Week 8 Highlights (Slideshow by Susan Cooper Photography)

Smith's safety ignites Cougars past Eagles © East County Sports.com JAMUL (10-25-08) — All season long, Steele Canyon High coaches have quietly expounded upon the skills of defensive end JOSIAH SMITH. The staff simply needed a breakout game to make their quiet boasts public. On Senior Night, Smith exemplified the praise, slicing into the Granite Hills backfield for three tackles for losses including one for a safety to open the scoring, jump-starting the Cougars to a 33-0 thrashing of the visiting Eagles. "Josiah's been playing well all year long," said Steele Canyon coach RON BOEHMKE. "He's a big part of our defense and is our back-up tight end." Smith chased around the back end of an Eagles' rollout to the right side. And when the quarterback held the ball for too long, Smith made the hit for a 9-yard loss and a 2-0 lead. "We were thinking the play would be a draw," noted Smith, a senior. "So I went around my blocker and the quarterback didn't see me." The safety started an array of positives for the Steele Canyon defense, which registered five interceptions and limited Granite Hills to just 178 yards in total offense. "We played together and focused on AARON (HARRIS)," added Smith on the Eagles' standout running back. "We didn't let him get as many yards as he's been getting lately." While Harris was limited to 76 yards on 25 carries, Steele Canyon countered by solid line play which allowed ALEX PERLIN to gain 260 of the Cougars' 377 yards on the ground. In addition, JAKE WRAGG gained a career-best 124 yards on 11 carries. "That's a lot of yards; we came out planning to run the ball with the line getting some extra push," noted senior right tackle BEN KAUFMAN, the lead blocker for most of Perlin’s 23 carries. "We're happy with the effort." Kaufman is considering Arizona State and Colorado State for college, among others. Balancing the line at left tackle is another senior in ZAKARY BUTTS. "The game plan was pretty much like it always is – to come out and run the ball," added Butts. "We want to give Alex as many touches as we can and hopefully that works." Meanwhile, JASON COFIELD and JEBARI ROBINSON each returned kickoffs for touchdowns in the one-sided affair. Following the safety, the ensuing free kick by Granite Hills was collected at the Cougars-24 by Cofield, who went straight up the center of the field for a 76-yard touchdown runback. Perlin later added a 64-yard TD romp off right tackle for a 16-0 halftime lead. The play was nearly doomed from the start as Steele Canyon only had 10 players on the field. At the last second, KYLE RICHARDS entered at fullback, joining Kaufman to open a huge hole on the right side for Perlin's sprint to the endzone. "Obviously, you have to give it to the defense and the special teams," added Boehmke. "We're still trying to find ourselves on offense, but we came around and are feeling more comfortable with our personnel." Any hopes for a Granite Hills comeback were dashed on the opening touch of the second half, when Robinson grabbed the kickoff, took his time waiting for space to develop, then bursting through for 98 yards and a 23-0 advantage. "All I do is wait for that good blocking from my team and just find the hole," noted Robinson. "Coach always tells us to wait and see things develop, slow down, as opposed to just going right at it. And they did a great job blocking." Robinson’s romp was 1 yards shy of the Steele Canyon record shared by JAMIE DALE (vs. St. Augustine , 2007) and TOMMY LONG (vs. Monte Vista 2003). "It's because I'm slow and lack quickness," joked Robinson about his return, which took 19 seconds to advance coast-to-coast. Meanwhile, nothing went right for the Eagles. Among the team's first five pass plays in the first quarter, one went for the safety by Smith, three were intercepted – by Cofield, DERRELL MASTERS and TEDDY COTHRON – with the lone completion going for minus-7 yards. In all, Steele Canyon collected five interceptions, including picks by MICHAEL WINTER and ERNEST KELLY. Kelly was able to toe-tap the back end of the endzone to stay inbounds on a nice play to end Granite Hills' deepest drive of the contest, which reached the Cougars-18 early in the fourth quarter. One of the few bright spots for Granite Hills was defender KEVIN FINLEY, who registered a pair of quarterback sacks, one which forced a fumble and was recovered by teammate KENNY KRAJNAK. “Steele Canyon is big and physical up front,” Granite Hills coach RANDY DeWITT said. “For the mistakes we made on special teams and the turnovers we made on offense, I was proud of the way our defense played.” CODY HOLLOWELL came off the bench to complete eight of 18 passes for 122 yards for Granite Hills. Steele Canyon (4-3, 2-0 GSL) closes the regular season with three straight road contests, starting next Friday (Oct. 31) at Valhalla in the battle for the Jamacha Helmet. Granite Hills (1-6, 0-2 GSL) returns to Valley Stadium for its final home contest by entertaining Helix before playing two straight on the road to close the schedule.

