Griffins regress, lose 17-point lead

By Ramon Scott
Updated: September 13, 2026

Grossmont and Antelope Valley on Saturday.

2026 COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOOTBALL

ANTELOPE VALLEY 28, GROSSMONT 27

Grossmont commits 15 penalties, goes backward on its most important possession and allows Antelope Valley to escape with a 28-27 victory

By Ramon Scott
EastCountySports.com

EL CAJON — Grossmont spent the week promising a response.

For three quarters, the Griffins appeared to have one.

Then they ran out of answers, surrendered two fourth-quarter touchdowns and turned their most important possession into a six-minute retreat.

Antelope Valley erased a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit and defeated Grossmont, 28-27, Saturday afternoon at Mashin-Roth Memorial Field.

The Griffins led 17-0, 24-7 and 27-14. They outgained the Marauders, possessed the ball for nearly 35 minutes and recovered three Antelope Valley fumbles.

They lost anyway.

There is no flattering way to package it.

Grossmont committed 15 penalties for 129 yards, surrendered five sacks and failed on both fourth-down attempts. After Antelope Valley pulled within six points, the Griffins consumed 6:37 but somehow lost nine yards before fumbling at their own 16.

The Marauders needed four plays to take the lead.

Grossmont’s final possession lasted two plays and ended with an interception.

What initially looked like the Griffins’ strongest response of the season became their most discouraging defeat under head coach Mason Mitchell.

Antelope Valley did not steal this game.

Grossmont left it sitting there until the Marauders finally took it.

A SIX-MINUTE DRIVE TO NOWHERE

Grossmont still controlled the game after Jasper Brandenburg drilled a 45-yard field goal on the opening play of the fourth quarter.

The kick completed a 12-play possession and extended the Griffins’ lead to 27-14.

Antelope Valley immediately answered.

Quarterback Tyson Smith directed a nine-play, 75-yard touchdown drive, completing the march with a 1-yard run that reduced Grossmont’s advantage to 27-21 with 10:31 remaining.

The Griffins then received the ball with an opportunity to restore order.

They kept it for more than six minutes, but possession without progress accomplished nothing.

Grossmont ran nine plays, lost nine yards and fumbled at its own 16 with 3:54 remaining. What should have been a clock-draining drive became a prolonged surrender of field position.

Antelope Valley’s defense controlled the line of scrimmage. The Griffins could not create running room, could not consistently protect the quarterback and could not get out of their own way.

The Marauders appeared to be the fresher and more physical team when the game reached its decisive stage.

Daste Lee scored from 1 yard with 2:13 remaining, and Lucas Bailey’s fourth successful extra point gave Antelope Valley its first lead, 28-27.

Grossmont had one final opportunity.

The Griffins took possession at their 27 with 2:06 remaining and needed only to move within field-goal range. Brandenburg had already converted from 45 yards, and Lucas Mora had made a 37-yarder earlier in the game.

Instead, Grossmont gained nothing.

Backup quarterback Michael Kearns III threw an interception on his only attempt, taking over after Melvin Spicer IV left the game late with leg cramps, allowing Antelope Valley to finish a comeback the Griffins had spent the entire fourth quarter enabling.

GROSSMONT BUILDS A 17-POINT LEAD

The ending was particularly wasteful because Grossmont began the afternoon with precisely the urgency it lacked one week earlier.

The Griffins struck first when Ethan Ford broke a 46-yard touchdown run with 8:49 remaining in the opening quarter.

Ford found space, accelerated into the secondary and gave Grossmont the explosive rushing play it had been missing. Mora’s extra point made it 7-0.

Mora added his 37-yard field goal later in the quarter, extending the advantage to 10-0.

Grossmont then struck immediately after the second quarter began.

Spicer IV found Elijah Smith for a 44-yard touchdown, and Brandenburg converted the extra point for a 17-0 lead.

The Griffins had produced two touchdowns covering 90 yards and appeared to have corrected their inability to generate downfield plays during the 52-10 loss to Southwestern.

Spicer finished 13 of 26 for 206 yards and a touchdown without an interception. He also rushed for 62 yards and another score, although Antelope Valley’s five sacks reduced his net production and increasingly disrupted Grossmont’s offense.

The problem was not creating the lead.

It was doing anything useful with it.

MARAUDERS REFUSE TO DISAPPEAR

Antelope Valley finally scored with 50 seconds remaining in the first half when Smith connected with Nathan Valencia for a 2-yard touchdown.

