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Highlanders reclaim Hills championship
- Updated: November 1, 2026
Helix's Jeremy Robinson looks for running room on Friday night. / Vic Marano
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2026 EAST COUNTY PREP FOOTBALL
GRANITE HILLS at HELIX
2026 EAST COUNTY PREP FOOTBALL
No. 7 HELIX 42, No. 3 GRANITE HILLS 31
Thompson throws four touchdown passes as Helix ends Granite Hills’ championship reign
By Ramon Scott
EastCountySports.com
LA MESA — Helix had surrendered a two-touchdown lead, watched Granite Hills move in front and reached the point where a championship required another answer.
Caden Thompson and the Highlanders had two more.
Thompson found Jeremy Robinson for a dazzling go-ahead touchdown, then delivered the clincher to J.J. Andrew-Johnson as Helix reclaimed the Grossmont Hills League championship with a 42-31 victory Friday night.
On Senior Night, the Highlanders ended Granite Hills’ 19-game league winning streak and four-year championship run, completing an unbeaten league season and securing their first league title since 2021.
Helix finished the regular season 8-2 overall and 4-0 in league. Granite Hills, which had won the previous four meetings, finished 7-3 and 3-1.
Thompson threw four touchdown passes, two apiece to Robinson and Andrew-Johnson. LaMarquis Sutton intercepted a pass in the end zone to protect a four-point fourth-quarter lead, while Stephon Fuentes’ determined running helped Helix keep the ball away from the Eagles down the stretch.
“I feel like we were just really just proving ourselves right,” Andrew-Johnson said during the East County Prep Football Postgame Show. “People can think what they think, but … we know what this team is capable of.”
For coach Damaja Jones, the victory represented a league breakthrough against the program that had repeatedly stood between Helix and the championship. The league banner was the first for the Scotties under Jones.
The Highlanders did not simply protect an early advantage. They had to take the game back.
A fourth-quarter answer
Granite Hills scored 17 consecutive points to turn a 28-14 deficit into a 31-28 fourth-quarter lead.
Zac Benitez threw two touchdown passes to Courtney “Nino” Miller-Thompson, one just before halftime and another with 8:28 remaining in the third quarter. A field goal early in the fourth completed the Eagles’ comeback.
Helix answered with a short completion that Robinson turned into a championship-changing play.
With defenders converging toward the middle, Robinson turned outside and accelerated toward the pylon for a 25-yard touchdown. The extra point put Helix ahead 35-31 with 7:39 remaining.
Jones explained afterward that the play was built around a roughly nine-yard hitch, with the receiver instructed to catch the ball and turn outside.
“Cade threw it with good timing,” Jones said. “He’s just really dynamic with the ball in his hand.”
Granite Hills threatened again, mixing runs from Davion Williams and Nico Williams with another Benitez completion to Miller-Thompson to move inside the Helix 25.
Sutton ended the possession, tracking a pass into the end zone for an interception.
The Highlanders then put the closing drive in Fuentes’ hands. He ran through contact, moved the chains and helped Helix consume precious minutes before Thompson finished the possession through the air.
Facing a defense intent on stopping the run, Jones chose a touchdown opportunity over trying to extend the lead with a field goal.
“We’re going to max protect, pick your matchup,” Jones said of the instruction to Thompson.
Thompson selected Andrew-Johnson, connecting for a 29-yard touchdown. The extra point made it 42-31 with 12.1 seconds remaining.
“I wanted to make sure that our guys who got us there are going to win us the game,” Jones said.
A first quarter full of big plays
Granite Hills opened the scoring after stopping Helix on fourth down and taking over at the Highlanders’ 30.
Benitez rolled left behind his blockers for a 7-yard touchdown run, giving the Eagles a 7-0 lead with 7:55 remaining in the first quarter.
Thompson answered with a 43-yard touchdown pass to Robinson, who found open space down the middle. The extra point tied the game with 5:10 left.
Romeo Pepi immediately tilted the field back toward Granite Hills.
Pepi fielded the kickoff at his own 12 and raced up the left side, finding a seam and following a block for a 76-yard return to the Helix 12.
Gage Spalding scored on the next snap, cutting up the middle and carrying his momentum through contact at the goal line.
Granite Hills led 14-7 with 4:50 left in the quarter.
Helix responded by turning two fumble recoveries into touchdowns.
