2026 FOOTHILLS CHRISTIAN PREVIEW

2026 EAST COUNTY PREP FOOTBALL

Camp Gibbor tradition, new quarterback, experienced core give Knights foundation for improvement

EastCountySports.com staff

EL CAJON — For Foothills Christian, preseason football has long meant more than installing an offense and getting through conditioning drills.

The Knights again headed to Camp Gibbor, their annual three-day training retreat at a family farm, where the program trades the normal practice surroundings for grass fields, rural terrain and a setting built around conditioning, competition and team bonding.

The message from the program before camp was simple: the players would go through the “blood, sweat and tears” together — “one family, one team … KNIGHTS!”

That idea probably carries even more significance entering coach Dustin Turley’s second season.

Foothills Christian finished 1-9 in 2025, scoring 14.3 points per game while allowing 40.2. There is no benefit in pretending otherwise. The Knights have considerable ground to make up.

But there are also tangible reasons to believe 2026 can look different.

The varsity roster has grown to 35 players, several young players who were forced into action last season return with varsity experience, the offensive line has legitimate size for a small-school program, and the Knights have added junior quarterback Hayden Oleson, whose arrival could address one of last season’s biggest limitations.

The first indication that considerable work remains came in last week’s scrimmage against El Cajon Valley. The Braves controlled the matchup and won decisively, although the exact final score was unclear.

A preseason scrimmage won’t define the Knights, particularly with a young roster. What matters is what happens next.

Camp Gibbor is designed with that process in mind.

Senior Trevor Embleton and junior Drew Mikulsky emerged as the winners of the camp’s individual competition, another piece of a preseason built around establishing leadership and toughness before Friday night’s opener against Escondido Charter.

Oleson gives Knights a chance to change offensively

The single biggest statistical imbalance from last season explains why Oleson matters.

Foothills Christian rushed for 1,660 yards but produced only 553 passing yards in 10 games.

Opponents rarely had to respect both dimensions of the offense.

Oleson, a 6-foot, 160-pound junior who transferred from Canada, enters as the probable answer at quarterback. His younger brother, freshman Jack Oleson, also joined the program and is listed as a halfback, receiver and outside linebacker.

No one should expect Hayden Oleson to transform the Knights immediately into a high-volume passing offense. That isn’t necessary.

If he can simply give Foothills Christian consistent quarterback play, complete routine throws and make defenses defend the entire field, the impact should extend well beyond his passing totals.

Senior Jonah Nottoli remains another option with experience taking snaps. Nottoli completed 14 of 30 passes for 265 yards and three touchdowns last season while also contributing as a runner and returner. This year’s roster lists him at quarterback, receiver and cornerback, and his versatility should allow Turley to use him without necessarily making him the full-time quarterback.

That could give Foothills Christian some offensive creativity it did not consistently possess last season.

Stewart, Phoenix give Knights veteran options on the ground

The graduation of last year’s leading rusher creates a major vacancy, but the Knights are not without experienced runners.

Senior David Stewart averaged an impressive 8.1 yards per carry in limited work last season, gaining 130 yards on 16 attempts. He also caught six passes and contributed defensively.

Junior Tuchon Phoenix may be one of the more intriguing returning players on the roster.

Phoenix rushed only nine times last season but gained 119 yards — 13.2 yards per carry — and was far more involved defensively, finishing with 43 tackles, the most among this year’s returning players based on the available statistics.

That combination of production and experience makes Phoenix a candidate for a substantially expanded offensive role.

Trevor Embleton can contribute as another multipurpose skill player, while Isaac Maisonet, Drew Mikulsky, Cahlil Martinez, Jonathan Mendoza, Jax Vizkeleti, Christopher Huls and Degan Bird give Turley considerably more options across the backfield and linebacker groups.

The Camp Gibbor performance by Mikulsky is worth noting in that context. After getting varsity experience as a sophomore, he enters his junior year having already demonstrated some ability as a runner and defender.

Rather than asking one player to replace all of last year’s rushing production, Foothills Christian has enough bodies to spread the workload.

