Valhalla edges Pats, will face Cougars

By Ramon Scott
Updated: November 9, 2026

Valhalla sophomore T'Marrion Williams goes up against Christian on Friday.

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2026 EAST COUNTY PREP FOOTBALL
CIF SAN DIEGO SECTION DIVISION III — FIRST ROUND
No. 9 seed VALHALLA 18, No. 8 seed CHRISTIAN 13

By David Dickens
EastCountySports.com

EL CAJON — Valhalla’s two longest touchdowns gave the Norsemen a lead Friday night. The last first down made sure they kept it.

T’Marrion Williams turned two short throws into touchdowns of 90 and 58 yards, and ninth-seeded Valhalla held off a late Christian rally for an 18-13 victory in the opening round of the CIF San Diego Section Division III football playoffs.

The Norsemen (7-4) advanced to face top-seeded Steele Canyon in the Nov. 13 quarterfinals. The eighth-seeded Patriots finished 6-5 after cutting a 12-point deficit to five with 2:19 left and trying an onside kick to give themselves one more possession.

Valhalla came out of the scramble with the ball, then picked up a first down and ran out the clock.

For much of the night, a short pass to Williams was the most dangerous play on the field.

Valhalla missed a 25-yard field goal wide right, and the game was still scoreless with 9:19 left in the second quarter when Williams caught a quick out at his own 15. He slipped the first defender, made another miss and went the rest of the way down the left sideline. Christian blocked the extra point, leaving the Norsemen ahead 6-0 at halftime.

Williams went down the same sideline on Valhalla’s first offensive snap of the second half. The Norsemen started at their own 42 and threw quickly to the left. A Christian defensive back broke on the pass and dove for it. The ball got through to Williams, who had open field ahead of him for a 58-yard touchdown.

The extra point failed again, and Valhalla led 12-0 with 11:18 left in the third quarter.

Sophomore Pierson Cunningham put Christian on the board with a 31-yard field goal at the 6:08 mark of the third. He added a 40-yarder with 10:09 remaining, cutting the lead to 12-6 and putting the Patriots within a touchdown of tying the game.

Valhalla went back to the air for its answer. Adrian Wilson Jr. lofted a pass downfield, and Camryn Conley got behind two defenders to bring it down for a 26-yard touchdown with 3:31 to play. Christian blocked the extra point, keeping the score at 18-6.

Christian got back within one possession on a pass from its sophomore running back. Julian Morones took a pitch to the left and pulled up to throw to Gavin Runkle, who caught the ball at the 12 and ran past two defenders to finish the 29-yard touchdown.

The extra point made it 18-13 with 2:19 left. Christian still had two timeouts when it tried the onside kick, but the Patriots never got another possession.

Score by quarters

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Valhalla  — 0 | 6 | 6 | 6  — 18
Christian — 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 — 13

Christian’s kicking game kept it close

Valhalla scored three touchdowns, but Christian kept all three from becoming seven-point plays. The Patriots blocked the extra point after Williams’ first touchdown and again after Conley’s fourth-quarter catch. The try following Williams’ second score also failed.

Cunningham’s two field goals turned a 12-point deficit into a six-point game without Christian having reached the end zone. After the last blocked kick, the Patriots needed a touchdown and an extra point to give themselves a chance to win with another touchdown. They got the first score and took their shot at getting the ball back with the onside kick.

Christian’s season ends

Christian opened the season 5-0, dropped its first four Eastern League games and then won a 48-46 shootout at Scripps Ranch to finish the regular season.

Senior quarterback Kaleb Runkle threw four touchdown passes in that finale, with Connor Nguyen catching three of them. Morones ran for 219 yards and three scores. A week later, with the Patriots trailing by 12 in the closing minutes, Morones supplied their only touchdown pass on the pitch play to Gavin Runkle.

Quarterfinal lookahead

DIVISION III — QUARTERFINALS
No. 9 seed VALHALLA (7-4) vs. No. 1 seed STEELE CANYON (5-5)
Friday, Nov. 13, 7 p.m.

The Norsemen have already won five of six away games, including Friday’s playoff opener at Christian. Steele Canyon enters after a first-round bye, with a 36-22 win over Mount Miguel in its regular-season finale.

The passing matchup starts with Adrian Wilson Jr. and Gavin Caha. Wilson is averaging 179.4 passing yards per game, with T’Marrion Williams averaging 97.4 receiving yards.

Caha averages 190.9 passing yards and 220.4 total yards per game, with Josiah Stocker averaging 54 receiving yards. Steele Canyon has to account for Williams on the short throws as well as downfield. Both of his touchdowns against Christian started with quick passes to the left.

Valhalla’s pass rush is another matchup to watch. The Norsemen coming in at 3.8 sacks per game, with Kaleb Osoimalo averaging 1.7.

On the other side, Steele Canyon’s Yousef Lazim averages a sack per game. The Cougars also have to account for Jayden Hunter, who averages 80.3 rushing yards and gives Valhalla a way to move the chains when opponents devote extra coverage to Williams.

El Capitan is the teams’ only common opponent. Steele Canyon won its September meeting with the Vaqueros. Valhalla led El Capitan 27-7 in the regular-season finale before losing 38-27. Against Christian, the Norsemen again carried a lead into the fourth quarter. This time, when the margin narrowed to one score, their offense got the first down that ended it.