COUGARS SCHEDULE Overall: 6-4-0 Grossmont South League: 3-1-0 Date Aug. 31 Sept. 7 Sept. 14 Sept. 21 Sept. 28 Oct. 5 Oct. 12 Oct. 19 Oct. 26 Nov. 2 Nov. 9 Nov. 16 Nov. 23 Opponent at Cathedral at West Hills at Grossmont Eastlake El Capitan BYE *at Monte Vista *Valhalla *at Granite Hills *Helix *Mount Miguel **BYE **St. Augustine Score 7-21 20-10 19-14 14-35 47-27 35-14 28-07 ccd. 7-35 25-22 21-35 CHEERLEADERSTeam Photo yet to be submitted Cougars mascot "Scratch"

JUNIOR VARSITY (6-3, 3-1 GSL) Date Opponent Score Wk 1 Wk 2 Wk 3 Wk 4 Wk 5 Wk 6 Wk 7 Wk 8 Wk 10 Wk 11 Cathedral Catholic West Hills Grossmont Eastlake El Capitan BYE *Monte Vista *Valhalla *Helix *Mount Miguel L 13-12 00-19 W 16-14 W 49-08 07-16 24-21 FRESHMEN (8-1, 4-0 GSL) Date Opponent Score Wk 1 Wk 2 Wk 3 Wk 4 Wk 5 Wk 6 Wk 7 Wk 8 Wk 10 Wk 11 Cathedral Catholic West Hills Grossmont Eastlake El Capitan BYE *Monte Vista *Valhalla *Helix *Mount Miguel 07-27 32-00 27-07 14-06 24-21 18-06 35-14 28-12 35-13

WEEK 13 -- CIF PLAYOFFS / QUARTERFINALS

ST. AUGUSTINE 35, STEELE CANYON 21 -- It wasn't the finish that the Steele Canyon Cougars had in mind. Forced to play catch-up from the get-go in Friday's (Nov. 23) San Diego CIF quarterfinal against visiting St. Augustine , the Cougars came up short.

"Once you reach this stage of the season there's only one way to go out that is fun," said Steele Canyon coach RON BOEHMKE. "For us, this wasn't it."

The Saints (7-4) marched through the Cougars' defense for 458 yards -- 255 rushing and 203 passing.

Saints quarterback David Popkins accounted for 292 total yards and 2 passing touchdowns, while Daniel Butler rushed for 120 yards and 3 scores on 18 carries.
No longer can skeptics accuse Saints coach Jerry Ralph of running an all-pass, little-rush offense.

"We didn't play with any fire at the beginning of the game," Boehmke said. "And that put us in a hole. We picked it up in the 2nd quarter, but it took a lot out of us just to get even."

Down 14-0 two minutes into the 2nd quarter, the Cougars scored 21 points during the 10 minutes leading up to halftime. Steele Canyon's problem was, the Saints also scored 21 points during the 2nd period to maintain a 28-21 lead by intermission.

Breaking out of the doldrums, the Cougars (6-4) received a spark when JAMIE DALE returned a kickoff 99 yards to pull Steele Canyon to within 14-7. Not only was Dale's run a school record, it also made him only the 9th player in the Grossmont Conference 45-year history to return a kick that far.

After St. Augustine flubbed the kickoff following Dale's long run, the Cougars' JOE MORGAN recovered at the Saints' 8-yard line. Then it was back to Dale again.

The 5-foot-9, 163-pound senior carried to the 3-yard line on his first carry and then crossed the goal line after taking the next handoff. Suddenly it was 14-14 with 9:15 left in the first half.

It took the Saints 11 plays to cover 72 yards for a 21-14 lead 4 1/2 minutes later.
But the Cougars kept clawing back.

Seemingly buried on a 3rd-and-26 play from their own 30-yard line, the Cougars came up with another big play. This time it was a screen pass from quarterback NICK STATHAS to fullback SCOTT PERLIN.

"What made that play really go was that Stathas held onto the ball as long as he possibly could, giving our linemen a chance to setup their blocks," explained Perlin of his 70-yard scoring play that tied the score at 21-all.

