Prep Football: Elsinore hands Granite Hills its first loss of the season

Granite Hills got off to almost as good of a start as one can ask for Thursday night against Elsinore.

The first play of the game for the Cougars was an 80-yard catch-and-run touchdown from quarterback Byron Rivas to wide receiver Theodore Wiggins. Then, on the fourth play of Elsinore’s ensuing drive, the Cougars recovered a fumble and looked to be in the driver’s seat.

But on that fumble lineman Matthew El-Ali went down with a knee injury and never returned to the game.

It was mostly down hill for the Cougars from there as Elsinore won 47-28 at Newton T. Bass Stadium.

“Every summer we vote on captains and that guy (El-Ali) had the most votes of the entire team,” Granite Hills head coach Alex Gonzalez said. “He is the captain of our team so to lose your best guy who everyone looks up to and respects the most, it’s rough man.”

Granite Hills sorely missed El-Ali’s presence on both the offensive and defensive lines.

Rivas, who was only sacked once last season, got sacked twice against Elsinore. Running back Kameron Smith, who has averaged 166.5 rushing yards per game this season, only rushed for 39 yards Thursday night.

On defense, the Cougars had a difficult time stopping Elsinore’s Wing-T offense. The Tigers were able to control the time of possession and still score enough to make things difficult for Granite Hills’ offense.

After losing their early 7-0 lead in the second quarter, the Cougars were able to reclaim it with a touchdown pass from Rivas to Joshua Soto.

The Tigers did not throw the ball much throughout but came up big when they did it. They took the lead back before the half with a 34-yard pass from Semaj Moore to Jamari Jones to make it 19-14.

That was the final lead change as Elsinore scored two more times in just over a minute to go into halftime up 32-14.

What it means

The Cougars suffered their first loss of the season and a key part of Granite Hills’ offensive and defensive lines is hurt. It remains to be seen how long El-Ali will be out with the start of Desert Sky League action around the corner.

Key plays

Granite Hills went for broke on the first play of the game as Rivas looked long downfield for Wiggins, who caught it and ran the rest of the way for a touchdown.

Wiggins’ second touchdown came on a jump ball in the end zone. It brought the Cougars within four points and looked as if it could be the turning point for their comeback.

By the numbers

9 — The number of Elsinore players who had at least one rushing attempt on the night.

63 — The previous low for rushing yards in a game this season for Smith.

3 — The number of turnovers by the Granite Hills during the game, severely undercutting their time of possession.

Game balls

Just about the only thing that worked for Granite Hills was the Rivas and Wiggins connection. The pair connected eight times, twice for touchdowns.

They said it

Gonzalez on the offensive struggles: “It was a struggle cause we didn’t have the ball very much. We never really got on there to get a groove. We either scored quick or gave it up quick.”

Gonzalez on how to get the team back on track: “We don’t gotta get back to the drawing board, it’s just the intention in which we practice. I think that the team was kind of on a roll and they thought that winning comes easy and it doesn’t.”

What’s next

Granite Hills is at home again next Friday against Hesperia.

This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Prep Football: Elsinore hands Granite Hills its first loss of the season