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 home 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.
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).”