Stathas, who completed 7 of 15 passes for 123 yards, certainly paid the price on the delivery to Perlin, as he went down under an avalanche of onrushing Saints defenders. Once Perlin had the ball in his hands he zigzagged down the field, making more like a tailback than a lead blocker for Dale.

No doubt Dale was proud of his backfield mate as Perlin made two sharp cuts to allow his blockers -- one of which was Dale -- to gain proper angles to bowl over St. Augustine defenders.

"We really practiced that play a lot, and it paid off," said Perlin, who caught two passes for 86 yards.

Although Dale scored two touchdowns, he was limited to his second lowest rushing total of the season -- 77 yards on 22 carries.

"We did a great job defending their great running back the whole game," said Ralph.

Perlin agreed that the Saints' focus was on stopping Dale.

"They really brought it to Jamie tonight," he said. "We had a tough time finding the hole to get our running game going."

Despite the off night, Dale finished his two-year career as Steele Canyon's all-time leading rusher with 3,146 yards on 468 carries. Dale also became the Cougars' most prolific scorer with 240 points on 40 touchdowns.

"I'm going to miss watching Jamie run," said Boehmke, who believes that Dale can play at the next level. "He's a special kid who deserves a chance to keep on playing. Fortunately for him he has good grades that can only help his situation."

No question Steele Canyon's defense struggled against the Saints. But the Cougars defenders did have some highlights of their own.

Leading 28-21, the Saints maneuvered their way to a 1st-and-goal at the Steele Canyon 1-yard line on the opening series of the 2nd half. Three quarterback sneaks by Popkins were repelled. The Saints then gave it to Butler on 4th down, and once again were denied as ANDREW FORESTER and MILES MINICH made the stuff.

Junior JEBARI ROBINSON did a little bit of everything as a two-way performer for the Cougars, intercepting a pass and amassing 93 all-purpose yards.

Steele Canyon gets cabled

© East County Sports.com
RANCHO SAN DIEGO (11-20-07) -- Steele Canyon High has been selected for Friday's (Nov. 23) San Diego CIF playoff telecast on Cox 4 San Diego, when the Cougars meet St. Augustine in the Division III quarterfinals. The announcement was made by CIF Football Friday producer Jason Bott.

Because of the cablecast, kickoff has been moved up to 7:05 p.m.

The Cougars (6-3) are seeded third in their division, while the Saints (6-4), a 20-6 winner over Monte Vista in last Friday's opening round, are the sixth seeds.

Somehow the 5-foot-9, 163-pound Dale manages to make would-be tacklers miss with regularity. Such was the case when Dale rushed for 210 yards and 2 touchdowns on 26 carries as the Cougars denied the visiting Matadors a chance at a Grossmont South League championship for the first time in 20 years in Friday night's (Nov. 9) regular season finale.

Dale scored on runs of 3 and 42 yards, helping stake the Cougars to a 22-15 halftime lead.

It was Dale's 4th 200-yard game of the season and the 7th of his career. He finishes the campaign as East County's regular season rushing champion with 1,456 yards on 211 carries.

Dale was at his best in the second half as the Cougars (6-3, 3-1 GSL) attempted to protect a 7-point lead. He was the primary focus of a 9:20 scoring march that encompassed 17 plays and 76 yards, culminating in a 25-yard field goal by SCOTT PERLIN. That effort gave Steele Canyon a 25-15 advantage with 9:38 remaining.

Perlin's boot turned out to be the winning margin for the Cougars, who have never lost to the Matadors in six meetings.

Not to be overlooked in Steele Canyon's winning effort was the clutch passing of senior quarterback NICK STATHAS, who was on the mark on 7 of 11 passes for 83 yards and 1 touchdown.

The key play of the game did not involve Dale, who was little more than a decoy.

The overzealous Matadors, clinging to a 15-14 advantage with less than a minute to play in the first half, were determined to add to their lead. It proved to be costly. Instead of running out the clock the Matadors elected to throw deep. The result was an interception by Steele Canyon's JEBARI ROBINSON, who gave the Cougars a first down at the Matadors' 35 with 8.6 seconds remaining.

In its haste, Steele Canyon missed an apparent 52-yard field goal attempt. In panic mode the Matadors called time out before the Cougars could get off the short kick.

