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Story and photos by Liz Alper August 11, 2023 (El Cajon) - Football. Is. Back. And ECM Sports is right here for a fun opening weekend of exhibition games at Granite Hills High School. First off, tonight, we have the host school taking on Lincoln High School.
Junior quarterback Akili Smith Jr. completed the long touchdown pass in the first quarter for Lincoln, but the Eagles’ offense came alive on their next drive. Senior Sean Stevenson made the long first down grab from freshman quarterback Zachary Benitez and fellow senior Nokoi Maddox made the short catch in the endzone to tie the game. We were knotted at seven after one.
In the second, a short touchdown pass to Pablo Jackson turned into a long touchdown run all the way downfield for the Eagles for their first lead of 2023. They led 14-7 at the half.That didn’t last long as the Hornets flew down the field in the third and junior back Aladar Herrera ran it in for the game-tying score. Benitez lobbed it high on the next drive, only to be picked off by junior safety Dameian Watkins Jr., who took it to the house for the pick six and the lead again for the Hornets, 21-14 after three.
Smith Jr. made another long pass to the endzone in the fourth to put Lincoln up by two scores. Watkins Jr. recovered a fumble on defense and took it in for another. Junior Aden Jackson broke for a long run on the first play of the drive and the Hornets buried the Eagles 42-14 to open the season.UP NEXT
The Eagles have a rare Saturday night game to officially kick off the season as they host Mission Hills next weekend. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
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