The Grossmont Hills League football championship race has, not unpredictably, narrowed to two teams: the Granite Hills Eagles and Helix Charter Highlanders.
Both squads once again picked up lopsided wins last Friday to motor out to 2-0 records in league play.
Host Granite Hills upended neighborhood rival Steele Canyon, 35-7, while host Helix defeated Grossmont, 49-12, to claim the Battle for the Musket rivalry trophy between the neighboring schools.
The Musket game, dating to 1951, is one of the most famous rivalry matchups in San Diego County.
The rivalry started when Helix split off from Grossmont High School because of increasing enrollment. For a time, the schools shared the came campus before Helix received its own campus in La Mesa.
The teams play for “Old Betsy,” an antique Civil War-era musket donated by the family of Helix’s first senior class president Jack Campbell. The trophy has traditionally resided in the Helix library.
Grossmont last won it in 1991.
The Highlanders won decisively, 56-26, in 2024 to build on recent wins in 2023 (57-8) and 2022 (42-17).
The Scotties (6-2 overall) defeated visiting Mount Miguel, 42-8, two weeks ago to claim the Claymore Sword rivalry trophy between the schools.
“Rivalries are always fun, and the history behind them brings excitement to the game,” Helix head coach Damaja Jones said. “As of right now we are playing good football and I’m excited to see how far we can go. We take pride in having the Claymore and Musket, because so many before us have played in those games we want to make sure we keep tradition alive.”
Helix led 28- 6 at halftime in this year’s matchup.
Helix entered this week ranked No. 5 in the section, closely followed by No. 6 Granite Hills (5-2 overall). The teams are slated to meet Oct. 30.
Granite Hills capped its Senior Night victory as senior Zac Benitez passed for 297 yards with four touchdowns — three to senior Courtney Miller-Thompson (six catches, 121 yards) and one to junior Jonah Hamilton (six catches, 62 yards).
Senior Gage Spalding rushed seven times for 44 yards and one touchdown. Senior Jesse Wilhite had three catches for 60 yards while adding 47 yards on kick returns to finish the game with 107 all-purpose yards.
With three regular season games remaining (all on the road), the Eagles are fine-tuning their game for prime time.
“The offense did a much better job of playing with good tempo,” Granite Hills head coach Kellan Cobbs said. “We had almost 400 yards, so that is always a positive night. Special teams did a great job of setting us up with good field position. “The defense played physical and did a good job of getting in the back field.”
The Eagles limited Steele senior quarterback Gavin Caha to 136 passing yards. Senior Marcus Hunt had 11 carries for 60 yards while senior Josiah Stocker had four catchers for 44 yards.
Senior Luke Rode keyed the visitors with eight tackles.
Granite plays at Mount. Miguel (0-1 in league, 2-4 overall) this Friday.
Carlsbad (7-0) remains the section’s No. 1-ranked team, followed by No. 2 Mission Hills (5-2), No. 3 Cathedral Catholic (4-3) and No. 4 Santa Fe Christian (7-0). Rounding out the top 10: No. 7 Oceanside (4-3), No. 8 La Costa Canyon (4-3), No. 9 San Marcos (4-3) and No. 10 Lincoln (2-5).
REDHAWKS WIN
Mountain Empire picked up its first Desert League win, 41- 14, at Caliptaria last Friday. The Redhawks improved to 1-1 in league play, 5-3 overall, with two regular season games remaining on their schedule (both league games).
Mountain Empire built a 28-0 halftime lead and tacked on 13 second-half points in cruising to the victory.
Senior quarterback Chance Ross completed four of 10 passing attempts for 134 yards with two touchdowns and one interception while junior Elisha Robinson had 15 carries for 294 yards and scored four touchdowns.
Seniors C.J. Bynum (one catch, 85 yards) and Amar Mahasin (one catch, 28 yards) each caught touchdown passes.
Junior Angel Avila led the defense with 12 tackles, one tackle for a loss and one forced fumble.