The Granite Hills Eagles will challenge the Helix Highlanders at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The timing is sure in Granite Hills' favor as the team sits on four straight wins at home (dating back to last season) while Helix has been banged up by five consecutive losses on the road also dating back to last season.
On Friday, Granite Hills earned a 29-16 win over Mount Miguel.
The match pitted two dominant signal callers against one another in Zachary Benitez and Jeremiah Loper. Benitez had a great game and threw for 296 yards and two touchdowns. Meanwhile, Loper did his best for the losing side, rushing for 39 yards and one TD, while also throwing for 148 yards and one touchdown.
On the defensive side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Granite Hills' defense and their three sacks. The team can thank three different players for their defensive prowess: Wyatt MacLeod, Hunter Hamilton, and Parker Johnson, who each picked up one sack apiece.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Helix). They put the hurt on El Capitan with a sharp 41-21 victory on Friday. The Highlanders haven't had any issues with the Vaqueros recently, as the game was their sixth consecutive win against them.
Granite Hills better keep an eye on Lee Norman-Lester. He was instrumental in Helix's win, rushing for 141 yards and three scores on only ten carries, while also throwing for 105 yards on only ten passes. Those three rushing touchdowns gave Norman-Lester a new career-high.
Helix was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 347 rushing yards. They are 2-1 when they've run for more than 200 yards.
Helix didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Jeremy Robinson and Donte Wright.
Granite Hills now has a winning record of 4-3. As for Helix, their victory bumped their record up to 2-6.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Friday's matchup: Granite Hills has been excellent in the air this season, having averaged 336.6 passing yards per game. It's a different story for Helix, though, as they've been averaging an even more impressive 104.9 passing yards. How will they fare against such a dominant passing game?
Granite Hills strolled past Helix in their previous matchup back in October of 2024 by a score of 35-21. Will the Eagles repeat their success, or do the Highlanders have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