Thus, the play went over.

Realizing that their kickers were out of range, the Cougars resorted to a Hail Mary pass by quarterback Stathas, who lofted a spiral to the middle of the endzone. No less than a half-dozen players went up for the ball. It appeared that Mount Miguel was going to come down with an interception although the Matador defender did little more than tip the ball in the air.

Steele Canyon's BRANDEN BROWN was all by himself in the endzone when he caught the tipped pass for the touchdown.

"When we got that second chance, Coach (RON BOEHMKE) said. ˜Go for the jugular,'" Stathas said. "Although it may not look like it with all the scrambling in the endzone, the pass was intended for Brandon."

Stathas credited Dale for luring the Mount Miguel defenders his way as a decoy.

"That took some of the heat off Brandon ," said Stathas. "They had Jamie surrounded, and that left Brandon in the clearing. Brandon did a great job of getting into position. That was the play of the game."

Brown finished with 3 receptions for 52 yards not to mention a game-high 11 tackles on defense..

Mount Miguel's AARON BRYANT generated 189 total yards, including 10 of 20 passing for 108 yards.

AHMAAD NUNLEY was the ace of the Matadors' receiving corps with 4 catches for 61 yards.

TRAVON CAPLES caught 3 passes for the Matadors for 70 yards, including a 20-yard TD strike from Bryant with 4:48 left in the game.

That was again the case Friday night (Nov. 2) when eight Highlanders contributed to a 284 yard rushing attack. Three passers and four receivers shared in an 83-yard aerial production.

“There are some things we’ve done in our offensive line that has made us a lot better since the Santa Fe Christian game (Sept. 21),” said Helix coach DONNIE VAN HOOK, who’s Highlanders totaled 367 yards against Steele Canyon. “We put a new little wrinkle in for some power offense, and that paid off. You know, it’s just going good right now.”

The victory was the fourth straight for the Highlanders (6-1-1, 3-0 GSL), who clinched at least a share of their 5th league title in seven years.

Junior quarterback ANTHONY DIAZ was the Highlanders’ leading rusher with 91 yards, including scoring runs of 11 and 9 yards.

LARRY GIST also scored on a 8-yard run and JO-JO PHILLIPS punched one across from 3-yards out as the Highlanders built a 28-0 lead with 3:12 left in the 3rd quarter.

Not to be overlooked was the Helix defense, which limited Steele Canyon to 160 yards total offense.

“I love the way our defense is playing,” said Van Hook. “We’ve been playing aggressive and strong in all areas.”

Junior safety TRELAN TAYLOR (8 tackles), linebacker O.J. AUIMATAG (6 tackles, fumble recovery), strong safety CHRIS PETERSON (5 tackles) and middle linebacker ANTHONY LARCEVAL (6 tackles) helped the Highlanders stretch their string of scoreless quarters to 15.

The Highlanders also kept a tight rein on East County rushing leader JAMIE DALE. To his credit, the 5-foot-9, 163-pound Dale flashed his way for 95 yards on 24 carries. Most noteworthy of his rushes was a 3-yard scoring sortie around the right end with 10:48 left in the game.

Dale’s touchdown was the first allowed by the Highlanders in four games.

“We knew he was the key point of their offense,” said Auimatag. “We knew if we could neutralize him we’d have a good chance of winning.”

Although Dale’s TD broke Helix’ string of scoreless quarters, the Highlanders did not seem upset.

“It’s all about the ‘W’,” said Auimatag.

Senior linebacker MILES MINICH, who’s home was destroyed by fire a week ago, led the Cougars (5-3, 2-1 GSL) with a dozen tackles, one more than BRANDEN BROWN, who also had an interception.

Steele Canyon senior defensive end DILLON MILLS recovered two Valhalla fumbles and TED WOMACK, a junior safety, intercepted an errant Norsemen pass in his team's endzone to seal the victory for the Cougars (5-2, 2-0 GSL).

Not unexpectedly, it was a JAMIE DALE rushing night (34 carries, 212 yards, 3 TDs) rushing right, rushing left and rushing up the middle the first four plays of the game for 23 yards to the Cougars' 43-yard line.