After the Highlanders recovered a fumble following a completion to Manny Walker, Thompson found Andrew-Johnson for a 77-yard touchdown that tied the game with 1:53 left.
Another Eagles fumble set up Fuentes’ 1-yard touchdown run, giving Helix a 21-14 lead entering the second quarter. Antonio Sanchez contributed to the Highlanders’ defensive pressure, including a first-quarter sack.
Special teams, then an Eagles response
Helix stretched its lead with a special-teams touchdown.
Junior Jace Sells broke through to block a Granite Hills punt, and Denzel Griffin continued his pursuit of the loose ball into the end zone for the recovery and touchdown.
The extra point made it 28-14 with 10:29 remaining in the half.
Granite Hills kept itself in contention. Pepi forced a Thompson fumble, with Kolton Hopkins recovering, and the Eagles eventually assembled a scoring drive before halftime.
Spalding supplied important rushing gains, and Benitez delivered a low 10-yard scoring pass that Miller-Thompson went down to secure in the closing seconds.
Helix led 28-21 at the break.
Benitez and Miller-Thompson connected again during the Eagles’ first possession of the second half, first for a substantial gain and then for the touchdown that tied the game.
Hopkins helped Granite Hills regain possession with key stops against the running game, and the Eagles turned Helix away on fourth down near their own 30.
The teams entered the fourth quarter tied 28-28 before Granite Hills’ field goal provided its final lead.
The Eagles had recovered from a two-touchdown deficit. Helix produced the final 14 points.
SCORE BY QUARTERS Granite Hills — 14 7 7 3 — 31 Helix — 21 7 0 14 — 42
SCORING SUMMARY
| Quarter | Time remaining | Scoring play | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| First | 7:55 | GH — Benitez 7-yard run; kick good | GH 7-0 |
| First | 5:10 | HEL — Robinson 43-yard pass from Thompson; kick good | 7-7 |
| First | 4:50 | GH — Spalding 12-yard run; kick good | GH 14-7 |
| First | 1:53 | HEL — Andrew-Johnson 77-yard pass from Thompson; kick good | 14-14 |
| First | — | HEL — Fuentes 1-yard run; kick good | HEL 21-14 |
| Second | 10:29 | HEL — Griffin recovered punt blocked by Sells in end zone; kick good | HEL 28-14 |
| Second | Closing seconds | GH — Miller-Thompson 10-yard pass from Benitez; kick good | HEL 28-21 |
| Third | 8:28 | GH — Miller-Thompson pass from Benitez; kick good | 28-28 |
| Fourth | — | GH — Field goal | GH 31-28 |
| Fourth | 7:39 | HEL — Robinson 25-yard pass from Thompson; kick good | HEL 35-31 |
| Fourth | 0:12.1 | HEL — Andrew-Johnson 29-yard pass from Thompson; kick good | HEL 42-31 |
Jones gets his league breakthrough; Thompson’s patience pays off
Damaja Jones already had coached a Helix team into the Open Division playoffs. Friday supplied a different achievement: his first Grossmont Hills League championship as head coach.
Jones succeeded Robbie Owens in 2022. Helix’s previous league title, in 2021, came under Owens.
Jones’ 2023 team finished 9-2, with its only defeats coming in double overtime against Granite Hills and Lincoln, the eventual Open Division finalists. Friday belongs alongside that season as a major accomplishment in his tenure — and stands as his signature league victory.
Its significance extends beyond ending a losing streak against the Eagles. Helix has recovered from consecutive losing seasons and a 38-6 opening defeat at Santa Fe Christian to win eight of its next nine games.
Thompson has become central to that resurgence.
Jones praised the quarterback’s approach while waiting for his opportunity, saying he maintained a positive attitude and continued working.
“He just put his head down, and now it’s his turn,” Jones said. “We are a better football team because of it.”
Thompson described a simple routine behind his composure.
“I take a deep breath before every play,” he said, explaining that identifying the safeties helps him process the defense before the snap.
The running game has helped make those reads productive. Jones said Fuentes joined the summer work late because of baseball commitments, did not play a snap in the opener and gradually earned more opportunities after showing promise at Imperial.
Now he is the starting back.
“They have to put more people in the box,” Thompson said. “It just lets our wide receivers make plays.”
The offensive line’s development mattered just as much. Jones credited its adjustments against Granite Hills’ pressure and its work on the closing possession.
