Grossmont Foothillers 35, Otay Ranch Mustangs 21
A slow start offensively ended in a career night for Grossmont seniors Hunter Gaines and Dominique Guevara who led the Foothillers past Otay Ranch 35-21.
In what was a sloppy game with 6 turnovers (3 by each team) in the first half and eight total turnovers in the game, Otay Ranch (0-2) would capitalize first off a Grossmont turnover. Devin Lloyd would make a heads up play as he scooped and scored from 30 yards out on a backwards pass to give the Mustangs an early 7-0 lead.
The Foothillers offense stumbled out the gate, but it was their defense to give the spark as cornerback Riley Havard blind-sided Otay Ranch QB Christian Zamudio and Andrew Mink laid out for the interception to give them the ball deep in Otay territory. Two plays later Hunter Gaines hit Dominique Guevara on a quick screen for a 21 yard score, but a missed extra point still had the Mustangs up 7-6 as that would be the halftime score.
Grossmont started the second half with the ball, and four plays, 65 yards and a successful two-point conversion later had Grossmont ahead 14-7. Hunter Gaines would connect with Dominique Guevara two more times in the second half to give the Foothillers a 28-7 lead with 10:39 remaining in the fourth quarter. Guevara had 203 receiving yards, three touchdowns, and a two-point conversion on the night.
Otay Ranch would respond quickly after the 21-point deficit as QB Kelvin Bradley rolled right off play action to find Joshua Lira for a 12-yard touchdown to bring the Mustangs within two scores. It was the first offensive possession for Bradley as he replaced Zamudio.
Grossmont would put the game out of reach on the ensuing drive as Gaines would throw a strike to Jailen Bailey at midfield and Bailey would do the rest for a 64-yard touchdown. On the night, Gaines went 28-for-40 throwing for 338 passing yards and four touchdowns.
Grossmont will get another South Bay test as they take on the Sweetwater Red Devils at home Week 3 and Otay Ranch in search of their first win will play Rancho Bernardo at home.
PREVIEW
The undefeated Grossmont Foothillers (1-0) will travel south to take on the Otay Ranch Mustangs (0-1) in Week 2 action.
The Foothillers started the season with a bang defeating Morse 31-12. The defense kept the Tigers scoreless in the first half behind Senior Linebacker Christopher Laethem who had 10 tackles on the game– three tackles for loss. As a team, defensively, they tallied a total of 10 tackles for a loss on the night.
Offensively, Grossmont kept a balance attack in Week 1– 30 rushing attempts to 25 pass attempts. The ground game led the attack with the senior duo, Shovell Sterling and James Mackey, combining for 230 yards on 23 carries. There also might be something to say about the senior connection brewing between QB Hunter Gaines and Dominique Guevara as they hooked up four times for 99 yards and a touchdown.
It spells bad news for the Mustangs as their offense will be looking for their first score of the season and their defense will compete to contain the versatile offense of the Foothillers. With that being said, what a great way to put a stamp on the season with a victory in the home opener against a quality opponent. Head Coach Lance Christensen will make sure to have his boys ready for battle as they will need to bring everything they have with help from the home crowd.
Make sure to catch the highlights Friday night on the Prep Pigskin Report at 10:30 PM.