And that was just the beginning for Dale, who produced his second 200-yard game this season and the 5th of his career.

That's not surprising considering Dale -- with 2,764 yards -- is Steele Canyon's all-time rushing leader. Did we mention scoring? Dale has 35 TDs, also a Steele Canyon career record.

Late in the 1st quarter, the Cougars -- riding the tail of Dale -- reached the Valhalla-23. It looked like Valhalla's defense was going hold the line when linebacker DYLAN MITCHELL and sophomore defensive end SHANE PENNIX teamed up to sack quarterback NICK STATHAS.

Stathas was undeterred, however, and quickly hit junior wide receiver JASON COFIELD for a 20-yard gain to the 15. Four plays later, Dale scored the first of his three rushing touchdowns from the 2-yard line. SCOTT PERLIN's converted the first of his 4 PATs, and Steele Canyon led 7-0, after using up almost 8 1/2 minutes of the first quarter on its 15-play drive.

Starting from its 20 following Perlin's kickoff also found the endzone, Valhalla's offense quickly moved into Steele Canyon territory after sophomore NINO MALLORY gained 17 yards on two runs, RUFFY BACONG picking up 9 yards on a sweep, and sophomore quarterback PETE THOMAS tossed a strike to DEREK WHITE for another 10-yard gain.

Then disaster struck. Thomas was blindsided for a sack which resulted in a fumble. Mills scooped up his first fumble recovery at the Cougars-47. Six plays later, Dale scored his second touchdown from 1 yard out after Stathas completed a 40-yard pass to Brown to make it 14-0 with 9:28 left in the first half.

Perlin's second half opening kickoff didn't reach the endzone, but it worked out okay for the the Cougars when the returner got smacked and coughed up the football. Steele Canyon's Mills had his second fumble recovery at the Norsemen-30.

Like a broken record, it was Dale left, Dale right, and Dale up the middle for 29 compositeyards, setting up Stathas' 1-yard TD run, increasing the lead to 21-0.

The Norsemen (2-5, 0-2 GSL) didn't quit. Starting from their own 34, senior running back ZACK ROMERO blasted through the middle of the Steele Canyon defense for an 18-yard gain. Nino Mallory added a couple of nifty runs of 13 and 9 yards to get the Norsemen down to the Cougars-19, but Steele Canyon's defense stiffened and the drive appeared to stall.

Faced with a 4th-and-10 from the 19, Valhalla coach STEVE SUTTON eschewed a field goal attempt, and elected to call another pass play. This time, SPENCER SUTHERLINE hauled in a Thomas pass at the 1-yard line, then Romero danced into the endzone on the next play with less than a minute to go in the third quarter.

Valhalla's defense, led by linebacker TANNER HITT and safety SHANE MALLORY, was able to force a punt with 10 minutes left in the game. Starting at thr 28, Thomas moved the Norsemen quickly down the field, with Nino Mallory picking up 39 yards on 3 carries, and Sutherline snagging a 17-yard pass for a first down at the SC-13.

Thomas then found White open in the endzone, but Womack dives in front of the receiver, intercepting the pass for a touchback with 5:59 left.

Steele Canyon iced the victory 8 plays later, as Dale scored his third touchdown on an 11-yard sprint around the right end with 2:54 remaining.

Both teams ran 54 plays and team yardage totals were comperable, but turnovers spelled the difference. Steele Canyon finished with 336 yards to Valhalla's 314.

Thomas went 18-30-1 for 164 yards, while Stathas totaled 89 yards on 8-12-0 passing. On defense, Hitt led all tacklers with 17.

After falling behind, Dale & Company broke loose. The Cougars scored 28 unanswered points to claim a 28-6 halftime lead. Dale accounted for 3 touchdowns during that scoring burst. The other TD came on a pass from NICK STATHAS to tight end CAMERON MOSS.

"The offensive line did a good job of blocking all night," Boehmke said.

JEBARI ROBINSON was a multiple threat for Steele Canyon , accounting for 128 all-purpose yards. The 5-foot-10, 168-pound junior caught 2 passes for 37 yards, returned a kickoff 64 yards, returned a punt 25 yards, and intercepted 2 passes.

