LA MESA – It did not live up to the traditional encounters the Grossmont Conference's oldest football rivalry has produced in the past.
Sure, the visiting Grossmont Foothillers came out with plenty of zeal for last night's San Diego Section Division II quarterfinal at Helix. They even forced two Highlanders fumbles in the opening four minutes yet found themselves trailing 7-0 before the opening quarter was half over.
Bottom line: Grossmont did not have an answer for the Highlanders' Travon Van, Ty Culver, Levine Toilolo, Jo Jo Phillips and the Helix defense as a unit.
The Foothillers were down only 14-7 after Tyler Mutter connected with Felipe Valdez for a 15-yard touchdown pass the first play of the second period, but the game was all Helix after that.
Helix (9-1-1) scored the final 33 points of a 54-10 romp over the outmanned Foothillers (5-7) to advance to next week's Division II semifinals at No. 2 seeded Eastlake.
This one-time heated duel can hardly be classified a rivalry anymore, considering Grossmont has won only one of the past 26 meetings over the past 30 years. There have been two ties.
Helix rolled up 653 total yards – second only to the Grossmont Conference record 707 generated by the 2001 Highlanders.
Despite playing only one series in the second half, Van paced the Helix onslaught with 233 yards and two touchdowns on just 13 carries.
“Our O-line was like a motor roaring down field nonstop and blocking people down,” Van said.
Van's scoring runs of 1 and 61 yards helped Helix take a 34-10 halftime lead.
“We don't care who we're playing – we just do what we've got to do and that's advance to the next round,” Van said. “Yeah, this was a special game.”
Not because it was against Grossmont.
“I think it was a bigger deal for us because it's our seniors' last home game,” Van said.
Phillips and Toilolo tallied two touchdowns apiece for Helix, while quarterback Culver churned out 228 total yards.
“Anytime I get the ball in my hands, it's definitely exciting,” said Toilolo, who has only five TD catches this season.