WEEK EIGHT
Christian rolls to 8-0 after
whipping Santa Fe Christian

© East County Sports.com
EL CAJON (10-26-08/Rev. 10-30) — Through the years, annual homecoming games are usually scheduled against the weaker links on one’s football schedule.

For some reason the Christian High Patriots elected to host perennial power Santa Fe Christian in Saturday’s (Oct. 25) 2008 homecoming game at Valhalla.

Considering the Patriots had lost four of the previous five meetings to the Eagles, that didn’t seem like a wise choice.

However, fast starts in each half – a 17-0 burst in the opening 1 ½ quarters and a 21-0 spread in the third quarter – helped the Patriots pound out a 45-21 Coastal League victory over the Eagles (4-3, 0-1).

It was the most points a Christian team has scored against Santa Fe Christian since 1994 when the Patriots punched in 48.

Much of the credit for that went to Patriots senior running back CHARLES THOMPSON, who scored five touchdowns to take over the East County scoring lead with 120 points. He scored on runs of 6, 2, 1, 7, and 24 yards against the physical Eagles.

“Any time you beat Santa Fe Christian, it’s a good day,” said the 5-foot-10, 185-pound Thompson, who finished with 150 yards rushing on 31 carries before the homecoming faithful.

Christian has won 22 of its last 23 games.

Thompson, who also has an East County-best 1,382 yards rushing, noted a shift in Christian’s offensive approach. “We didn’t run as much Wing-T stuff against these guys,” he said. “I think that surprised them since they are a Wing-T team and are experts defending against it.”

Instead of feeding the SFC defense a steady diet of Wing-T looks, the Patriots (8-0, 2-0 CL) pitched in several toss plays and opened up the air lanes behind the 10-for-14 passing of ERICK ALLEN. The junior quarterback was stung by a pair of interceptions but managed to gain 146 yards through the air. This was Allen’s biggest aerial assault since a week two victory over Santana.

“We knew they’d be all over the Wing-T,” said Christian offensive coordinator JOEL ALLEN, Erick’s cousin. “So we mixed in some stuff to keep them honest. I have to give Erick credit, he hit all the open receivers, executed the overall package.”

The hit of the game came on the offensive side where running back MATT FIELDS leveled a charging SFC linebacker who was closing in on Thompson to make a touchdown-preventing tackle in the third quarter with the Patriots leading 24-14.

“I’ve been coaching this game for more years than I can remember and Fields, who was running lead for Thompson on a sweep, put the most devastating block on (SFC’s) stud linebacker that I’ve ever seen,” said Christian defensive coordinator MIKE MITCHELL, who was standing closest to the point of impact.

“I think that hit right there sent a message to the whole Santa Fe Christian team.”

Fields, a hard-nosed linebacker, also averaged 12 yards on five carries on the offensive side. BROCK BRESHEARS (4-59) and CALEB FARREL (3-63) topped Christian receivers.

No one on the Christian sidelines was more pleased by the Patriots’ performance than head coach MATT OLIVER.

“This was a huge win for us,” Oliver said. “It was a major test and I think we passed it. We beat a very good, physical football team with a lot of tradition.”

Christian now leads this all-time series 12-9-1.

© East County Sports.com
SANTEE (10-25-08) — Led by former Santana assistant coach RON MURPHY, now head coach at Grossmont, the visiting Foothillers roared into Santee to spoil the Sultans’ homecoming festivities Friday (Oct. 24), 37-0, putting a major crimp into any plans of winning the Grossmont North League championship.

By the same token, Grossmont (3-5, 1-1 GNL) kept its league title hopes alive. And the Hillers did so in commanding style, sacking Santana quarterback ZACH BREIDT 10 times while forcing five turnovers.

“As a defense our main objective was to contain their quarterback because he likes to scramble,” said Grossmont junior outside linebacker CODY SOS. “I think we met our objective.”