"He's been outstanding all season," Boehmke noted.

Monte Vista attempted to make a game of it by punching in 8 points in the 3rd quarter. JERAD SCOTT scored on a 1-yard run and Payne passes to Gossmeyer for the 2-point conversion, cutting the Cougars lead to 28-14.

Payne completed nine of 18 passes for 117 yards and the one TD. He also topped Monte Vista in rushing with 47 yards on 11 carries. KYLE RICHARDSON caught seven passes for 70 yards for the Monarchs.

Monte Vista 's ace running back NICK WILLIAMS was limited to 36 yards on 10 carries by the Wolf Pack defense.

© East County Sports.com
EL CAJON (9-29-07) — It was a record-breaking performance for Steele Canyon Friday (Sept. 28) night against visiting El Capitan. It was also a unique night for the Cougars, who found themselves in a rare shootout against the high-scoring Vaqueros.

Bottom line: Steele Canyon won, 47-27.

“I guess the score doesn’t look like a typical game for us,” said Cougars head coach RON BOEHMKE. “We had a lot of guys have a big night.”

The Cougars’ momentum began building long before the opening kickoff when Steele Canyon assistant coach JOE SCHRAMM asked each of the seniors to stand up and say what they were going to do to help the team win. It may sound corny, but it proved to be effective.

Either Perlin was a magician, or more likely was a man of his word, as he repeatedly knocked El Capitan defenders on their heels.

Dale rushed for 261 yards and 5 touchdowns on 27 carries to lead the Cougars to their third win in five starts. Dale’s 30 points is a Steele Canyon record – tying him for 4th in Grossmont Conference history. Dale’s rushing total was 3 yards short of the record he set a year ago at Hilltop. Dale scored on runs of 4, 39, 55, 14 and 25 yards.

“El Capitan had 9 guys in the box, even their free safety,” Dale said. “The only guys outside were their corners, who were covering our receivers. Our O-line had a great day of opening holes, and once you were able to break through, you were on your way. On the majority of my runs I never got touched.”

Same could be said about Perlin, the Cougars’ 5-10, 192-pound senior fullback, who is normally the lead blocker for Dale. Only on this particular evening Perlin had a breakout game, rushing for a career-high 136 yards and 2 touchdowns on only 5 carries.

“Our O-line was amazing,” said Perlin, who averaged more than 27 yards per carry. “I scored on a zone trap and a C-quick down. Those plays don’t work unless our line is following their blocking assignments.”

Perlin also gathered in the only pass completion (in 3 tries) by quarterback NICK STATHAS along with converting 5 of 6 PAT kicks. On top of that Perlin booted the ball so deep on kickoffs that the Vaqueros had to accept 4 touchbacks.

Boehmke was proud to credit his offensive line of tight end CAMERON MOSS, tackles ROBERT FORESTER and BEN KAUFFMAN, guards JAMES OSBORNE and ROBERT HARVEY, and center RORY ZAVRID.

Top: Cougars quarterback Nick Stathas; Bottom: Cougars' Jebari Robinson (6). (Photos by Chris DeBosier)

“Those guys did a great job,” he said. “I know what it takes to block so I appreciate their effort.”

Steele Canyon rushed for a school record 404 yards on 36 carries to obliterate the old mark of 351 yards set against West Hills in 2003.

The Cougars, who scored on 7 of their 10 possessions against the Vaqueros, also established a school record for scoring, breaking the previous high of 42 points set against Ramona in 2004.

The result wasn’t what El Capitan coach RON BURNER had in mind. Much like their lopsided loss at Ramona earlier in the year, the Vaqueros found themselves behind 19-0 on scoring runs of 4 and 39 yards by Dale and a 73-yard burst by Perlin midway through the 2nd quarter.

“Steele Canyon had a great night, totally out-manned us,” Burner said. “I guess you could say they just ran over us.”

Although he hesitated to do so, Burner noted that El Capitan ’s pre-game plans were disrupted.