The score completed an eight-play, 52-yard drive and reduced Grossmont’s halftime advantage to 17-7.

Grossmont regained control during the third quarter after recovering another Antelope Valley fumble.

Spicer completed the short-field possession with a 2-yard touchdown run, and former Helix kicker Philipa Trakas converted the extra point to make it 24-7.

It should have been the point at which Grossmont buried the Marauders.

Instead, Antelope Valley answered in only 2:10.

Felix Diaz broke a 27-yard touchdown run to complete a six-play, 76-yard drive, cutting the margin to 24-14.

Diaz carried only seven times but gained 53 yards, averaging 7.6 per attempt. His touchdown began Antelope Valley’s run of 21 points over its final three scoring possessions.

Smith continued working underneath Grossmont’s coverage and completed 26 of 36 passes for 261 yards and a touchdown without an interception.

Shawn Irwin caught nine passes for 113 yards, while Andrew Garner added six receptions for 58 yards.

Antelope Valley did not repeatedly beat Grossmont deep the way Southwestern had. The Marauders did something more demoralizing: they remained patient, converted 6 of 13 third downs and kept taking what Grossmont allowed.

By the fourth quarter, that was enough.

129 YARDS OF SELF-INFLICTED DAMAGE

Grossmont finished with more total offense, more rushing yards, a substantial advantage in time of possession and three defensive takeaways.

Those advantages should have produced a comfortable victory.

The Griffins neutralized them with 15 penalties for 129 yards.

Antelope Valley committed only four penalties for 42 yards.

That 87-yard difference represented nearly the length of the field—and nearly three times the Marauders’ winning touchdown drive.

The penalties repeatedly placed Grossmont behind schedule, erased field position and magnified Antelope Valley’s pass rush. The Marauders produced five sacks for 32 yards and 12 tackles for loss totaling 77 yards.

Jacob Fraser recorded two sacks and three tackles for loss, while Caleb Craig, Darren Coleman and Aiden Preston also reached the quarterback.

Grossmont’s final meaningful possession captured the afternoon perfectly.

The Griffins controlled the ball for 6:37, forcing Antelope Valley to spend timeouts and watch the clock disappear. Yet Grossmont moved backward, failed to flip the field and eventually handed the Marauders the ball 16 yards from the end zone.

It was clock management without offensive management.

FORD PROVIDES THE BREAKOUT

Ford supplied Grossmont’s best development.

The freshman rushed eight times for 66 yards and a touchdown, averaging 8.3 yards per attempt. His 46-yard scoring run was the longest rushing play by either team and gave the Griffins an immediate spark.

Spicer added 62 rushing yards and scored from 2 yards, helping Grossmont finish with 136 yards on the ground.

The final number, however, concealed an uneven performance.

Ford and Spicer combined for 128 positive yards. Grossmont’s remaining rushing entries produced only eight net yards after losses were applied.

The Griffins needed Ford during the fourth quarter, when a productive running game could have protected the lead and kept Antelope Valley from receiving another possession.

Instead, Grossmont’s final full drive went in reverse.

WOODS, BROOKS EMERGE DOWNFIELD

Grossmont did produce more explosive passes than it had against Southwestern.

Trenice Woods caught four passes for 56 yards, including a 29-yard reception. Jaidan Brooks added two receptions for 46 yards, and Smith’s only catch became the 44-yard touchdown.

Myles Norman contributed three receptions for 38 yards and carried five times for 15 yards. One week after returning a kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown, Norman remained involved but did not produce another game-changing return.

The Griffins averaged 7.6 yards per pass play despite completing fewer than half of their attempts.

The pieces were present.

The consistency was not.

Grossmont scored 17 points on its first three scoring possessions and only 10 over the final three quarters. After Brandenburg’s field goal, the Griffins did not record another first down that changed the outcome.

DEFENSE CREATES THREE TAKEAWAYS

Grossmont’s defense gave the offense repeated opportunities.

Antelope Valley fumbled five times and lost three. The Griffins recovered turnovers through Lincoln Chukwuemeka, Hector Armenta and Titus Toilolo.

Chukwuemeka recorded Grossmont’s only sack, dropping Smith for a 12-yard loss. He finished with three tackles, two tackles for loss, a forced fumble and a recovery.

Quincy Shepard Jr. led Grossmont with seven tackles, while Jonathan Smith, James Tivao and former Helix standout Jirah Savaiinaea Jr. recorded five apiece.

Savaiinaea, Tivao and Jonathan Smith each made a tackle behind the line.

