 19 yards) and junior Christian Slojkowski kicked two field goals to help the Wolf Pack level its overall record at 3-3.
Junior Jacob Romero led West Hills on the ground with 11 carries for 58 rushing yards while sophomore Rocky Carmona (six carries, 61 yards) scored one rushing touchdown for El Cajon Valley, which remained winless on the season at 0-6.
East County Football Log
Friday, Oct. 4
GROSSMONT HILLS LEAGUE
Granite Hills 39, Steele Canyon 0
Mt. Miguel 63, Grossmont 26
GROSSMONT VALLEY LEAGUE
El Capitan 39, Monte Vista 21
Valhalla 31, Santana 14
West Hills 28, El Cajon Valley 6
SUNSET LEAGUE
Rock Academy 24, Mountain Empire 6
NON-LEAGUE
Edison (Huntington Beach) 42, Helix 14
EIGHT-PERSON
Foothills Christian 47, Noli Indian 0
CalPreps Rankings San Diego Section
TOP 30 TEAMS
1. Lincoln 4-2, 2. Cathedral Catholic 5-1, 3. La Costa Canyon 6-0, 4. Granite Hills 5-1, 5. Mission Hills 5-1, 6. San Marcos 5-1, 7. Carlsbad 4-2, 8. Torrey Pines 3-3, 9. Rancho Bernardo 5-1, 10. El Camino 4-2, 11. Mt. Miguel 5-1, 12. Scripps Ranch 5-0, 13. Oceanside 4-3, 14. La Jolla 4-2, 15. Del Norte 3-3, 16. Brawley 6-0, 17. Santa Fe Christian 5-1, 18. Poway 3-3, 19. Mt. Carmel 5-1, 20. Mater Dei Catholic 3-3, 21. Imperial 7-0, 22. Helix 2-4, 23. Bishop’s 3-2, 24. Madison 2-4, 25. University City 6-0, 26. Pt. Loma 3-3, 27. Central Union 5-2, 28. Christian 4-2, 29. Holtville 7-0, 30. Escondido 4-2
Others: 36. Steele Canyon 4-3, 43. El Capitan 3-3, 46. Grossmont 3-3, 51. West Hills 3-3, 57. Santana 4-2, 68. Monte Vista 2-4, 73. Valhalla 3-3, 82. El Cajon Valley 0-6, 86. Mountain Empire 1-5