“I don’t want to make excuses for our play on the field, but our bus (slated to take the team to Rancho San Diego) was an hour late,” Burner said. “And then the bus that they sent was so small that we had to have 10 kids drive to the game. And of those kids, half of them got lost. It really messed things up, because from there everything went haywire.”

In spite of the frustrating loss, the Vaqueros did get some reasonably sound efforts out of their offense.

Versatile senior TILA CASE caught 9 passes for 129 yards and 1 touchdown while garnering 175 yards in all-purpose running.

Vaqueros quarterback TANNER RUST scored on a pair of short runs while completing 18 of 35 passes for 227 yards and 1 TD.

Vaqueros senior running back BEN WILKINS, who missed most of the week’s practices due to illness, rushed for only 25 yards on 8 carries but did score on a 1-yard run.

Apparently, visiting and No. 6-ranked Eastlake (3-1) wasn’t interested in all the pre-game hoopla. The Titans spoiled the festivities in Rancho San Diego, storming to a 28-0 lead and never looking back.

It was a long, memorable night for the Cougars, one, it turns out, they’d like to forget.

Senior JAMIE DALE, the Cougars’ rushing kingpin, was limited to 70 yards — less than half his season average of 144.0 – by the aggressive Titans. Dale did account for Steele Canyon ’s final touchdown on a 10-yard pass from NICK STATHAS in the 4th period. Dale also averaged 31.3 yards on 3 kickoff returns.

But not even Dale could rescue the Cougars on this night. Steele Canyon ’s defense delivered the Cougars’ first touchdown.

Junior linebacker JOE MORGAN foiled an Eastlake shovel pass when he created a fumble in the second quarter, picked up the loose ball and raced 75 yards downfield only to lose possession after being tackled at the 7-yard line. The ball careened into the endzone where JEBARI ROBINSON recovered it for the touchdown.

It was a rough night for Stathas, who completed 6 of 17 passes for 79 yards despite being under heavy pressure.

The foundation of Steele Canyon football is defense. But the Cougars (2-1) had to look to their offense Friday night (Sept. 14) at Grossmont to steal a victory from the Foothillers (2-1).

After falling behind 14-13 the Cougars engineered a 2-minute drill with precision not familiar to their offenses of the past. Coming from behind in the final seconds is something that hasn’t been a part of the Steele Canyon playbook.

Cougars quarterback NICK STATHAS, who completed 11 of 21 passes for 178 yards, glued his attention on JEBARI ROBINSON as the clock was winding down. It appeared that Stathas and Robinson had connected for a game-winning touchdown.

The official did not see it that way, ruling that Robinson had stepped out at the 2-yard line.

“We’ve looked at the film several times and we can’t see where Jebari stepped out of bounds,” said Cougars coach RON BOEHMKE. “It should have been a touchdown.”

It didn’t matter though, as senior rushing leader JAMIE DALE scored what proved to be the winning touchdown on a 2-yard run with 0:37.8 seconds to play. The Cougars went for and missed a 2-point conversion.

But Steele Canyon would make one final stand. The Cougars thought that the game had ended only to discover the officials had ruled that Grossmont would be awarded one more play with 0:001 remaining on the clock.

“I think we got jobbed a little bit by the home team’s clock,” Boehmke. “We got snakebit with a lot of little things that didn’t go our way. I felt karma should at least go our way with 1/10th of a second left.”

Steele Canyon was given a chance to test that on the final play of the game.

Grossmont quarterback CHARLIE PIRO lofted a pass to KHALID WATERS, who was surrounded by five Cougars defenders near the goal line. Piro’s pass was high and ricocheted off Waters’ hands at the 2-yard line. Had Waters caught the pass, he would have never reached the endzone as he was flattened immediately by BRANDEN BROWN and TED WOMACK.

“I think we earned this win,” Boehmke said. “But at the same time I think we’re lucky to be 2-1 because I know this team can be a heckuva lot better than they are right now.”

The multi-skilled Dale paced the Cougars with 156 all-purpose yards. Quarterback Stathas had one of his best games, completing 10 of 17 passes for 207 yards and one touchdown. Robinson pulled down 6 passes for 111 yards, including a 15-yard TD strike that tied the game 7-7 at halftime.