The defense did enough to place Grossmont in position to win. It also failed when a final stop could have secured the result.

Antelope Valley drove 75 yards for its first fourth-quarter touchdown. After receiving the short field created by Grossmont’s fumble, the Marauders covered the remaining 16 yards without wasting the opportunity.

The Griffins forced three turnovers but created no interceptions and generated only one sack. Smith remained composed enough to keep Antelope Valley within striking distance until Grossmont collapsed.

A SETBACK TO THE TRAJECTORY

Mitchell inherited a program that had spent years alternating brief signs of progress with afternoons exactly like this one.

Last season’s 7-4 finish and SCFA Beach Bowl victory suggested Grossmont had finally begun moving beyond that pattern.

The season-opening 57-6 victory over Compton continued the positive trajectory, even if the quality of the opponent made conclusions premature.

Southwestern’s 52-10 victory could be explained by the gap between a developing American Division program and one of the state’s deepest National Division teams.

This loss cannot be dismissed as easily.

Antelope Valley was the appropriate measuring stick. The Massey Ratings placed the teams three positions apart, and Grossmont held home-field advantage along with leads of 17 and 13 points.

The Griffins were good enough to control the game.

They were not disciplined, physical or composed enough to finish it.

That makes Saturday more than a narrow loss. It represents the first unmistakable step backward of the Mitchell era—a reminder of the old Grossmont habit of making victory possible before finding a way to avoid it.

One defeat does not erase the program’s progress.

But blowing a 17-point home lead against a comparable opponent does place the burden back on the Griffins to prove that last season represented a change in direction rather than a temporary interruption.

Grossmont spent the week searching for a response to Southwestern.

It found one for three quarters.

College football games, unfortunately for the Griffins, still require four.

HOW THE LEAD DISAPPEARED

Time	Play	Score
14:46, fourth	Jasper Brandenburg 45-yard field goal	Grossmont 27-14
10:31, fourth	Tyson Smith 1-yard touchdown run	Grossmont 27-21
3:54, fourth	Grossmont fumbles at its own 16	Grossmont 27-21
2:13, fourth	Daste Lee 1-yard touchdown run	Antelope Valley 28-27
1:31, fourth	Grossmont’s final possession ends in interception	Antelope Valley 28-27

Grossmont’s possession between the two Antelope Valley touchdowns lasted nine plays and 6:37 but lost nine yards.

BY THE NUMBERS

Category	Antelope Valley	Grossmont
Total offense	333	342
Rushing yards	72	136
Passing yards	261	206
First downs	21	20
Third downs	6 of 13	6 of 16
Fourth downs	No attempts	0 of 2
Turnovers lost	3	2
Sacks	5	1
Penalties	4-42	15-129
Possession	23:41	34:48

Grossmont held advantages in total offense, rushing, possession and takeaway margin. Antelope Valley held the advantage that mattered.

GROSSMONT LEADERS

Passing: Melvin Spicer IV, 13-of-26, 206 yards, touchdown.

Rushing: Ethan Ford, eight carries, 66 yards, 46-yard touchdown; Spicer, 17 carries, 62 yards, touchdown.

Receiving: Trenice Woods, four receptions, 56 yards; Jaidan Brooks, two receptions, 46 yards; Elijah Smith, 44-yard touchdown.

Defense: Quincy Shepard Jr., seven tackles; Lincoln Chukwuemeka, sack, two tackles for loss, forced fumble and fumble recovery.

Kicking: Jasper Brandenburg, 45-yard field goal and PAT; Lucas Mora, 37-yard field goal and PAT; Philipa Trakas, PAT.

SCORING

First quarter

GRO — Ethan Ford 46-yard run (Lucas Mora kick), 8:49.
GRO — Mora 37-yard field goal, 2:04.

Second quarter

GRO — Melvin Spicer IV 44-yard pass to Elijah Smith (Jasper Brandenburg kick), 14:45.
AVC — Tyson Smith 2-yard pass to Nathan Valencia (Lucas Bailey kick), 0:50.

Third quarter

GRO — Spicer 2-yard run (Philipa Trakas kick), 8:21.
AVC — Felix Diaz 27-yard run (Bailey kick), 6:04.

Fourth quarter

GRO — Brandenburg 45-yard field goal, 14:46.
AVC — Smith 1-yard run (Bailey kick), 10:31.
AVC — Daste Lee 1-yard run (Bailey kick), 2:13.

Antelope Valley —  0  7  7 14 — 28
Grossmont       — 10  7  7  3 — 27

EastCountySports.com

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