And then some.

Sos intercepted a Breidt pass and returned it 35 yards for a touchdown to make it 30-0 in the 3rd quarter.

It was far too late for Santana (3-6, 0-2 GNL) to signal S.O.S. Not that they wanted to because Sos previously burned them on a 1-yard scoring plunge, staking Grossmont to a 17-0 halftime lead.

“DOMINIQUE BRADLEY, the senior ringleader of the Grossmont defense, also picked off a pass and chalked up a dozen tackles.

“We were really hyped up as a defense when we came out here,” Bradley said. “As simple as that sounds, we reacted more as a unit than as individuals like we’ve done in some games in the past.”

The Foothillers held Santana to 134 total yards.

“We were in a cover-4 the whole time,” Bradley said. “We weren’t really worried about the run because they really don’t have any running backs.”

The only Santana runner to cause Grossmont any grief was senior

THOMAS SZAMPRUCH, who averaged slightly more than 10 yards on five carries.

Grossmont quarterback TYLER MUTTER turned in another solid game, completing 13-of-19 passes for 154 yards, including touchdowns of 24 yards to BRETT ETHERTON and 15 yards to COLTON BUGAWASIN.

“There’s no question about it, we’ve been and up and down team all year,” Mutter commented. “Probably the biggest difference in this game and some of the others is we didn’t make stupid mistakes.”

Mutter was surprised that Santana did not apply more defensive pressure.

“Santana didn’t blitz, they sat back and played pass in a loose cover-3,” he said. “It was like we were able to run anything we wanted to.”

Mutter praised the work of his offensive line in general, and JONAH SCHWENKLER in particular.

“We lost a tackle to injury last week and Jonah stepped in and did a great job,” Mutter said.

DESEAN WATERS added 60 yards and one touchdown on 13 rushes for Grossmont. FELIPE VALDEZ averaged 17.3 yards on 3 punt returns.

More bad news for Santana was the loss of versatile senior playmaker KRIS KIMMEL, who suffered an apparent broken ankle early in the game.

Breidt finished with one of his lowest totals of the year, completing just 12-of-20 passes for 100 yards.

KEVIN FERRIERA caught 4 passes for 38 yards for Santana.

Valhalla junior quarterback PETE THOMAS knows who he is. Coughenour and his linemates are responsible for providing Thomas with protection, and have done an excellent job of doing so.

“We had good balance tonight between running and passing, and that’s something I can’t say we’ve always had,” Thomas said.

Thomas was phenomenal throwing the ball, completing 20-of-28 for 227, including a pair of scoring strikes to JAMES LEIGHTON. Observers at the scene said that Thomas’ totals could have been even more inflated had his teammates not dropped 7 passes.

“Hey, who’s complaining? We won the game,” said Thomas, who has an impressive touchdowns-to-interceptions ratio of 21-2. “I was a pure pocket passer last year and I still feel comfortable in that position. I don’t see myself as a big-time runner but I think my mobility is better than it was a year ago.”

Against the Monarchs, Thomas rushed for 44 yards and one touchdown on 9 carries. He was also 4-for-4 on PAT kicks and booted a 20-yard field goal. This guy is clearly a triple threat.

Valhalla got off to a quick start when IVAN MAY returned the opening kickoff 67 yards to the Monarchs' 20-yard line. Five plays later, Thomas threw back across the grain to Leighton for a 6-yard touchdown pass only 1:51 into the contest. After Thomas split the uprights with the PAT kick, Valhalla jumped to an early lead, 7-0.

Monte Vista bounced right back with an 11-play drive, but on 4th-and-5 from the Norsemen 14-yard line, Valhalla defensive back ALEX JOHNSON jumped in front of the receiver to knock down MAURICE PAYNE'S pass, thwarting the scoring effort.

Late in the first quarter, the Monarchs put together another nice drive that culminated in a 21-yard touchdown pass from Payne to running back NICK WILLIAMS. JESUS VELARDE's PAT knotted the score at 7-7, with 11:16 left in the first half.

Later in the second stanza, Valhalla running back TRAIVONNE BROWN gave the Norsemen running game a boost when he scampered 15 yards on a draw play from the Valhalla 20-yard line. Thomas then hooked up with Leighton for a 27-yard pass play to the Monarchs' 38-yard line. Mixing up his plays effectively, coach STEVE SUTTON called Brown's number again, netting another 14 yards up the middle to the visitors' 24-yard line.

