Vaqueros celebrate “60” with victory
- Updated: October 20, 2019
El Capitan junior Taylor Grasmick carries against Granite Hills on Friday night. / photo by Rob Riingen
2019 EAST COUNTY PREP FOOTBALL
EL CAPITAN 25, GRANITE HILLS 23
EastCountySports.com staff report
LAKESIDE – The El Capitan Vaqueros had to have this football game on Friday night.
On a night when the school celebrated its 60th Anniversary on Homecoming, the Vaqueros earned their first win of the 2019 season with a 25-23 victory over visiting Granite Hills.
The win was not only a cause for celebration to the generations of fans who came out for the festivities but the upset over the Eagles also injected life into the team’s season, putting El Cap right back into the playoff hunt.
“It was a hard-fought game and both teams battled,” El Capitan head coach Rob Burner said. “We finally got some breaks and capitalized on them.
Granite Hills senior Lamont Taylor drives El Capitan junior Kalen Lavallais out of bounds on Friday. / photo by Rob Riingen
Senior quarterback Wick Hauser passed for a touchdown and ran for another as part of a 255-yard night.
Hauser was 9-for-11 for 157 yards through the air and rushed 12 times for 98 yards.
“Wick made some huge plays as did a lot of others but our defense played lights out all night and we kept them to three field goals until late in the game,” Burner said.
El Capitan sophomore Savigon Yokley had two interceptions on defense and also caught four passes for 115 yards.
“Savi Yokley has a great game,” added Burner.
El Capitan senior running back Donny Green scored on a 24-yard run with 8:47 left in the second quarter to give the Vaqueros a 6-0 lead as the game had a defensive tone in the first half.
The Eagles got a pair of field goals by Camden Vance in the final minutes of the first half to send the teams into the locker room tied a 6-all. Vance’s kicks were from 20 and 37 yards, respectively. The longer boot came with less than two seconds to go before halftime.
El Capitan regained the lead in the third quarter with 7:09 left when Hauser connected with senior tight end Sean Dickson, who went down to the ground to secure the ball in the front of the end zone for a 5-yard score, giving the Vaqueros a 12-6 lead.
Vance added his third field goal of the game to draw the Eagles to within 12-9.
Granite Hills’ Juni Harris runs with the ball on Friday night. / photo by Rob Riingen
Granite Hills junior quarterback Justice McComb made a connection with Matthew Keeley, which resulted in a 65-yard score down the middle of the field behind the Vaquero secondary. The score gave the Eagles a 16-12 lead.
Hauser had a 13-yard touchdown run with 3:14 to go in the third quarter as El Capitan was back in front 18-16.
In the fourth quarter, the Vaqueros would extend their lead to 25-16 thanks to
El Capitan’s Xavier Peace scored on a 13-yard run with under four minutes remaining in the game
McComb scored on a 22-yard touchdown run with just over two minutes to play.
Green had 82 yards on the ground.
Senior Tim Almond had eight tackles for El Captian.
The win moved El Capitan (1-7, 1-2 GHL) into fourth place in the six-team Grossmont Hills League.
Granite Hills (4-4, 0-3 GHL) lost for the third-straight game for the first time since Week 4 of the 2016 season.