Fullback SCOTT PERLIN was a stealth contributor to the Steele Canyon win. The 5-10, 192-pound senior rushed for 38 yards and a touchdown and caught 5 passes for 54 yards. Dale also caught 2 passes for 42 yards and returned one kickoff for 20.

The Foothillers, who have lived by the running game for decades, received 71 yards and a touchdown on 18 rushes by Waters.

Quarterback JOSH SIMMS (11-23, 190 yards) and Piro (3-10, 51 yards) helped Grossmont total 341 yards in a losing effort. Floyd caught 5 passes for 107 yards while MICHAEL GRAHAM (3-44), COLTON BUGAWISAN (3-48), and Waters (3-48) completed the Foothillers’ passing attack.

Waters had 2 interceptions and WILL KEYS logged 11 tackles to lead the Foothillers. CONOR MEREDITH, DOMONIQUE BRADLEY and ERIC SPRINGE had 10 tackles apiece.

The two teams relied on might rather than finesse to decide this bout, which was determined when Cougars running back JAMIE DALE took over in the 2nd half.

While the Cougars (1-1) seemed bent on developing their passing game, they found themselves trailing 10-7 at the half. Dale contributed only 29 yards on 8 carries during the first two quarters.

“Jamie gave an inspirational talk at halftime, challenging our senior to not let West Hills beat us for a third straight time,” Steele Canyon coach RON BOEHMKE said.

Turns out Dale put his money where his mouth was when he scored on a 68-yard run on Steele Canyon ’s first play of the 2nd half.

“He got some good blocking in there on that lead and really popped one,” Boehmke said.

Paving the way on Dale’s TD dash were RORY ZAVARID and JACKSON REEVES and fullback SCOTT PERLIN.

“Those guys knocked the nose guard back and DAN WILLIAMS cleaned up,” Boehmke noted.

Dale finished with 186 yards rushing on 16 carries and caught 2 passes for 47 yards, including a victory-clinching 16-yard pass from quarterback NICK STATHAS with just over three minutes to play.

Stathas completed 6 of 13 passes for 78 yards. He also scored a touchdown on a 1-yard quarterback sneak.

Steele Canyon’s final touchdown surge followed a major defensive stand against the Wolf Pack (1-1).

With victory still within range, the Pack’s DAVID HERNANDEZ plunged into the line on a 4th-and-one. He was unable to reach the line of scrimmage as Steele Canyon ’s BEN KAUFFMAN, MILES MINNICH, JOSIAH SMITH and Zavarid pushed him back with 5:52 remaining.

“That was a huge play,” Boehmke said. More accurately, pivotal.

From there the Cougars stormed 79 yards for their victory-clenching score. The key play was a 52-yard run by Dale.

For West Hills quarterback CHRIS MISENSOL completed 13 of 24 passes for 130 yards, including a 6-yard scoring strike with 5 seconds left in the first half that gave the Pack a 10-7 advantage.

Wolf Pack senior ERIC FIEGE, who began last season as the West Hills quarterback, returned to his more familiar slotback position. Fiege caught 8 passes for 80 yards and accumulated 192 all-purpose yards.

A standout of defense for the Wolf Pack was JONATHAN DARBY, who accounted for one of West Hills’ 3 interceptions and posted a game-high 9 tackles. JUSTIN STANPHIL and HAYDEN KALFELL also had interceptions for the Pack.

That’s pretty good stuff, considering the 5-9, 163-pound Cougars running back doesn’t measure up with the so-called “giants” in the San Diego Section – at least not in stature. His performance, however, against the vengeful Dons of Cathedral Catholic is another story.

After falling behind 13-0 in the opening half, the Cougars finally put together a long scoring drive in the 3rd quarter.

No question the focus of Steele Canyon’s offense centers around Dale. The durable scatback rushed for 45 yards on 10 carries on the Cougars’ first possession of the opening half, which concluded in a 1-yard plunge into the endzone.

Coupled with MIKE DIAZ’ PAT kick, the Cougars chopped Cathedral’s 13-0 halftime lead in half.

“Our O-line did a good job,” said Cougars coach RON BOEHMKE. “We pounded them pretty good physically, and our defense kept us in the game until the last few minutes. It could have gone the other way.”