“In my opinion, Traivonne is one of the best running backs in East County,” said Thomas. “He’s capable of a breakout game on any given Friday.”

A Thomas-to-DEREK WHITE (6 receptions for 81 yards) pass got them to the Monte Vista 14-yard line. Four plays later, Leighton scooted around the right side, and, after a great block by Brown, scored his second TD of the evening on a 2-yard run. Once again Thomas' foot was accurate (4-4) on the PAT, and Valhalla surged ahead, 14-7 with 5:13 remaining in the second quarter.

“James has always been capable of an awesome game but has never really had the opportunity until tonight,” Thomas said. “He had a huge game.”

The second half belonged to Valhalla. The Monarchs' Scott returned the opening kickoff 58 yards to the Norsemen-37, but a personal foul penalty backed them up to their own 46. Junior defensive end SHANE PENNIX stuffed the runner on first down, and forced an incomplete pass with a blistering pass rush on second down. Linebacker TANNER HITT (15 tackles) and defensive tackle JAMES FARAJ shut down the runner on third down, and the Monarchs had to punt on their first offensive series of the third quarter.

Valhalla linebacker KELLEN WILEY's full-speed, bone-jarring tackle for a 7-yard loss on a screen pass a few plays later may have been the hit of the year in high school football.

HELIX 41, MOUNT MIGUEL 6 – There should be no doubt as to which team is East County ’s finest. Skeptics, if there are any out there, need only watch the films of Friday night’s (Oct. 24) latest battle for the Claymore Sword in Spring Valley.

The No. 3 ranked Highlanders sprinted to a 35-0 halftime lead and then cruised to their 19th straight win over Mount Miguel.

As thrilling as TROY STARR’s squad appeared at Mount Miguel, the veteran coach noted that there is much work ahead.

“We’re improving – learning the offense a little bit better every week,” he said, “but we’ve got the monster (top-ranked Oceanside) looming ahead. Our goal is to win that last game.”

Not that Starr is assuming that the Highlanders (5-1-1, 2-0 GSL) are a cinch to capture the league title.

“That’s important to us too, and we haven’t overlooked it,” Starr said.

Helix proved that at Mount Miguel. Although the Matadors finished with 114 total yards, they had a miniscule net of 2 yards after the first half.

When the Highlanders began the 3rd quarter they scored on their first play when quarterback TY CULVER fired a 44-yard touchdown strike to junior receiver SEAN LINTON to make it 41-0 with 9:52 left in the 3rd period.

“We pulled our horses at that point,” Starr said.

Despite the abbreviated activity, the Highlanders finished with 361 total yards. Culver connected on 8-of-13 passes for 153 yards and 2 touchdowns. His first scoring pass went to 6-foot-8 tight end LEVINE TOILOLO – a 10-yard dart.

Linton finished with 4 catches for 97 yards to lead Helix’ receiving corps. Six Highlanders contributed to their 208 yards rushing with JO-JO PHILLIPS setting the pace with 78 yards and a touchdown on just 2 carries.

Certainly not to be overlooked on this evening was the Helix defense. The Highlanders logged 6 sacks and forced the Mount Miguel special teams into another half dozen errors.

“We’re pretty tough up front,” said Helix senior linebacker OJ AUIMATAGI. “Our linebackers filled where we needed to.”

Not surprisingly, the Helix defense was all about stopping junior running back DERALL HUNTER. For the most part the Highlanders were successful, although Hunter did finish with 138 yards on 33 carries, scoring his team’s only touchdown on a 1-yard dive in the 4th quarter.

Hunter’s biggest gain was a 30-yard burst against the Helix reserves. To his credit, Hunter was dropped for a loss only once all night.

“He’s a tough runner but we were ready for him,” Auimatagi said of Hunter. “We knew he was the guy we had to stop.”

Mission accomplished. Other than Hunter the Mount Miguel offense was held to a minus-42 yards.

Helix linemen ANTHONY LARCEVAL, ANTHONY ANDERSON, Toilolo and THERREN WILBURN along with ISAIA OSOIMALO combined for 6 sacks. Auimatagi and Larceval shared team-high tackles with 6 apiece.