More possibilities at receiver

The Knights also need considerably more production from the receiving corps.

Senior Jace Hilemon returns as one of the primary candidates. His 2025 varsity season was limited statistically, but he is now a 6-foot senior with another year in the program and should have considerably more opportunity if Oleson expands the passing attack.

Nottoli can become a receiving threat when he isn’t at quarterback, while Jacob Manalo and Embleton add two more senior targets.

Junior Judah Kursten brings unusual length at 6-foot-3, and Phoenix is listed as a receiver in addition to outside linebacker.

The younger group includes Jaxson Felan, Liam Dailey, Rome Stewart, Nathan Manalo, Ryan Harrisom, Braydon Rodriguez and Zaiden Regalado.

The Knights don’t need to produce a 1,000-yard receiver.

They need three or four players capable of consistently winning matchups when opponents load the box.

If that happens, the entire offense becomes less predictable.

Size gives offensive line something to build around

One of the more encouraging parts of the roster is the amount of size Foothills Christian has accumulated up front.

Senior Marshal Bailey, a 6-foot-2, 200-pound center and defensive tackle, returns after recording 15 tackles and three tackles for loss last season.

Junior Wyatt Matlock is listed at 230 pounds. Sophomore Jake Kern is 225. Junior Asher Cross is 210, and Sam Clark stands 6-foot-2, 200.

Then there is sophomore Riley Taft, already listed at 6-foot-4 and 277 pounds.

Freshmen Emmanuel Marechale and Travis Espley weigh 235 and 220 pounds, respectively, while Duke Houston, Dennis Hoffman and J.J. Hernandez give the Knights additional line depth.

For a small-school program, that’s a useful collection of bodies.

The challenge will be turning size into cohesion.

Many of those players will have to perform on both sides of the football, and the Knights don’t possess the roster depth to freely rotate complete units.

But there is enough material for Turley and his staff to develop a more physical offensive front than last year’s record might suggest.

Defense has to make the largest jump

There is no mystery about the most important area for improvement.

Foothills Christian surrendered 402 points in 10 games last season.

The Knights allowed at least 38 points six times and 49 or more four times.

Until that changes, everything else becomes secondary.

There are returning pieces.

Phoenix’s 43 tackles lead the group.

Cross recorded 36 tackles, Maisonet had 32, Matlock totaled 30, Mikulsky finished with 26, and Hoffman had 17.

Those numbers become more meaningful when considering how young several of those players were.

Maisonet produced 32 tackles as a freshman. Cross had 36 as a sophomore. Matlock accumulated 30 despite playing only five games.

Now they return older and physically stronger.

Bailey, Clark, Kern, Houston, Cross, Matlock, Hoffman, Hernandez, Taft and Wardlaw should provide more depth along the line and in the box.

The objective doesn’t have to be becoming an elite defense overnight.

First, eliminate the avalanche games.

Make opponents drive the field.

Create negative plays.

Produce more turnovers — Foothills Christian intercepted only two passes last season.

Give Oleson and the offense a reasonable number of possessions in competitive situations.

That would represent substantial progress.

Senior secondary can stabilize the back end

Foothills Christian does have experience in the secondary.

Nottoli is listed at cornerback, Hilemon at free safety, Embleton at strong safety and Jacob Manalo at corner.

That gives the Knights four seniors who can potentially be on the field together when opponents spread them out.

The younger depth includes Felan, Rome Stewart, Nathan Manalo, Kursten, Harrisom and Rodriguez.

For a defense that gave up too many explosive plays last season, experienced communication in the secondary could be important.

And with so many of those players also appearing at receiver, Foothills Christian’s ability to manage snaps becomes another factor as the season progresses.

Schedule offers chances to measure progress

The Knights don’t have to wait long to find out how much has changed.

They open Friday at 7 p.m. against Escondido Charter, the same opponent that defeated Foothills Christian 42-6 in last year’s opener.

That makes the game an unusually clean measuring stick.

