Ibrahimi, Braves air out frustrations

By Ramon Scott
Updated: September 13, 2026

El Cajon Valley makes a stop against Orange Glen on Friday.

2026 EAST COUNTY PREP FOOTBALL

EL CAJON VALLEY 42, ORANGE GLEN 0

EastCountySports.com staff report

EL CAJON — For three weeks, El Cajon Valley showed flashes of an offense that never had enough time, possessions or favorable circumstances to put everything together.

On Friday night, the Braves finally got their opportunity.

Then they made sure there was nothing close about it.

Sophomore quarterback TJ Ibrahimi threw for 297 yards and five touchdowns, senior Amir Miller caught four passes for 150 yards and two scores, and El Cajon Valley produced its first victory of the season with a 42-0 rout of Orange Glen at Priest Field.

The Braves improved to 1-3 with their most complete performance of the season, combining a quick-strike passing game with a defense that limited Orange Glen to just 77 yards of total offense.

This wasn’t merely El Cajon Valley escaping a matchup between two teams searching for their first victory.

The Braves dominated it.

Ibrahimi completed 10 of 16 passes, meaning his average completion traveled for nearly 30 yards. His five touchdown passes went to four different receivers as El Cajon Valley repeatedly attacked Orange Glen vertically.

The first came on a 36-yard connection with senior Gavino Kendall-Pinal, who got behind the coverage on the right side and finished the play for the touchdown.

Then came Miller.

Ibrahimi sent the ball deep to his 6-foot-range, 191-pound target, and Miller used the combination that makes him such a difficult matchup at this level — size, speed and exceptionally strong hands — to secure the pass and complete a 53-yard touchdown.

Ibrahimi followed with another strike down the right side, this time connecting with Rashaunn Barr for 60 yards.

Three touchdowns. Three explosive passes.

The Braves, who had scored only 12 points over their first three games, suddenly looked nothing like the offense that had spent August trying to survive against deeper opponents.

Ibrahimi wasn’t finished.

On another second-quarter scoring play, the sophomore stepped forward in the pocket and fired the ball to Miller on the left side. Miller secured it in stride and ran away for a 32-yard touchdown, his second score of the game.

It was another example of why Miller can become such an imposing target when Ibrahimi has enough time to find him.

Miller finished with four receptions for 150 yards, an extraordinary 37.5 yards per catch, and the two touchdowns.

The senior doesn’t merely provide Ibrahimi with a large catch radius. At approximately 191 pounds, Miller has the physical frame to win contested footballs against any level of defense in the county while retaining enough speed to turn a completed pass into an explosive play.

Friday, Orange Glen had no answer for him.

Nor did the Patriots have much success against the Braves’ defense.

Sophomore Joseph Uwajeh supplied the defensive highlight with the kind of interception that looked less opportunistic than anticipated.

Uwajeh recognized the short route developing to the right, sat on it and broke in front of the intended receiver just as the pass arrived. Instead of the routine completion Orange Glen appeared to expect, Uwajeh had the football and open field.

He returned the interception 22 yards for a touchdown.

It was one of two interceptions by Uwajeh, who accounted for 35 interception-return yards while helping El Cajon Valley completely erase Orange Glen’s passing game.

The Patriots completed only 1 of 9 passes for five yards and were intercepted twice.

Orange Glen managed 72 yards on 32 rushing attempts, leaving the Patriots with only 77 total yards and 2.3 yards per rushing attempt.

El Cajon Valley also produced 13 tackles for loss.

Senior Angel Perez was particularly disruptive, recording three sacks and four tackles for loss. Jonathan Gonzalez led the Braves with nine total tackles, while Yousef Petros and sophomore Justice Virgen were credited with seven apiece.

Virgen added a fourth-quarter sack as El Cajon Valley finished off the shutout rather than allowing Orange Glen a consolation score.

That mattered.

Orange Glen had scored its only touchdown of the season during the final minute of its previous game, a 41-7 loss to Foothills Christian. El Cajon Valley never permitted the Patriots even that late opportunity.

The Braves’ offense, meanwhile, spread its production well beyond Miller.

Janvier Kashindi caught four passes for 55 yards and a touchdown and rushed five times for 28 yards. Barr’s lone reception became his 60-yard touchdown, while Kendall-Pinal’s only catch went for his 36-yard score.

Kashindi was also involved in the conversion game, including a two-point reception from Ibrahimi following the 53-yard touchdown to Miller.