PAUL BLAKENEY intercepted a pass, returning it 54 yards for the Highlanders.

EL CAPITAN 33, EL CAJON VALLEY 13 – The Vaqueros struck a trifecta by knocking off the visiting El Cajon Valley Braves Friday night (Oct. 24) in Lakeside.

First and foremost, the Vaqueros (5-3, 2-0 GNL) claimed the Grossmont North League lead.

Secondly, the Vaqueros avenged a 29-21 loss to the Braves a year ago.

And although maybe not quite as important, but the Vaqueros were able to please a Homecoming crowd with their 4th win in five games.

One thing El Capitan ’s fan saw was the real TANNER RUST, who delivered a season-best 4 touchdown passes – 3 of them going to senior PHILLIP COOK and the other to senior JON MOLZEN.

Since his return from injury, Cook has caught 23 passes in 3 games for 379 yards and 5 touchdowns. Naturally, Rust is happy to have things cooking among his receivers.

In a key win over El Cajon Valley, the 6-foot, 165-pound Cook caught a team-best 6 passes for 122 yards.

Rust didn’t rustle up electrifying numbers but did manage to complete 12-of-28 aerials for 276 yards and the 4 touchdowns.

“In the first half we just missed a couple of plays,” said El Capitan coach RON BURNER, who’s Vaqueros were clinging to a 10-7 lead at intermission. “But we made some adjustments at halftime and corrected things.”

Rust, who also kicked a pair of 31-yard field goals, giving him an East County-leading 8 three-pointers on the season, ignited a 17-point 3rd quarter with his 2nd 17-yard TD pass to Cook.

Rust continued his aerial show with a 59-yard 3rd quarter bomb to Molzen, and put the finishing touches to the victory with a 4th quarter 20-yard scoring toss to Cook.

Not to be overlooked, Rust was also 3-for-4 on PATs.

BRANDON SANCHEZ reeled in 3 Rust aerials for 79 yards, while Molzen totaled 77 yards on his two receptions.

Eight Vaqueros rushers combined for a season-best 114 yards on 26 carriesfor El Capitan.

Although El Cajon Valley (4-3, 0-1 GNL) suffered its 3rd straight loss, the Braves did have some high points, starting with GAVINO PINAL, who pulled down 5 passes for 147 yards and 2 touchdowns.

“We definitely had some shots in the first half,” said Braves coach DANNY GOODRICH. “We didn’t make some plays and they did. It was really disheartening. I don’t think the score indicates our talents. We let a lot of opportunities fall through our hands. When we got our chances we didn’t take advantage of them.”

Braves quarterback ISAAC SOLIZ completed 19-of-42 passes for 242 yards and the 2 scores to Pinal.

GERALD KENDALL led the Braves with 89 yards on 16 rushes.

“El Cajon is a good football team,” Burner said. “They just got a little tired at the end because they’ve got a lot of players who go both ways.”

FOOTHILLS CHRISTIAN 34, Chula Vista-CALVARY CHRISTIAN 0 – Practice sessions get pretty interesting during Foothills Christian football practices these days.

Due to limited numbers in the players ranks, the Knights’ coaches are often active participants so the team can conduct 11-on-11 drills.

“I really give (defensive coordinator THOM LUBIC and all the coaches so much credit for their support,” Foothills head coach STEVE PERDUE said.

“KEN HINTON has made a huge impact on our DBs. SCOT WOLFE and MIKE RUNDLETT have worked extremely hard to improve our special teams.

“The work ethic and attitude of these players are also phenomenal. Their attention to detail has been outstanding.”

Foothills running back CALEB GARDNER romped 58 yards on an early play from scrimmage to set-up a 5-yard touchdown by teammate MATTISON RUNDLETT, helping Foothills Christian easily skate past the winless Royal Knights in a Southern Conference contest at Junior Seau Field Friday night (Oct. 24).

The shutout was the first in school history at either 8-man or 11-man play.

GARRET CAMPBELL took over from there. The quarterback rushed for 119 yards and a 43-yard touchdown, passed for 127 yards and a pair of scores, then booted field goals of 18 and 25 yards.

