Cougars, Foothillers, Monarchs, RedHawks have scoring woes

By Ramon Scott
Updated: September 17, 2021

2021 EAST COUNTY PREP FOOTBALL

EastCountySports.com staff report

CAJON 39, GROSSMONT 7

EL CAJON – The Homecoming festivities were wonderful and the first half of the Foothillers’ intra-sectional game with the Cajon Cowboys wasn’t too bad, either.

Trenton Giles passed to Elijah Williams for a 37-yard score in the second quarter and the Hillers trailed just 20-7 at halftime with the celebratory fireworks still yet to come.

“(Williams) was a powerful runner for us again,” Grossmont head coach Chris Holmes said. “Grossmont’s Homecoming was electric. The atmosphere was infectious. The fireworks capped off a great Homecoming.”

Cajon had most of the fireworks in the second half.

Grossmont’s defense did have its moments, however.

Cavin Howard led the Foothillers with 10 tackles (5 solo), while Ryan Odom added seven tackles (5 solo).

Brennan Sanders had five solo tackles and a forced fumble.

The Foothiller defense recorded 4 sacks, including one from junior T.J. Smith.

Seniors Luke Yruretagoyena and Jacob Benevente had interceptions for the Hillers.

Giles passed for 208 yards against the Cowboys.

Senior Ryan Rodieck caught five passes for 51 yards for Grossmont.

“I thought we played well at times versus another very talented school,” Holmes said. “We had a lot of missed opportunities offensively. However, we threw quite a few interceptions and missed on some big throws. A lot of work ahead of us especially in the execution category. Our special teams need to get back on track.”

No. 3 LINCOLN 43, STEELE CANYON 10

SPRING VALLEY – Cougar junior Majors Givens rushed for over 100 yards against the Hornets, who are clearly one of the top three teams in the section.

Steele Canyon quarterback Eric King hit Givens with a 23-yard touchdown, as well.

Nathaniel Gillis had six solo tackles to lead Steele Canyon. He also had an interception.

Former Grossmont Foothiller Nathan Acevedo had a 72-yard touchdown reception for Lincoln.

The Cougars are going to face Cathedral Catholic this Friday

The Dons are currently back to being ranked second in the section behind top-ranked Carlsbad.

Cathedral, however, is the strongest-rated team in the section, according to the computer power ratings.

Steele Canyon (1-4) is off to its poorest start since 2013 when it also was 1-4 on the way to a 2-9 mark.

The Cougars also started 1-4 in their first-ever season in 2002, finishing 2-8.

IMPERIAL 31, MONTE VISTA 0

SPRING VALLEY – The Monarchs can turn the page on the non-league schedule after going 0-4. Monte Vista will clearly need to set its sights directly on its next opponent – the El Cajon Valley Braves.

Imperial (2-2) got a touchdown pass from Chris Tiermann in the second quarter to give the Tigers a two-score lead.

Imperial added a field goal from 37 yards in the third quarter to extend the lead to just 17-0, so the Monarchs were able to stay in proximity of the Tigers for the majority of the contest.

Working hard on defense were Keyvion Jones, Jaylen Richardson, and Tony Lewis.

“Well, we’re struggling just to put enough players on the field,” Monte Vista head coach Ron Hamamoto said. “Our whole team goes both ways and we have only six seniors. I can’t say that our kids aren’t putting forth a great effort but we’re just struggling so much. Only scoring 12 points total (this season), you’re not gonna win very many ball games. It’s going to be a grind for the rest of the season.”

CRAWFORD 8, MOUNTAIN EMPIRE 0

PINE VALLEY – A great defensive effort was all the RedHawks could give against the Crawford Colts on Friday night.

With their starting quarterback out with a broken ankle, the RedHawks could really only run the ball, and that proved difficult without any obvious diversity in their offense.

A safety was the only score until the final minutes of the game when the Colts took advantage of good field position and ended up scorin the only touchdown of the contest.

“We played really great defense but just couldn’t get anything going on offense,” Mountain Empire assistant coach Ricky Prince said. “Unfortunately, (QB) Corey Vann broke his ankle in the last play last week. Our standouts tonight were Larry Clark and Chaz Ennis, who solidified the D-line.”

Larry Clark, playing with a cast on his arm following his own fracture two weeks ago, led the RedHawks with nine tackles.

Senior Chaz Ennis had eight stops, including four solo tackles.

Senior Pedro Castaneda had a sack and five solo tackles.

Lukas Spencer recorded a sack, as well, for the ‘Hawks.

Landon Laskey had a sack, a batted pass, and a fumble recovery for the RedHawks.

“I thought our defense was very dominant and we physically beat them on defense,” Laskey said. “I hope we can fix some of our offensive problems at practice this week.”

Sophomore Wyatt Morgan had an interceptions for MEHS (1-3)

Crawford won for the first time in five starts.