“Running the ball when they know that you’re going to run … is a compliment to our guys,” he said.
Eagles still have a championship to defend
Granite Hills lost a league championship Friday. Its opportunity to pursue another section championship remains.
Coach Kellan Cobbs’ Eagles have won four consecutive section titles: Division II in 2022, the Open Division in 2023 and Division I in 2024 and 2025. The 2022 team also captured a state Division II-A championship.
Helix ended the Eagles’ league winning streak at 19 and prevented a fifth consecutive Grossmont Hills crown. Granite Hills nevertheless demonstrated why it remains dangerous in November.
The Eagles answered a 28-14 deficit with 17 consecutive points, receiving two touchdown connections from Benitez to Miller-Thompson and defensive contributions from Hopkins and Pepi.
Posted game statistics credit Benitez with 192 passing yards and two touchdowns, along with his rushing touchdown. Miller-Thompson finished with 84 receiving yards and both scoring catches. Granite Hills totaled 214 rushing yards.
Benitez also became the section’s career completions leader, adding another milestone to his four-year varsity career.
The immediate postseason assignment is reducing the mistakes that proved so costly Friday. Two first-quarter fumbles preceded Helix touchdowns, a blocked punt produced another score, and an end-zone interception ended a potential go-ahead drive.
That sequence outweighed the Eagles’ successful comeback.
Jones acknowledged the standard Granite Hills brought into the game.
“They were the big dog,” he said. “You want to play in those big games and see how you are.”
The league trophy has changed hands. The Eagles’ section-title defense has not yet begun.
PLAYOFF OUTLOOK
One-hundredth separates Helix from the Open; Division I could bring a rematch
The MaxPreps rankings are expected to list unbeaten Santa Fe Christian fourth at 76.65 and Helix fifth at 76.64. Barring a CIF adjustment, Santa Fe Christian joins Carlsbad, Cathedral Catholic and Mission Hills in the four-team Open bracket.
La Costa Canyon, described in a Thursday’s media report as already secure in the Open field, instead sits sixth after its 31-21 loss to Torrey Pines left the Mavericks 6-4.
Friday’s results changed the picture. The distinction is between a projection and a mathematically guaranteed place: Thursday’s published account treated the field as settled, but the final rankings supplied a different fourth team.
Why La Costa Canyon was presented as assured of a berth remains unexplained. Without the underlying calculation or clarification from the section, it would be speculation to assign a reason. What can be said is that the report’s certainty was not borne out by the updated numbers.
Santa Fe Christian’s case deserves its own recognition. The Eagles finished 11-0 and beat Helix 38-6 in the opener. Their listed schedule strength of 29.9 is lower than Helix’s 43.2, but the lighter schedule does not erase that decisive head-to-head result or their unbeaten season.
Helix has improved dramatically since August. The final ratings nevertheless leave the Highlanders on the Division I side of the cutoff by the smallest displayed margin.
If CIF follows the published order, the eight-team Division I field projects this way:
| Seed | Team | Record | Rating | Projected quarterfinal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Helix | 8-2 | 76.64 | vs. No. 8 Torrey Pines |
| 2 | La Costa Canyon | 6-4 | 76.13 | vs. No. 7 Rancho Bernardo |
| 3 | Granite Hills | 7-3 | 75.43 | vs. No. 6 San Marcos |
| 4 | Oceanside | 6-4 | 74.18 | vs. No. 5 Lincoln |
| 5 | Lincoln | 4-6 | 73.75 | at No. 4 Oceanside |
| 6 | San Marcos | 5-5 | 73.25 | at No. 3 Granite Hills |
| 7 | Rancho Bernardo | 8-2 | 72.70 | at No. 2 La Costa Canyon |
| 8 | Torrey Pines | 6-4 | 71.60 | at No. 1 Helix |
Those are projected pairings, not announced selections.
Helix and Granite Hills would occupy opposite halves of the bracket. The Highlanders’ potential semifinal would come against Oceanside or Lincoln; the Eagles’ would come against La Costa Canyon or Rancho Bernardo.
Two victories apiece would bring the rivals together again for the Division I championship.
Asked Friday about the uncertainty, Jones declined to treat any preselection report as final.
“I don’t find out till Sunday,” he said.
His expectation for his team was more definite.
“If we play in Division One, we’re going to be prepared and ready,” Jones said. “We’re going to … play Helix football.”
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