The Knights don’t necessarily have to reverse 36 points in one offseason to demonstrate improvement. They need to look more competitive physically, sustain drives and prevent the game from getting away from them early.

Calipatria follows on Aug. 28. The Hornets beat Foothills Christian 38-0 last year.

From there comes an important stretch against Orange Glen, Hamilton and Tri-City Christian.

Hamilton beat Foothills 27-15 last season, while Tri-City Christian provided the Knights’ lone victory, a convincing 42-13 win.

That gives Turley’s team several attainable benchmarks.

The schedule also contains an unusual two-game Nevada stretch. Foothills Christian meets Lake Mead Christian Academy of Henderson on Sept. 25 and CIVICA Career & Collegiate Academy of North Las Vegas on Oct. 2.

After a lengthy break, the Knights close with Sunset League road games against Victory Christian Academy on Oct. 23 and O’Farrell Charter on Oct. 30.

Victory beat the Knights 28-6 last season, while Foothills played O’Farrell much closer before falling 38-23.

The analytical projection calls for approximately three victories, which would already represent a meaningful step from 1-9.

Considering how many young players return, getting to three or four wins while becoming substantially more competitive could constitute a productive second season under Turley.

Sunset League outlook

Foothills Christian remains a developing team in the Sunset League, and based on last season’s results, the Knights enter 2026 needing to prove they can climb the standings.

Victory Christian Academy and O’Farrell Charter should provide two of the more significant tests on the league portion of the schedule, while Orange Glen presents another important measuring-stick game. Tri-City Christian is the opponent Foothills knows it can beat after last year’s 42-13 victory, but the rematch should indicate whether that result represented the beginning of a real move forward.

The preseason projection places Foothills Christian toward the bottom of the league, but this is also precisely the type of league in which modest improvement can change the standings quickly.

For the Knights, the first objective is getting into position to play meaningful, competitive league games late in the season.

A program still transitioning from eight-man success

There is useful context to Foothills Christian’s present position.

This is a program that enjoyed significant success in the eight-man game, winning San Diego Section championships in 2016, 2018, 2019 and 2023.

The transition into the current version of the program requires a different level of roster depth, line play and week-to-week physical endurance.

That doesn’t happen instantly at a school this size.

But the culture behind those championship teams — developing players, keeping the roster together and creating a strong program identity — remains relevant.

Camp Gibbor is part of that identity.

The Knights leave the normal football environment, practice together, compete together and spend three days in a setting designed to make the team depend on one another.

After a 1-9 season, that tradition isn’t merely preseason scenery.

It represents what Foothills Christian has to become.

A more connected, tougher and more dependable football team.

Outlook

The Knights are not entering 2026 as a finished product.

They’re entering it with more pieces.

Hayden Oleson could provide the passing component that was largely absent last season.

David Stewart and Tuchon Phoenix give the Knights returning production and athleticism.

Jonah Nottoli, Jace Hilemon, Trevor Embleton and Jacob Manalo form an experienced senior skill-position group.

Marshal Bailey gives the interior line a veteran anchor, while Cross, Matlock, Clark, Kern and the 277-pound Taft give the Knights some legitimate size.

And perhaps most importantly, a large portion of this roster is still developing.

Maisonet, Houston, Kern, Taft, Wardlaw, Vizkeleti, Felan and several others are only sophomores. Jack Oleson, Huls, Bird, Marechale, Espley, Nathan Manalo, Harrisom and Regalado are freshmen.

That means Turley’s second season isn’t simply about repairing last year’s record.

It is about establishing what the program looks like going forward.

The Knights’ final 2025 victory over Tri-City Christian showed that when things came together, Foothills Christian could be considerably better than its overall record.

Now it has to happen more often.

A more credible passing game, a deeper front seven and another year of experience won’t instantly erase a 1-9 season.

But they give Foothills Christian a realistic path toward becoming a much tougher team to play in 2026.

And after three days at Camp Gibbor built around doing everything together, that’s exactly where the Knights want the improvement to begin.

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