El Cajon Valley finished with 327 yards of offense, and 297 came through Ibrahimi.

For a sophomore quarterback who had already demonstrated an ability to challenge defenses downfield despite the Braves’ difficult start, Friday represented something more substantial than another promising flash.

It was a complete performance.

And for El Cajon Valley, the victory itself carried some weight.

The Braves had been outscored 120-12 through their opening three games. They entered Friday having faced two difficult South Bay road assignments before encountering an improving Canyon Hills team.

Against Orange Glen, the matchup changed.

So did the result.

El Cajon Valley scored more points Friday night than it had during those first three games combined — by 30.

The Braves also recorded their first shutout and demonstrated that when Ibrahimi has time to operate, there are legitimate weapons around him.

Miller may be the most imposing of them.

But on Friday, there were plenty.

PLAYER OF THE GAME — TJ IBRAHIMI

The sophomore quarterback delivered the breakout performance El Cajon Valley had been waiting for:

10-of-16 passing, 297 yards, 5 touchdowns

Ibrahimi averaged 29.7 yards per completion and produced touchdown passes of at least 32, 36, 53 and 60 yards among the scoring plays identified from the game.

His five TD passes went to Amir Miller (2), Gavino Kendall-Pinal, Rashaunn Barr and Janvier Kashindi.

MILLER IS MATCHUP PROBLEM FOR ANY DEFENSE

Amir Miller entered the game as El Cajon Valley’s most productive receiver.

Orange Glen found out why.

The senior finished with four catches for 150 yards and two touchdowns, including scoring receptions of 53 and 32 yards.

At approximately 191 pounds, Miller possesses unusual physicality for a high school receiving target, but his game isn’t based solely upon size. He showed the speed to get behind the secondary and the hands to finish the play once Ibrahimi put the football in his vicinity.

His 53-yard touchdown particularly illustrated the problem.

Ibrahimi gave his big target an opportunity downfield, and Miller took care of the rest, securing the football with his strong hands before finishing the explosive scoring play.

Through four games, Miller is averaging approximately 126 receiving yards per game.

UWAJEH READS IT ALL THE WAY

There are interceptions created by bad throws.

Joseph Uwajeh’s pick-six wasn’t one of them.

The El Cajon Valley sophomore recognized Orange Glen’s short passing concept to the right and timed his break perfectly, stepping in front of the receiver as the football arrived.

Uwajeh returned it 22 yards for a touchdown.

He later added another interception and finished with two picks for 35 return yards, helping hold the Patriots to a remarkable five passing yards.

For a sophomore-heavy Braves team, Ibrahimi wasn’t the only Class of 2029 player who offered a glimpse of what could be ahead.

NEXT: A GAME WITH CONSEQUENCES AT CASTLE PARK

EL CAJON VALLEY (1-3) at CASTLE PARK (1-3), Friday, 6:30 p.m.

El Cajon Valley doesn’t have much time to celebrate its breakthrough.

The Braves travel to Castle Park next Friday for another nonleague game between teams occupying the lower end of the San Diego Section’s Division 1-5 ratings.

And this one carries considerably more importance than the records might suggest.

El Cajon Valley currently sits No. 76 among the Section’s Division 1-5 teams, with Castle Park immediately behind at No. 77. Orange Glen is No. 78.

That makes Friday’s trip to Chula Vista another opportunity the Braves cannot afford to waste as they attempt to improve their position before Grossmont Valley League play.

Castle Park is also 1-3, but the Trojans present an almost opposite offensive profile.

While El Cajon Valley has increasingly relied upon Ibrahimi and its passing game, Castle Park has reported approximately 240 rushing yards per game while producing almost nothing through the air.

That creates an obvious contrast.

El Cajon Valley wants Ibrahimi throwing to Miller and attacking the field vertically.

Castle Park would prefer to keep the ball on the ground, shorten the game and prevent the Braves from generating the kind of explosive possessions that buried Orange Glen.

The Trojans are coming off a 35-0 loss to Montgomery, while El Cajon Valley arrives having finally established what its offense can look like when Ibrahimi has time to throw.

The Braves now have to prove Friday wasn’t simply a favorable matchup.

At 1-3, every remaining opportunity to improve their postseason position matters. Getting to 2-3 before league play would leave El Cajon Valley in a substantially better position than falling back to 1-4.

After waiting three weeks for their first victory, the Braves have another winnable game directly in front of them.

This time, they arrive knowing exactly what their offense is capable of doing.