Helix beats Del Oro for CIF Division II Bowl victory

CARSON, Calif. -- There are speed teams, and there are power teams when it comes to stereotyping how squads go about trying to win.

Then there is Helix (La Mesa), the ultimate hybrid.

The Highlanders showed the flair of a big-strike passing offense Saturday at the Home Depot Center and at the same time controlled the game in the trenches to take a 35-24 victory over No. 24 Del Oro (Loomis) in the Division II title game, extending the southern domination in the title matchups. It was an emphatic victory over a team that almost knocked off Open Division combatant Westlake earlier this year, and coach Troy Starr went another step, calling it the biggest win in the program’s history.

“It’s the best offensive and defensive lines I’ve ever coached,” Starr said. “It’s the guys up front. That’s where it starts.”

Before crediting the big guys on the lines, the most recognizable reasons for the victory were quarterback Brandon Lewis and running back Darrion Hancock. Lewis, a senior, only needed to complete 11 of his 16 passes to total 254 airborne yards to go with three touchdowns. Hancock handled the hard work in between the tackles, racking up 108 rush yards and a touchdown on 26 tries.  

The second quarter told the whole story, Golden Eagles coach Casey Taylor said. His team held a 10-3 advantage less than 2 minutes into the quarter, then went to the locker room down 28-10. Lewis found Gary Thompson for a 73-yard passing score straight up the field to make it 14-10, Michael Adkins ran a touchdown in from the shotgun from 3 yards out to make it 21-10 and then Kendal Keys caught a slip screen pass and took it 32 yards for a touchdown less than 2 minutes later. 

That second quarter, combined with Helix’s ability to slow the lauded Del Oro run game, was the key.

“We knew they were explosive and we had to eliminate the big plays. In the second quarter, that was kind of the game, I felt,” Taylor said. “They’re so fast on ‘D’ that when we got a hole or had a seam they sucked us up. We were getting 7 yards tonight whereas in the season we were getting 15 or 20.”

And that’s where the line play comes in. Del Oro averaged 235.6 rushing yards per game coming in but left Carson with just 93 on 28 tries. Credit guys like Arthur Shepard, William Milo, Lipo Napoleon and Thompson, to name a few. Linebacker Ernest Shipley tied for the team lead with nine tackles, so did Kacy Smith.

“They’re a team that runs it very well, they hit the holes hard. So we had to contain our gaps and not work to the side. We did a great job,” Thompson said. “We wanted to win our last game and we did.”

Del Oro’s running back tandem of Brandon Monroe and Nick O'Sullivan munched up 57 and 25 yards, respectively. Monroe came in averaging 114.6 yards and O’Sullivan 95.9 per game.

The Helix offensive line didn’t allow a sack and only three tackles for loss. Led by guard Augie Lugo, the line shook off some early confusion and then did exactly what it wanted to do: Protect the quarterback and open holes for the running backs.

“We pride ourselves on giving Brandon a lot of time in the pocket to look at his options and make things happen. I feel like we succeeded,” said Lugo, an All-San Diego Section performer. “We just wanted to bring tradition back to the Helix program.”

The second half lacked the explosiveness of the first. Del Oro’s Russell Smith capped off a 13-play, 88-yard march with a 6-yard touchdown run to make it 28-17 with 6:25 left in the third but Helix retorted with Keys’ second touchdown reception of the night, a 7-yard out pattern from Lewis on the final play of the third quarter.

“We came out in the second half and thought we could get back in the game. All the credit goes to them. They’re big, fast and strong,” Taylor said. “You hope to eliminate mistakes but we had a couple. I knew if we let them get in the 30s we would have a hard time winning the game.”

Blake Covey blocked a punt for Del Oro in the final minute of the game and Alex Bertrando recovered it for a 6-yard punt return touchdown. Bertrando recovered the ensuing onside kick but Del Oro couldn’t get one more score before the clock ran out. 

The Golden Eagles’ Skyler Rand kicked a 36-yard field goal to open the scoring and Hancock crashed in from 7 yards for make it 7-3 with 4:24 left in the first. Tanner Huber caught a 3-yard pass from Bobby Heatherington to make it 10-7 with 10:11 left in the second.

Each team had an early-season loss in nonleague contests, and both won out to make the title game. Now Helix reigns supreme after a season-opening 21-14 defeat against Eastlake.

“That opened up our eyes and I was like ‘I don’t like this taste in my mouth. It’s bad, it’s awful,” Thompson said. “We didn’t want that any more. We came out hungry and angry and whatever team was in our way, we handled our business.”

Helix 35, Del Oro 24
DO     3     7     7     7     - 24
H      7     21     7     0     - 35

First quarter
D – Rand 36 field goal 9:41
H – Hancock 7 run (Vann Sabin kick)

Second quarter
D – Huber 3 pass from Heatherington (Rand kick) 10:11
H – Thompson 73 pass from Lewis (Sabin kick) 7:25
H – Adkins 3 run (Sabin kick) 2:54
H – Keys 32 pass from Lewis (Sabin kick) 1:11 

Third quarter
D – Smith 6 run (Rand kick) 6:25
H – Keys 7 pass from Lewis (Sabin kick) :00 

Fourth quarter
D – Bertrando 6 punt return (Rand kick) :35

PASSING: H – Lewis 11-16-254-3-0. D – Heatherington 19-30-179-1-1.
RUSHING: H – Hancock 26-108, Adkins 5-12, Lewis 4-11, Team 1-(minus 1). D – Monroe 9-57, O’Sullivan 16-25, Russell Smith 3-11.
RECEIVING: H – Thompson 3-117, Cameron Lee 3-42, Keys 2-39, Jimmy Pruitt 2-35, Hancock 1-21. D – Bertrando 6-55, Huber 2-41, Smith 4-25, Monroe 2-23, Covey 2-20, Daniel Thomas 3-15.