Both TD passes went to GAGE PROVENCHER, the first going for 13 yards and a 14-0 lead after one period, then a 7-yard hook-up to open the second half for a 31-0 advantage. For the contest, Provencher caught six passes for 79 yards, while Campbell scored 16 points.

“Offensively we moved the ball, tried some new things which led to mistakes but our offensive line again had an outstanding night,” Perdue said. “Gage Provencher is coming back from a shoulder stinger. Rundlett and Cambpell were their typical hard-nosed selves.”

The defense was paced by ROBERT KAKOS, who registered eight stops. Gardner recorded seven tackles, CHRIS NIGH returned an interception 23 yards, while sacks were converted by DYLAN WESTRICK and IAN MURPHY.

“Defense was totally the key tonight for the Knights,” Perdue said. “We had five takeaways – 3 leading to scores. Lubic should get a ton of credit for his substituting and keeping our guys (23 of them) all as fresh as possible. Thom has done that all year and although we are able to sub some on offense, his subbing on defense has our 'TEAM' involved and playing team football.”

© East County Sports.com
LAKESIDE (10-23-08) — Ten of the Grossmont Conference's 11 schools were in action during last week's league openers. All played except El Cajon Valley, which gets to open its Grossmont North League debut as the selected homecoming opponent for El Capitan on Friday night (Oct. 24). Kickoff is 7 p.m.

Often, a lesser team is tabbed to be homecoming fodder to allow the alumni of the home school to go home happy, and leave a few dollars behind in donations. But did the Vaqueros make a wise selection?

This time, El Cajon Valley is 4-2 and is playing almost as well as its 2005 team that reached Qualcomm Stadium. Meanwhile, the Vaqueros (4-3, 1-0 GNL) are growing to become fourth-quarter powers of late, outscoring their last four opponents by a 55-6 count over the final 12 minutes of play.

In a classic matchup situation, a low-scoring affair should go to the Vaqueros, whose blitz-happy defense has taken hold as the season has progressed.

The week off should be a huge advantage for the Braves to get healthy, while homecoming against a league opponent always seems to create extra distractions. Statistically, both defenses are even. This should become a scoring free-for-all that could go either way... El Capitan, 33-27.

Elsewhere (All start at 7 p.m.)
Grossmont North League
Grossmont (2-5, 0-1 GSL) at Santana (3-4, 0-1 GSL) — The first thing the Sultans must do -- some way, somehow -- is find a way to receive the opening kickoff instead of starting the game on defense.

For the last two weeks, Santana opponents took the ball following the kickoff and raced 80 yards for a touchdown on the very first play from scrimmage. Ouch!

Conversely, Grossmont might as well let the Sultans have the ball. Last week against El Capitan, the Foothillers both opened the scoring and registered the first points of the second half to take another lead, only to lose.

Of course, the Hillers don't want to allow that to happen, but it just shows the unpredictability of the balanced Grossmont North League -- not a single team owns the big play capability to blow out an opponent.

One of the Hillers’ secret weapons is FELIPE VALDEZ, who is averaging 14.9 yards on seven punt returns and 16.9 on 14 kickoff runbacks. Valdez is also becoming more involved in the Foothillers’ primary offense, which could make him a trump card.

This year's match-up looks similar to last season's, when Grossmont failed to reach the endzone, yet won thanks to four field goals in a 12-7 decision. And since the Hillers – winners of six of the last seven games in this series – possess a few more weapons on offense thanks to a better receiving corps, they should win this critical elimination contest... Grossmont, 19-7.

Grossmont South League
No. 3 Helix (4-1-1, 1-0) at Mount Miguel (3-3, 1-0) — Word on the street says the Highlanders were not very happy with "The Fearsome Forecaster" by predicting a victory of only seven points against Valhalla last week. But if the Norsemen had scored from the 10-yard line in the final minute, we would've hit the final score on the nose.

The difference is the mental approach.

Valhalla entered the Helix contest riding high on a 5-game winning streak. History shows the Norsemen lost. But after just two victories in more than 20 seasons of ballgames against the Scotties, at least the Norsemen proved to themselves they have turned the corner -- the 2009 Helix-Valhalla game should be a doozey; mark your calendars now.

Mount Miguel running back DERALL HUNTER is the heart and soul of the Matadors as he proved last week with his record-breaking performance, establishing school marks for rushing yards (338), touchdowns (6) and total points (38, including a 2-point PAT).

