Scotties close gap, push Dons to finish

By Ramon Scott
Updated: September 21, 2026

Helix senior Donte Wright (8) wraps up Cathedral Catholic on Friday.

2026 EAST COUNTY PREP FOOTBALL

No. 2 CATHEDRAL CATHOLIC 24, No. 12 HELIX 19

By Ramon Scott
EastCountySports.com

LA MESA — Helix had the ball at midfield with 55.7 seconds remaining, preparing an onside kick that could give the Highlanders one last possession to beat Cathedral Catholic.

That was how close this one remained.

The recovery never came. Cathedral secured the floating kick and finished off a 24-19 victory Friday at Hart Stadium, leaving Helix with another loss to a county rival it is trying to catch.

But there was substance behind the Highlanders’ challenge. They drove within a couple of yards of the goal line on their opening possession, answered Cathedral’s first touchdown in a single snap and twice cut the deficit to five during the fourth quarter.

For a program working to regain ground after two seasons of chasing its leading county rivals, those were meaningful signs. Helix still has a gap to close. Friday showed a team increasingly equipped to close it.

Caden Thompson threw three touchdown passes, connecting with Jeremy Robinson, Jeremy Stevens and Dario Bartoletti as the Highlanders kept forcing the Dons to respond.

Helix slipped to 3-2, ending a three-game winning streak that included the previous week’s victory at Oceanside. Cathedral, ranked No. 2 in the ECS poll entering the game, improved to 2-2.

The Dons remain a plausible contender for the county’s top spot, although their first two losses against out-of-section opponents leave that case unfinished. Playing an ambitious schedule does not settle the question by itself. Cathedral still has to establish its standing on the field, with Granite Hills next.

For No. 12 Helix, the evidence of improvement extends beyond the reputation on the opposing sideline. The Highlanders made plays early, recovered from setbacks and were still pursuing the winning possession in the final minute.

An opportunity left behind

Helix’s first possession offered an immediate indication that Cathedral would have to work.

The Highlanders overcame a sack near midfield, sustained their advance and reached the Dons’ 4 on a Thompson completion. With 4:28 remaining in the opening quarter, Helix was positioned to take the first lead.

A run pushed the ball closer, but Cathedral drove the Highlanders backward with a tackle for loss. The possession eventually ended with a missed field goal.

That empty trip became more consequential as the evening developed.

Cathedral answered with its own extended drive, carrying the game into the second quarter. Jeremy Davis helped keep the Dons out of the end zone, making a backfield stop near the goal line and punctuating it with his familiar celebration.

Cathedral settled for a field goal and a 3-0 lead with 8:32 left in the half.

After a penalty helped stall Helix’s next possession, a punt return gave the Dons the ball at their own 47. Honor Fa’alave-Johnson finished the ensuing drive with a 4-yard touchdown run, making it 10-0 with 1:53 remaining.

Helix needed just 16 seconds to change the mood.

Thompson took a three-step drop on the first offensive snap following the kickoff and released a deep ball without hesitation. Robinson caught it in stride and completed a 75-yard touchdown, bringing the Hart Stadium crowd to life with 1:37 left.

A penalty backed up the extra-point attempt, which Cathedral blocked. The Dons took a 10-6 lead into halftime, but Helix had supplied an emphatic answer before the break.

Answers in the fourth

Cathedral regained control of the pace with a lengthy opening possession in the second half.

Fa’alave-Johnson contributed a 14-yard run into Helix territory, and the Dons continued working toward the end zone despite another physical stop by Davis. Fa’alave-Johnson finished with a 7-yard touchdown run at the 4:58 mark, extending the lead to 17-6.

The Highlanders again found their way back.

Thompson connected with Stevens to move the offense toward midfield, then found him for a 30-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter. The two-point pass failed, leaving Helix down 17-12.

Cathedral’s next answer was the decisive one. Quarterback Koa Smith-Mayall scored on a 22-yard keeper, restoring a 12-point cushion at 24-12.

Even that was not enough to let the Dons coast home.

A 38-yard reception by Stevens helped put Helix back in scoring position. A sack threatened to spoil the possession, but on fourth-and-goal from the 8, Thompson found Bartoletti for the Highlanders’ third touchdown.

Jacob Martin-Del Campo’s extra point made it 24-19 with 55.7 seconds remaining. A penalty against Cathedral on the kick moved the ensuing kickoff to midfield, giving Helix a better position from which to attempt the recovery it needed.

The kick floated directly to a Cathedral up man. The Dons gathered it at the 41 and took the final kneeldowns.

