Eagles out-gun Knights to advance

By David Dickens
Updated: November 14, 2026

2026 EAST COUNTY PREP FOOTBALL

Granite Hills 52, San Marcos 49
CIF San Diego Section Division I quarterfinals

By Dave Dickens
EastCountySports.com

EL CAJON — Gage Spalding ran for four touchdowns, Zac Benitez accounted for three more and Granite Hills still needed Jacob Gibson to recover an onside kick in the final seconds to escape with a 52-49 win over San Marcos on Friday night.

The fourth-seeded Eagles (8-3) advanced to the Division I semifinals, where they’ll face Torrey Pines (7-4), a 20-17 winner over top-seeded Helix. The fifth-seeded Knights (5-6) got five touchdown runs and two two-point conversions from Mo Henderson and pulled within a field goal with 27 seconds left.

Granite Hills appeared to have the game in hand when Benitez took a direct snap and scored on third-and-goal from the 1 with 2:51 remaining. The Eagles expected San Marcos to crowd the line, Benitez said, so they used a running back as an extra blocker and counted on the offensive line to get the push they needed.

Jacob Nunez made his seventh extra point in seven tries for a 52-41 lead, and Davion Brown recovered the ensuing kickoff for Granite Hills. But the Eagles took a shot through the air, and Ezekiel McIntyre intercepted Benitez with about a minute left.

“We honestly just wanted to take a shot,” Benitez said. “They read it well and executed on their end.”

Benitez said the offense made the decision together and that he would have preferred settling for a field goal in hindsight. After the interception, he told his teammates to trust the defense. Even if the Knights scored, they still needed to recover an onside kick.

A trick play took San Marcos to the Granite Hills 2. The Knights scored on a 2-yard run, and Henderson ran in the conversion to make it 52-49. Gibson recovered the onside kick, and Benitez took a knee to end it.

McIntyre had opened the night with a 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.

Granite Hills answered on Spalding’s first 2-yard scoring run, then went ahead 10-7 on Nunez’s 38-yard field goal after Jesse Wilhite intercepted San Marcos quarterback Jordan Roa.

Jamir Alvarez picked off Roa later in the first quarter, giving the Eagles the ball at midfield.

Spalding scored again from 2 yards out with 11:41 left in the half to give Granite Hills a 17-7 lead. Henderson cut it to three with a 10-yard run, then scored from 3 yards out after the Knights recovered a Benitez fumble. San Marcos led 21-17 with 2:24 left in the half.

Benitez answered with a 71-yard touchdown pass to Courtney “Nino” Miller-Thompson for a 24-21 lead.

Cayden Phillips sacked Roa on the final play before halftime.

A 3-yard touchdown pass from Benitez to Wilhite made it 31-21 with 8:27 left in the third quarter. Henderson scored from a yard out, but Jalen Smith blocked the extra point. Spalding’s third touchdown, on a run of about 17 yards, put the Eagles up 38-27 with 3:08 left in the quarter.

Henderson opened the fourth-quarter scoring with another 1-yard run and carried in the conversion to make it 38-35. Spalding went untouched around the left side for a 10-yard touchdown, his fourth, to push the lead back to 10 with 9:18 to play. Henderson ran in his fifth touchdown from 5 yards out with 5:43 left, but Phillips blocked the extra point to keep Granite Hills ahead 45-41.

“We knew we had to keep scoring and we knew we have the ability to,” Benitez said. “So we did it.”

Granite Hills finished with 483 yards of offense. Benitez completed 23 of 30 passes for 262 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 64 yards and a score. Spalding carried 16 times for 108 yards, Miller-Thompson caught nine passes for 113 yards and Wilhite had five catches for 69 yards.

Benitez said the Eagles plan to keep their fast tempo against Torrey Pines. He put the emphasis on cleaning up the turnovers and penalties that gave San Marcos chances to get back in the game.

“It’s going to be a fun and competitive game against Torrey,” Benitez said. “We’ve played them before and want to do the same thing we did to them before.”

Score by quarters

Team	1	2	3	4	Final
San Marcos	7	14	6	22	49
Granite Hills	10	14	14	14	52

Scoring summary

First quarter
SM — Ezekiel McIntyre 99 kickoff return (kick good), SM 7-0
GH — Gage Spalding 2 run (Jacob Nunez kick), 7-7
GH — Nunez 38 field goal, GH 10-7

Second quarter
GH — Spalding 2 run (Nunez kick), GH 17-7
SM — Mo Henderson 10 run (kick good), GH 17-14
SM — Henderson 3 run (kick good), SM 21-17
GH — Courtney Miller-Thompson 71 pass from Zac Benitez (Nunez kick), GH 24-21

Third quarter
GH — Jesse Wilhite 3 pass from Benitez (Nunez kick), GH 31-21
SM — Henderson 1 run (kick blocked), GH 31-27
GH — Spalding 17 run (Nunez kick), GH 38-27

Fourth quarter
SM — Henderson 1 run (Henderson run), GH 38-35
GH — Spalding 10 run (Nunez kick), GH 45-35
SM — Henderson 5 run (kick blocked), GH 45-41
GH — Benitez 1 run (Nunez kick), GH 52-41
SM — 2 run (Henderson run), GH 52-49