Robinson’s big night fuels RedHawks

By David Dickens
Updated: November 9, 2026

2026 EAST COUNTY PREP FOOTBALL

CIF San Diego Section Division V-AA playoffs
No. 4 Mountain Empire 55, No. 5 Clairemont 28

Robinson runs for 424 yards, six TDs as Mountain Empire advances

RedHawks score the final 27 points against Clairemont, and Elisha Robinson goes over 2,000 yards in his 10th game.

By Dave Dickens

EastCountySports.com

PINE VALLEY — Clairemont crowded the line of scrimmage, and Elisha Robinson figured Mountain Empire might start throwing. Then he saw what his offensive line was doing.

The RedHawks kept handing him the ball.

Robinson rushed for 424 yards and six touchdowns Friday night, Nov. 6, as Mountain Empire broke a third-quarter tie with 27 unanswered points and beat Clairemont 55-28 in the CIF San Diego Section Division V-AA playoffs. The RedHawks (6-4) scored a season high and advanced to face top-seeded Escondido Charter in the semifinals.

“I didn’t think I was going to get the ball that much either,” Robinson said on the East County Sports postgame show. “They started loading the box more. So I thought we were going to start throwing it, but we had some good power football going on.”

Mountain Empire scored all eight of its touchdowns on the ground. Amar Mahasin rushed for 83 yards and a touchdown, giving him and Robinson 507 yards between them. Jacob Arnold scored on a goal-line run.

Robinson fumbled twice, including once in the first quarter. He said the early fumble “lit a fire,” and credited his linemen with helping him settle back in.

“Even when I do fumble, they’re always there to pick me up, tell me, ‘Hey, keep short-term memory. Leave that in the past,’” Robinson said.

Robinson was nearly out of voice by the time he joined the show, but he still had something to tell the guys up front.

“I’m taking the line out after this performance for sure,” he said with a laugh.

Two ties, then four straight RedHawks touchdowns

Mountain Empire led 14-7 after one quarter and pushed the margin to 21-7 in the second. Clairemont quarterback Timothy Cox scored on a 17-yard run to cut the halftime deficit to 21-13.

Cox opened the second-half scoring with a five-yard touchdown run and carried in the two-point conversion himself to tie it at 21. Mountain Empire went back in front on the ground, but Cox found Bradley Eby for a touchdown and the Captains tied it again at 28.

That was the last time Clairemont scored. The RedHawks ran for the go-ahead touchdown before the end of the third quarter, added another early in the fourth to make it 42-28 and ran for two more to finish it.

Cox accounted for all four Clairemont touchdowns. He completed 21 of 34 passes for 323 yards and a score and ran 11 times for 97 yards and three touchdowns.

Malachi Gutierrez caught nine passes for 191 yards, and Eby finished with four catches for 103 yards. The Captains finished 5-6.

Mountain Empire got takeaways from three players. Nick Terlann intercepted a pass, David Oney forced and recovered a fumble, and Mahasin ended the game with an interception.

“Shout out to my defense for sure,” Robinson said. “Getting those stops, so I do have the ability to go out on offense.”

Record book: Robinson’s historic night

Robinson’s 424 yards would slot eighth overall and seventh among 11-man performances on the CIF San Diego Section’s published single-game rushing list.

Seven entries on the list are higher, including an eight-man performance of 455 yards by Julian’s Erich Fredburg in 1989. Robinson’s total fits between Ken James Jr., who ran for 436 yards for Mt. Carmel in 2009, and Bowyn Cannon, who ran for 418 for Orange Glen in 2023.

Rancho Buena Vista’s Dorian Richardson holds the top two marks on the list, with 499 yards against Santana in 2017 and 493 against Irvine in 2018.

The highest East County performance on the supplied list is Major Givens’ 454 yards for Steele Canyon against Grossmont in 2022.

Robinson entered Friday with 1,670 yards and 23 rushing touchdowns in nine games.

With one regular-season game canceled, he reached the 2,000-yard milestone in his 10th game and heads into the semifinal with 2,094 yards and 29 rushing touchdowns.

That puts him one yard ahead of Arian Foster’s 2,093-yard season for Mission Bay in 2004 and five behind Ricky Williams’ 2,099-yard season for Patrick Henry in 1994 on the section’s published list.

Semifinal lookahead | No. 4 Mountain Empire vs. No. 1 Escondido Charter

Friday, Nov. 13, 7 p.m.
Mountain Empire (6-4) vs. Escondido Charter (10-1)

Escondido Charter beat Foothills Christian 49-14 to advance. The White Tigers have allowed 102 points in 11 games, an average of 9.3 per game. Both semifinalists beat O’Farrell Charter and San Ysidro this season.

The White Tigers bring a productive passing game led by quarterback Silas Greene and receiver Sam Hinrichs. Mountain Empire has a passing answer of its own if Escondido Charter crowds the box.

Quarterback Chance Ross entered the playoffs with 1,015 passing yards and 13 touchdowns, and Mahasin had 31 catches for 653 yards and 10 scores in the regular season.

Mahasin’s 83 rushing yards against Clairemont gave the White Tigers another threat to account for. The first question Friday is whether Escondido Charter can get enough defenders to Robinson without giving Ross and Mahasin room downfield.