Foothillers enjoy view on Homecoming
- Updated: September 21, 2019
2019 EAST COUNTY PREP FOOTBALL
GROSSMONT 38, VALLEY VIEW 0
By Jim Lindgren
Special to EastCountySports.com
LA MESA – Coaches of an up-tempo spread offense love to achieve a certain semblance of balance between the running and passing schemes. Puts a lot of extra pressure on the defense.
So, consider Grossmont’s perfect parity in Friday night’s 38-0 win over visiting Valley View from Moreno Valley.
The No. 8-ranked Foothillers rushed for 226 yards and passed for 226 yards for 452 total yards, a far cry from their school-record of 817 yards three weeks ago or even the 658 they got last week, but it was plenty enough to whip the Eagles (1-4), especially considering there was a running clock throughout the second half.
Grossmont improved to 4-0 heading into next week’s anticipated home showdown with Madison, a team the ’Hillers edged, 44-42, in the first round of the Division I playoffs last year at Madison.
In two quarters on Friday, senior quarterback Jaime Odom completed 14-of-20 passes for 209 yards and a touchdown without an interception. He also rushed for two scores as Grossmont built a 38-0 halftime lead and emptied the bench in the second half.
“The key to the offense tonight was just executing the plays in that were called,” Odom said. “Everybody went out and did their job which leads to success in our offense.:
Junior backup Justin Brown was 2-of-2 for 17 yards.
Robert Tucker rushed only six times but gained 97 yards, including a 24-yard touchdown.
Tucker had 462 all-purpose yards and six TDs last week in a 52-28 rout of Olympian in which the Foothillers totaled 658 yards and gave coach Tom Karlo his 100th career win.
In his eighth year at Grossmont, Karlo is now 101-61, including a previous 6-year stint at Mount Miguel.
Jahmal Nevels carried 14 times for 67 yards and a touchdown. Odom had 50 rushing yards and scores of 18 and 5 yards. Brown added 19 yards on five carries.
Brody Schicker caught five passes for 87 yards, including a 37-yard TD. Adam Richmond (3-55), Tucker (3-35), Jay Vann (2-21), Jayshawn Staton (2-16) and Nevels (1-12) also helped the cause.
“Brody had a really good night and caught everything that was thrown his way,” Odom said. “Also, the play of our two running backs was great between Tucker and Nevels. The O-line blocked great for them and they did their job finishing off the plays with big gains.”
Grossmont is averaging an amazing 600.3 yards per game. The Foothillers broke a section record with 817 total yards in a 59-26 win over Mater Dei three weeks ago (that record was broken by Bishop’s the following week).
Odom has completed nearly 60 percent of his passes (66-of-111) for 1,229 yards and 14 touchdowns with only two interceptions.
Tucker has rushed for 531 yards and five TDs, plus has 19 receptions for 349 yards and five TDs. Schicker also has five TDs on 20 catches for 322 yards.
Grossmont has outscored its four opponents, 192-68.
Against Valley View, Odom opened the scoring early with an 18-yard touchdown run. Axel Gonzales made it 10-0 with a 38-yard field goal. Odom connected with Schicker on a 37-yard scoring strike to make it 17-0 in the first quarter.
Nevels (1 yard), Odom (5) and Tucker (24) added rushing scores in the second quarter.
Perhaps more impressive, the defense pitched a shutout for the first time since blanking West Hills, 42-0, in 2017.
Chris Alba and Cam Sanderlin each recorded nine tackles to lead the charge. Matt Mellinger added seven tackles and Caden Matta, Wes Fulton, Ryan Odom, and Tyson Fredrich posted five each.
“Chris is a great player and the leader of our defense,” Odom said. “He puts in the work consistently and it pays off on Friday nights. There’s not much more to say other than he deserves everything he is doing because he puts in the work all the time.”
The ’Hillers forced two turnovers on fumbles recovered by Matt Diaz and George Hanna and limited Otay Ranch to minus-1 passing yards. Jay Vann blocked a punt.
As for the rematch with Madison, which turned out to be one of the wildest games of the season last year?
“Madison is a really good team,” Odom said. “They have a lot of talented players that can make plays but we go into it like any other week by just watching the film and organizing a game plan, then just having good practices throughout the week to prepare for the game on Friday.”
