When La Costa Canyon defeated top-ranked Carlsbad, 36-21, last Friday, it stirred the pot at the top of the San Diego Section football rankings.
The Granite Hills Eagles had moved up to the No. 4 slot as the final of four Open Division candidates.
Despite the loss, Carlsbad (8-1) remains as the section’s No. 1 team. Mission Hills (7-2) is No. 2, followed by No. 3 Cathedral Catholic (6-3). LCC (6-3) moves up to No. 4 ahead of No. 5 Santa Fe Christian (10-0).
Granite Hills has since slipped to No. 7 behind No. 6 Helix Charter. Both East County schools would rank among the top three seeds in the restructured Division I playoff field that has been reduced to eight teams from 12.
A rankings clash is thus on hand for this Friday’s Grossmont Hills League championship game featuring the two local heavyweights. Game time is 7 p.m. at Helix Charter High School.
Both teams are 7-2, 3-0 in league play. The winner receives an automatic berth in the upcoming section playoffs as a league champion. The loser appears a shoo-in for the playoffs.
Helix is coming off a spirited 42-14 win at Steele Canyon last Friday while Granite Hills edged state power San Jacinto, 14-13, also on the road.
Tartan Nation
The Highlanders broke out to a 21-0 halftime lead and out-scored the host Cougars 21-14 in the second half.
Senior Caden Thompson completed 14 of 17 passing attempts for 207 yards with two touchdowns and a 160.7 quarterback efficiency rating. He rushed seven times for 19 yards and two scores to have a hand (or foot) in four touchdowns on the night.
Junior Stephon Fuentes rushed 11 times for 60 yards and one touchdown.
Junior Jacob Andrew-Johnson caught six passes for 115 yards and one touchdown while Jeremy Robinson had two catches for 39 yards — both touchdowns.
Robinson also had a fumble recovery for 88 yards and a touchdown.
Helix recorded four sacks: one each by seniors Jeremy Davis, Diego Cano-Robinson and David Hubert and junior Denzel Griffin.
Steele Canyon senior Gavin Caha completed 14 of 18 passes fr 93 yards with one touchdown while senior Luke Rode threw a 32-yard scoring pass. Junior Cameron Trujillo (seven catches, 73 yards) caught both TD throws.
Rode also had an interception on defense.
The Cougars (4-5 overall, 0-3 in league) generated 233 yards in total offense.
Steele Canyon will host Mt. Miguel (2-6 overall, 0-3 in league) in Friday’s regular season finale as both teams hope to fine-tune their playoff positions.
The Cougars climbed to No. 22 in the section rankings while the Matadors are No. 57.
Like a rock
Senior Zac Benitez passed for 222 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions against San Jacinto (8-1). The Eagles pushed out to a 6-0 halftime lead on a pair of field goals by senior Jacob Nunez. The Tigers tied the score, 6-6, through three quarters before the visitors notched eight points in the final quarter to offset a touchdown by the hosts.
Benitez connected with junior Jonah Hamilton for the passing score and then scored on the two-point conversion run to give the Eagles the one-point edge in the game.
Granite Hills was limited to 42 rushing yards. Senior Gage Spalding was the leading ball-carrier with 37 yards on 17 carries. His longest run from scrimmage was 11 yards.
The passing game was a bit more successful. Sophomore Many Walker had five catches for 116 yards, including one 49-yard gain. Senior Courtney Miller Thompson had three catches for 56 yards, including one catch for 20 yards.
The Eagles slowed San Jacinto with five interceptions, including three by junior Ty Spencer totaling 46 yards. Seniors Jesse Wilhite and Daeveon Brown also had interceptions to buttress the defensive effort.
Sophomore Kolton Hopkins led the team with eight tackles while seniors Romeo Pepi and Cayden Phillips and sophomore Jamir Alverez each logged seven stops.
San Jacinto also came prepared defensively with seven sacks and two interceptions.
On the season, Benitez has passed for 2,122 yards with 28 touchdowns against six interceptions and a 122.5 quarterback efficiency rating.
Spalding leads the ground game with 482 yards and six touchdowns.
Helix has won four consecutive games, seven of its last eight, and will present a challenge.
“We need to establish the run early in the game,’ Granite Hills head coach Kellan Cobbs said. “If our defense plays like they did last week, we are going to be tough to beat. The quarterback needs to be better at getting us into the right play and distributing the ball where it needs to go. It should be a great game.”
The shakeup has moved Lincoln (4-5) to No. 8 followed by No. 9 Oceanside and No. 10 San Marcos, both 5-4 on the season. Rancho Bernardo (7-2) is No. 11 while Torrey Pines (5-4) is No. 12.
The last time the Highlanders won the league title was during the 2021-22 season.
“Our biggest challenge this week is trying to slow down their offense,” Helix coach Damaja Jones said. “ Zac is a great high school QB — he has been great since his freshman year.”