Will Hunter generate another breakthrough performance or will Helix make him a marked man? No doubt the Highlanders know where to focus their attention. Helix, which has a hard-nosed front seven, is led by linemen ANTHONY LARCEVAL, ISAIA OSOIMALO, ANTHONY ANDERSON, LEVINE TOILOLO and OJ AUIMATAGI. The Highlanders do their best work defending the run, and that could spell a long night for Hunter.

Mount Miguel has not beaten the Highlanders since 1987 – a span of 19 games... Helix, 28-7.

Monte Vista (3-3, 0-1) at Valhalla (5-1, 0-1) — A pair of programs with high expectations are both facing elimination from the Grossmont South League race following losses in league openers.

MAURICE PAYNE, expected to return full time to his quarterbacking chores, will test the Norsemen defense with his passing arm and his speed on the bootleg.

"He's one of the best players in our league," said Valhalla linebacker ANTHONY JOPLIN. "But our team has grown so much together after that, the loss to Helix shouldn't affect us."

A year ago, the Norsemen allowed more than 30 points per contest. Not so this season.

"In our mind, we don't even count last season," noted Valhalla coach STEVE SUTTON. "We were changing all sorts of things and making moves here and there."

Currently, the Norsemen are yielding a mere 12.5 points per contest. On the flip side, the speed of the Monarchs should slow down a Valhalla passing game which features a bevy of receivers.

No question Valhalla junior quarterback PETE THOMAS can wing it with the best. He’s connecting on better than 70 percent of 169 passes and has a 19-2 touchdowns-to-interceptions ratio.

The Monarchs, led by the ball-control rushing tandem of NICK WILLIAMS and JARROD SCOTT along with the presence of Payne, could make life tough on the Norsemen. So in a surprisingly low-scoring scrum, the team which will slip by is... Valhalla, 14-10.

Granite Hills (1-5, 0-1) at Steele Canyon (3-3, 1-0) — Talk about extremes: Granite Hills lists a player -- AARON HARRIS -- who rushed for 300 yards in a single game, and they've allowed their opponents to average 300 yards rushing this season.

It might make for a good trivia question, but also clearly states the status of the Eagles. The offense is on the verge of exploding; the defense is troubled by poor tackling.

And with Steele Canyon owning a line which blocked well enough to post its own 300-yard rusher in ALEX PERLIN in Week 3 action, look for more wide gaps to punch the ball through.

Tight end CAMERON MOSS is another untapped source for the Cougars should they elect to throw the ball his way.

Senior slotback-defensive back JEBARI ROBINSON has taken over at quarterback and that has made for good things for Steele Canyon, which has won four of the five meetings in this series... Steele Canyon, 35-14.

Southern Conference
Foothills Christian (5-1, 3-0 SC) vs. CV-Calvary Christian (0-5, 0-3 SC), at Junior Seau Field — The only similarity between these ballclubs are their nicknames, when Foothills Christian's Knights take on the Royal Knights of Chula Vista's Calvary Christian in a Southern Conference matchup at Parkway Middle School.

The Royal Knights are winless and have scored only 38 points all season. Meanwhile, Foothills, if you take away the blowout loss to La Jolla Country Day, average more than 35 points per contest.

In these all-or-nothing situations, Knights coach STEVE PERDUE will just run the ball all night, so look for senior running back MATTISON RUNDLETT to reach the 100-yard plateau for the third time this season... Foothills Christian, 38-6.

Sat., Oct. 25
Coastal League
Christian (7-0, 1-0 CSL) vs. Santa Fe Christian (4-2, 0-0 CSL), at Valhalla — The Patriots' homecoming marks the annual return of former East County standout BRIAN SIPE and his Santa Fe Christian Eagles to his childhood stomping grounds.

Sipe has coached the Eagles to four CIF Division IV crowns in his seven seasons in Solana Beach. However, the Patriots are ranked No. 1 in the state by several rating services, including CalHiSports.com, which puts them in line to participate in a CIF state bowl game — if they win out.

Both teams love to run the football, so don't be late or you'll miss this one. The more consistent ground game, thanks to CIF-San Diego Section rushing leader CHARLES THOMPSON (1,232 yards), belongs to... Christian, 35-24.