Dale, who finished with 142 yards on 35 carries, was stopped on a 4th-and-1 play at the Cougars 30-yard line with 2:29 remaining.

After the exchange in possession, Cathedral’s Torrance Jacko raced 30 yards for a victory-clinching touchdown.

“We made a few too many mistakes to win against a quality opponent,” said Boehmke. “This is our typical M.O. Maybe we can learn some things from this though.”

Despite the loss Dale accounted for 198 total yards.

© East County Sports.com
KEARNY MESA (7-14-07) -- A large contingent of fans from Lakeside witnessed a microcosm of the El Capitan High football program's transition in a single game Friday (July 13), when several Vaqueros plus game MVP TREVOR KOLOCHESKI of West Hills powered the South to a 14-0 victory in the Alex Spanos All-Star Classic at Mesa College's Douglas Stadium.

El Capitan quarterback RYAN LINDLEY, who is contending for a roster spot at San Diego State, directed a pair of second-half scoring drives, as Kolocheski registered key receptions on both drives.

The first was a 65-yarder to set-up a 1-yard touchdown gallop by Lester Arnold of Point Loma in the third period, then Kolocheski was rewarded following a 19-yard gainer by running the ball in from the 1-yard line out of the right slot on a sweep to the left side with 2:55 remaining.

"You have to chalk it up to the defense, we got some points on the scoreboard by making them pay for being too aggressive on defense," said Lindley, who completed 12-of-18 passes for 169 yards. "I think you're starting to see a lot more parity in San Diego County football."

The Vaqueros had been a .500 program in recent years, then posted a perfect 10-0 regular season slate in 2006, ranking No. 1 in both major San Diego CIF polls.

"Look at what we did at El Capitan this past year -- we were unknown before that," added Lindley. "A lot more people are putting in the work and taking football a lot more seriously."

"Now you see a lot of kids going to big schools after putting in the work for four years. Todd (Doxey of Hoover) is going to Oregon, for example -- now you're getting your school paid (college scholarships) as people are realizing San Diego football -- not just North County -- is for real and they're taking notice."

Meanwhile, the South defense dominated the perennially powerful North squad. Following a stalemate in the first half which left the contest scoreless, the South defenders maintained control in the second half, limiting the North to a mere 55 yards in total offense in one of the most dominating performances in the Classic's 17-game series.

"Our spread offense was opening up and moving the ball downfield -- everything just clicked," said Kolocheski, who indicated he has yet to finalize his college choice for this fall. "In the first half, it was pretty even -- they stopped us, we stopped them -- but after that, we controlled the game."

"They bit on our fake and we were wide open."

The short passing game of the South featured a game-high five receptions for 44 yards by El Cap's BEN NOY, who will play for Hawai'i this season. Arnold was the leading ground-gainer with 56 yards on 10 carries, following the lead of East County linemen, including TOMMIE DRAHEIM and TOMMY TOWNS of El Cap, JUAN BALANOS of Mount Miguel, West Hills' MIKE ROBLAS and Steele Canyon's LUIS GUERRA.

Meanwhile, the defense yielded just two first downs in the first half, then capped the shutout by getting to North quarterbacks for five quarterback sacks, including a pair of backfield hits by Grossmont College bound defensive lineman Richard Moore. Other sacks were recorded by MIKE HOLZ (El Capitan), Bobby Erskine (St. Augustine) and UCLA bound Robert McCurdy (Otay Ranch).

"We were really psyched for that goose(-egg, as in a shutout)," noted Towns. "The first thing to come in our minds was don't let them in the end zone."

Added Draheim, "We were just trying to prove the South has the ability, even if we don't have the same resources as a North County team. And we were willing to prove it here."

"We had something to prove and we proved it on the field. We had a lot of guys from El Cap here and our work ethic really helped us to win tonight. It was a great game and I enjoyed playing in it."

Other locals participating included: SCOT ALLEN and KYLER DWYER (Christian), TAELOR WORRELL and CODY FURR (El Capitan), DERRICK PERRAULT, MATT COBB and JERAD RUIZ (Helix), and RICHARD WICK (Steele Canyon).