Grossmont offense overpowers Valhalla to begin league play

by Breven Honda

EL CAJON – The Grossmont High School football team wanted to get its Grossmont Valley League schedule off to a good start Friday against Valhalla.

And it did.

The Foothillers scored 30 unanswered points over the first two quarters to defeat the Norsemen 38-8.

“Very exciting to get the win,” said Grossmont quarterback Tyler Newman, who completed 14-of-24 passes for 165 yards and three touchdowns. “We still got a lot to work on.”

Each of Newman’s three touchdowns came while getting out of the pocket.

His first touchdown came by throwing the ball up for senior Colton Burke, who was able to break away from his defender on third-and-9 for a 23-yard touchdown on the second offensive drive. With eight seconds left before halftime, Newman then backed up for the play to develop to find senior Randy Ballard for a 25-yard touchdown.

In the third quarter, Newman scrambled and found his junior running back AJ Hooker leaking out of the pocket for a 19-yard catch and run to give Grossmont (5-1, 1-0 Grossmont Valley League) a 38-0 lead.

Grossmont coach Anthony Lawrence said as long as there is a primary concept to a play, Newman is able to expand it by scrambling and creating more time for his receivers.

“I don’t think I’m (Chicago Bears head coach) Ben Johnson, but Ben Johnson talks about how with Caleb Williams, he doesn’t have to make the perfect play call, and Tyler can get us out of a lot of trouble and cover up a lot of mistakes on my end, or the rest of the team,” Lawrence said.

Newman, who is also the team’s kicker on field goal and point after attempts, is dealing with a foot issue. Although he can still play, he is unable to kick, forcing the Foothillers to work on two-point conversion attempts, which they went 4 for 6.

The junior quarterback said those two-point conversion reps can help later in the season.

“It can benefit you a lot because if you don’t get one, you get the other,” Newman said. “It’s equal, but if you get both, it puts you up by a lot.”

Complementing Newman in the offense was the running game, which totaled 140 rushing yards, highlighted by the duo of Hooker and sophomore Corbin Dow. Hooker and Dow combined for two rushing touchdowns, a receiving touchdown and four successful two-point conversions.

“Our run game has been working all year,” Lawrence said. “Our O-line has been doing a great job. With them blocking, the running backs run hard, it makes it a lot easier as a coach when the run game is rolling.”

Valhalla (1-5, 0-1 Grossmont Valley League) was led by junior running back Liam Hypes, who recorded 18 carries for 116 yards, highlighted by a 34-yard rushing touchdown followed two-point conversion in the third quarter.

“Their attack, their quarterback and their running back break a lot of tackles,” Lawrence said of the Norsemen. “They’re really tough runners, so you got to rally, create opportunities for people to get to him. So, slow them down, create opportunities for guys to fly to the ball.”

League play continues next week as Valhalla hosts West Hills and Grossmont hosts Santana.