Ecstatic Foothillers surprise Titans in fourth
- Updated: October 3, 2015
Gaines to Guevara 26-14 @GHSASB is up #imthebestshooterever @Kcoffin951 @KUSIPPR #ecgow pic.twitter.com/0yJI9xWyge
— Stephanie Kelly (@StephPPR) September 26, 2015By Bill Dickens
© East County Sports.com
POWAY (10-3-15) — The Grossmont Foothillers have reeled off five wins at the beginning of the season, yet have been ignored by the CIF media pollsters.
Word is, every game Grossmont plays will be a challenge, including Friday’s (Oct. 3) encounter against host Poway.
Granted the Titans provided a stiff test for the visiting Foothillers, who climbed the hill for a 20-13 victory to spoil Poway’s homecoming festivities.
Should Grossmont be able to crack the Top 10? I believe so.
The Foothillers snapped a 13-13 tie on a halfback pass from JAMES MACKEY to KHALEED “El Cuatro” DAVIS (so named because he wears jersey No. 4) that covered 74 yards to score with 5:04 remaining, giving Grossmont the win.
“Everybody was ecstatic when we were able to execute that pass,” said Mackey. “It’s something we’ve done in practice over and over, and we caught them by surprise.”
Davis caught 7 passes for 92 yards and one touchdown. He had a 95-yard punt return called back in the second quarter.
“They were tough to deal with but I was able to read the keys and find some openings,” Davis said. “The corners were sucking up so I was able to adjust to that and get past them.”
Poway (3-3) came storming back but were stymied on back-to-back sacks by ALEX LILLIARD and ANDREW MINK. Actually Mink recorded two sacks and a fumble recovery in the contest.
Defensive linemen, ELI QUINN and BRANDON ARMS also logged a sack apiece.
On a third-and-20 in the waning seconds of the fourth quarter RILEY HAVIRD picked off a long pass to shut down the Poway offense.
Grossmont’s big play offense, which had continued to strike from long distance, added its eighth long ball strike on the halfback pass, which proved to be the difference.
Poway was deadly in the running game, rushing for 196 yards on 51 carries.
Grossmont quarterback HUNTER GAINES clicked on 20 of 33 passes for 243 yards.
“They had some really good defensive backs,” Gaines said. “But we were able to find the hinges. The coaches talk about exploiting the defensive weaknesses and we were able to do that.”
TOMMY MLYNIEC (5-foot-8, 220 pounds) was one of the youthful Foothillers’ offensive linemen to face off against Poway’s 6-foot-4, 285 pound tackle Paris Tulafono.
“I know that guy has a huge advantage but I take advantage of my leverage and keep my hands close,” Mlyniec said. “I think our offensive line is totally underrated. Playing against a guy that big, you have to use every blocking technique you can.”
That’s the combination Grossmont has used to compile a complete game attack.