Thompson finished 12-for-18 for 224 yards and three touchdowns, according to Helix’s posted statistics. Stephon Fuentes led the Highlanders on the ground with 55 yards on seven carries.

Fa’alave-Johnson rushed for 79 yards and two touchdowns, accounting for more than half of Cathedral’s 144 rushing yards. Smith-Mayall passed for 115 yards, with Isaac Cook contributing 62 receiving yards, according to the Union-Tribune’s game report.

The Dons won this matchup for the third consecutive season, evening the all-time series at 10-10.

Helix was left to consider a missed opening opportunity, an unsuccessful extra-point attempt and a failed two-point conversion in a five-point game. Those moments mattered, even if the rest of the game cannot simply be replayed around different outcomes.

So did the plays that kept the Highlanders within reach.

A week after winning at Oceanside, Helix gave another established county opponent a game that required its attention until the final onside kick. The next step is turning that growing competitiveness into the victories that restore the Highlanders’ place among the county’s leaders.

Davis gives the defense its edge

Jeremy Davis supplied both production and personality in the middle of Helix’s defensive effort.

The senior finished with a team-high 11 tackles, including a tackle for loss, according to the Highlanders’ posted statistics. His backfield stop on Cathedral’s first scoring possession helped force a field goal, keeping an early defensive stand from becoming a seven-point concession.

The celebration afterward was unmistakably Davis. More useful to Helix was his continued involvement when the Dons returned to their running game after halftime.

Lamarquis Sutton recorded nine tackles, all solo, while Ki Curto added six tackles and a quarterback hurry. Jacob Andrew-Johnson and Donte Wright each finished with five tackles.

Cathedral sustained enough offense to win, but Helix made the Dons earn their points through extended possessions.

Three receivers, three touchdowns

Helix’s scoring passes required three different receivers, with each touchdown arriving when the Highlanders needed a response.

Jeremy Robinson’s 75-yarder erased most of a 10-point deficit in one play. Jeremy Stevens’ 30-yard score brought Helix within five early in the fourth. Dario Bartoletti’s 8-yard catch on fourth down kept the outcome unresolved until the onside kick.

The posted Helix receiving figures credit Robinson with three catches for 87 yards, Stevens with four for 84, and Jacob Andrew-Johnson with five for 52. Bartoletti’s touchdown was his lone reception.

Stevens also supplied the 38-yard catch that helped create the final scoring opportunity, giving Thompson another substantial gain after Cathedral had moved ahead 24-12.

The points Helix could not collect

The Highlanders matched Cathedral with three touchdowns apiece.

The difference came from the Dons’ field goal and their success on all three extra points. Helix finished with one successful PAT, a blocked attempt following a penalty and an unsuccessful two-point pass.

The missed field goal on the opening possession added another empty scoring opportunity.

It would be too simple to assign those points retroactively and declare a different winner. The score affects decisions throughout a game. Still, Helix’s ability to reach the end zone as often as Cathedral makes those unfinished opportunities an obvious priority.

UP NEXT: MATER DEI CATHOLIC AT HELIX

Highlanders face a different kind of expectation

The names still make it a feature matchup. This season’s results give Helix a different assignment when Mater Dei Catholic visits Hart Stadium on Friday, Sept. 25.

The Highlanders should enter as clear favorites, with an opportunity to turn their recent progress into a convincing home victory over a program accustomed to a place among the county’s top 15.

Mater Dei has fallen outside the ECS Top 40 and brings an official 0-5 record into the game. For a program with its recent stature, this is an unusually difficult stretch.

The Crusaders’ schedule has offered little relief. Their results include losses to Granite Hills, 38-31; Bishop O’Dowd, 34-17; Cathedral Catholic, 63-0; and St. Augustine, 41-21.

Their opener against Del Norte is now a forfeit loss, 29-28. It counts in the loss column.

There is also a reason for Helix to look beyond that winless record: Mater Dei played Granite Hills to a seven-point game. The Crusaders have shown enough offense against a leading opponent to make an assumption of an easy night unwise.

Even so, the teams’ recent directions favor Helix. The Highlanders followed three consecutive victories with a competitive showing against Cathedral. Mater Dei is trying to arrest a slide that has pushed it well below its customary county standing.

For Damaja Jones’ team, the emphasis shifts toward handling the expectations that come with improvement. Finishing early scoring opportunities, sustaining the passing game and collecting the available conversion points would help Helix take command.

A strong performance against Cathedral has brought the Highlanders further into the county conversation. A decisive win over Mater Dei would give that progress another result to stand on.