Zac Benitez shines as Granite Hills routs Helix

EL CAJON – Zac Benitez threw four touchdown passes – two to Zhedan Smith – and Parker Johnson had a 71-yard kickoff return for a touchdown for No. 6 Granite Hills, which routed Helix 40-14 on Friday night.

The Eagles (5-3, 2-0 Grossmont Hills League) also had two takeaways, including a fumble recovery by Kali Young on the game’s first play from scrimmage and an interception in the end zone by Jesse Wilhite to set up a field goal just before halftime.

But it was Benitez’s passing that carried the Eagles to their second straight win in league play after losing their final three non-conference games.

“He was on fire, and honestly, we dropped two more,” coach Kellan Cobbs said. “He played well, threw the ball well. Protected the ball was the biggest thing, cleaning up turnovers. He didn’t have any interceptions tonight. We did get stopped once on fourth early in the game but for the most part he’s playing pretty lights out.”

Benitez threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to Smith and a 26-yarder to DJ Wilkins on consecutive drives in the first quarter.

He also threw two touchdown passes in the third quarter as the Eagles opened a 40-7 lead. The Eagles took the opening kickoff of the second half and moved 80 yards, with Benitez capping the drive with a 13-yard scoring toss to Smith in the back of the end zone.

Benitez then found Noah Walker on a short pass and the wideout broke it 55 yards for another score late in the quarter.

Leading 40-14, the Eagles pulled Benitez with 8:05 to play and put in backup Brody Vicars.

“It’s obviously amazing,” Benitez said. “Thanks to my guys for protecting me. All five of them did their jobs today so I was able to put up some numbers. Coach put us in the right position and my guys were there to make plays. All my trust in them, too. Get them the ball and they make plays.”

After riding Benitez’s arm to a 14-0 lead, the Eagles came up big on consecutive plays on special teams.

Attempting to punt from its 2-yard line, Helix (3-6, 1-2) snapped the ball through the end zone for a safety. On the ensuing kickoff, Johnson broke free for a 71-yard touchdown return to give the Eagles a 23-0 lead.

Helix came back and got a 2-yard touchdown run by Jordan Lindley with 6:21 before halftime and was driving again on its next possession before Wilhite intercepted Lee Norman-Lester in the end zone.

Jacob Nunez kicked a 31-yard field goal for the Eagles as time expired for a 26-7 halftime lead.

“It’s a good win,” Cobbs said. “Still some things to clean up, but they’re a good football program. They have the tradition and history so it’s always good to go beat those guys and get to 2-0 in league and just keep focusing on things we can clean up and we can get better at.

“We talked about it all week, just continuing to get better each week while we’re in league and trying to build for the playoffs. The front end of our schedule was a pretty tough stretch, the toughest in San Diego according to MaxPreps. It’s good we got to rotate some guys at the end of the game who haven’t played for a while, knock some rust off those guys.”