The Mountain Empire High School football team is 5-1 on the season … and, drum roll, 2-0 in league.
That is certainly something to cheer about, but the season isn’t over quite yet, especially with a possible playoff berth looming as the wins keep mounting.
The Redhawks scored their latest win in dramatic fashion with last Friday’s 36-35 squeaker over the visiting Victory Christian Knights from Chula Vista.
“We scored late and went for two points to put us up by one,” Mountain Empire coach Cameron Keller said. “Michael Noble (senior) made an interception late in the fourth quarter. We had to convert on third-andshort, got penalized, and had to punt. Victory missed a 40-yard field with three seconds left.”
The Knights’ misfortune proved to be the winning formula for the Redhawks.
Top performers last Friday included sophomore Elisha Lashone Robinson with 230 yards rushing and three touchdowns and junior Chance Ross with 106 rushing yards and two touchdowns. The Redhawks out-gained the Knights 453-335 in total offensive yards.
Junior Mason Hotka had an interception on defense while junior Amar Mahasin and sophomore David Oden each recorded sacks. Senior Jason Landman led the team with nine tackles.
VCA (1-1 in league, 1-4 overall) led 21-12 at halftime before the hosts out-scored the visitors 28-14 in the second half.
Senior Chato Garcia passed for 115 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. He also rushed for 112 yards and scored once on the ground. Senior Gabriel Aguirre (17 carries, 87 yards) also scored one rushing touchdown while seniors Austin Dill (four catches, 79 yards) and Ben Cordova (one catch, 22 yards) each scored receiving touchdowns.
Aguirre, who amassed 121 yards on five kick returns, scored on a kickoff return and tacked on one kicking point. Mountain Empire travels to the city to next take on the O’Farrell Charter Falcons (1-0, 2-3) Friday at 4 p.m.
Eastern exposure
Grossmont Hills League and Grossmont Valley League teams kick off league play this weekend. At stake are school pride and playoff berths. Grossmont Hills League teams will play four games to determine a league champion while Grossmont Valley League teams will play five games. League champions receive automatic entry into the San Diego Section playoffs.
Steele Canyon (6-0) enters Friday’s game among 12 teams still undefeated in the section following last Friday’s 28-0 win over visiting Dorsey (2-3).
The Cougars have four games remaining on their regular season schedule — all league matchups (Friday against visiting El Capitan, Oct. 17 at Mt. Miguel, Oct. 24 at Helix and Oct. 30 at home against defending champion Granite Hills).
The Men of Steele will be facing a Vaquero team (4-2) on a four-game winning streak following last Friday’s 16-3 win at West Hills. Senior Brody Copp (11 carries, 72 yards) and sophomore Hayden Passanisi (118 passing yards) each scored touchdowns for El Capitan, which has out-scored its last two opponents 54-3.
Senior Nico Jara keyed the Cougars to their latest win with three touchdowns — two receiving (two catches, 63 yards) and one rushing (one carry, three yards).
Junior quarterback Gavin Caha passed for 108 yards and two touchdowns while junior Malcolm Ballard had one catch for 23 yards, junior Marcus Hunt had five carries for 27 yards and junior Abel Lopez had nine carries for 21 yards.
Defensively, senior Tyree Zarkaryan and Jara each recorded one sack while senior Vincent Pryor and junior Jamieson Sablan each had fumble recoveries.
In the other Hills opener, Helix (1-5) will play at No. 7 Mt. Miguel (4-2). Both teams are coming off non-league losses: No. 25 Helix 13-0 at No. 15 Mater Dei Catholic (3-3) and Mt. Miguel 26-25 at No. 12 Oceanside (2-3).
Grossmont Valley League play kicks off with three games on Friday: Valhalla (1-4) at Grossmont (4-1), Santana (3- 2) at El Cajon Valley (2-3) and Monte Vista (3-2) at West Hills (0-5), all 7 p.m. starts.
Grossmont improved to 4-1 with last Friday’s 36-13 nonleague win over the visiting Mira Mesa Marauders (3-2) as the No. 29 Foothillers racked up 453 total offensive yards.
Junior quarterback Tyler Holmes (83 passing yards, 57 rushing yards) had two rushing touchdowns and passed for another while junior A.J. Hooker broke loose with 189 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Junior Logan Struck caught a 20-yard scoring pass.
Defensively, senior Ryder Robinson had three sacks, senior Jay Smith had an interception and fumble recovery, senior Colton Burke had six tackles and one sack while junior Nate Clark had five stops. “It’s always good to be in the win column,” Grossmont head coach Anthony Lawrence said. “We hope to win league. It is not the Hills, but still good quality teams that are tough. We have to play well every week to win it.”
MIDSEASON REPORT
Defending Division I section champion Granite Hills pulled into this week’s bye with a 3-3 record following last Friday’s 40-30 non-league loss at No. 2 Cathedra Catholic (5-0). The setback was the third consecutive following a vibrant 3-0 start to the season.
The Eagles remain the No. 6-ranked team among the section’s 87 tackle squads, No. 2 among Division I teams.
“It was a good game, we came up a little short,” Granite Hills head coach Kellan Cobbs said. “We need to find a way to continue to get better. Unfortunately, with the loss it looks like we’ll be most likely down in Division I, so we’ll just have to focus on ourselves and making sure we’re getting better every week in league.
“We have a big-league test right out of the gates for us with Mount Miguel (at home on Oct. 10). They’re a top 10 team (No. 7 ranking), so I fully expect them to give us everything they have. They have about eight Division I football players on their team, so we will need to be ready and focused to win. I think our kids are up for the challenge.” Junior Zac Benitez passed for 372 yards with two touchdowns and one interception, while also rushing for a score against Cathedral Catholic.
Junior Gabe Spalding had one rushing touchdown while seniors Noah Walker (five catches, 92 yards) and Isaiah Rodriguez (two catches, 38 yards) each caught a scoring pass.
Senior D.J. Wilkins had nine catches for 105 yards while junior Jacob Nunez tacked on six kicking points, including a 34-yard field goal.
Mt. Miguel continues to play at a high level, carrying a 4-2 overall record after last Friday’s 26-25 non-league loss at No. 12 Oceanside (2-3).
