East County Game of the Week: Grossmont Foothillers 28, Otay Ranch Mustangs 27

The Grossmont Foothillers hosted the Otay Ranch Mustangs in our Week 2 El Cajon Ford East County Game of the Week.

The Foothillers wasted no time getting things going.  On the opening drive Grossmont Quarterback Jared Redfield rolled out on 3rd down and found Domonique Guevara wide open down the field.  Guevara coasted to the end zone and it was 7-0 Foothillers.

The Mustangs were looking to tie things up when Ray Perrault battled for the ball and came up with a huge red zone interception.  The Foothillers were unable to capitalize on the turnover and eventually the Mustangs took over on downs.

QB Oscar Limon led the Mustangs first scoring drive, hitting Fanu Autele with the screen and Autele rumbled to the 13 yard line.  That led to an eventual 1 yard TD by Samuel Stephens and the game was tied at 7.

Grossmont responded immediately.  Hunter Gaines now in at QB for the Foothillers found Khaleed Davis, who did the rest, taking it 70 yards to pay dirt to put his team back on top 14-7.

The Mustangs answered with a 2 yard QB keeper by Limon, but the PAT was no good.

Jake Harr, back at RB this season for the Foothillers after missing most of 2014 with a shattered collarbone, proved his worth to the offense for the second week in a row.  Harr busting free for an 88 yard touchdown just before the half and Grossmont went into the locker room up 21-13.

Mustangs were thee first to strike in the second half, with another Limon keeper on 4th and goal.  The 2 point conversion was good and the score was knotted up at 21.

Later in the 4th Grossmont went 3 and out and Adrian Rodriguez returned the punt 69 yards to give the Mustangs their first lead of the night.  However, the PAT was no good again so the lead stood at 6.

The Foothillers offense struggled in the second half but came alive when it counted.  With 2:19 to play, Gaines hooked up with Davis once more – this time for a 68 yard score.  The PAT was good and the Foothillers were back on top 28-27.

With just under two minutes to play, there was still enough time for the Mustangs to come back. Riley Havird had other plans for Otay, as he snatched Limon’s pass out of the air and fell on it to give the Foothillers back the ball –and the victory. 

Grossmont improved to 2-0 with the 28-27 win.

PREVIEW: The Grossmont Foothillers host the Otay Ranch Mustangs in our Week 2 El Cajon Ford East County Game of the Week. Both of these teams are coming off Week 1 wins; the ‘Hillers taking down the Morse Tigers 34-15 and the Mustangs beating the Valhalla Norsemen 14-7 with a late 4th quarter touchdown.

Grossmont Head Coach Tom Karlo attributed last week’s victory to several key factors. The Foothillers defense only allowed 150 total yards. They will look to continue that trend this week against a Mustangs offense that struggled to get things going against the Norsemen. Another factor in the victory was the return of RB Jake Harr, who missed the second half of the 2014 season with a broken collarbone. “Any time you get your best offensive weapon back, it’s a good thing,” said Karlo, of Harr, who had 152 yards last week.

Coach Karlo believes Otay Ranch is a good second game for his team. He believes the Mustangs will test the Foothillers and they will need to eliminate some of the mistakes from week 1 if they want to win. Look for the Mustangs to rely heavily on their ground game in an effort to slow the Foothillers up tempo pace of play.  

Kickoff is at 7:00 PM at Grossmont High School.