Grossmont Corrals Rancho Buena Vista, Advances to CIF Div. I Semifinals

A see-saw battle in the first quarter ended in a blowout Friday as host Grossmont High School beat Rancho Buena Vista 55-34 in their San Diego CIF Division I quarterfinal.

Touchdowns by Marlon Lampart, J.T. Barnes, Michael Pettiford and Christian Brooks propelled the Foothillers into the semifinals after an 8-2 season. Pettiford ran for a 99-yard touchdown after scooping up a fumble by the Longhorns from Vista. Lampart scored three touchdowns and Brooks two.

Anthony Lawrence completed 21 of 26 passes for 334 yards, according to U-T San Diego. Quarterback Lawrence, Christian Brooks, Jeff Bowers, and Barnes are leading scorers in East County, according to East County Sports.

After the Hillers’ earlier victory over West Hills, Grossmont Coach Tom Karlo spoke of his first season: “I’m very happy. I’m glad I made this decision to come over here. This is my home. The players have done a great job. I really love what they have brought to this. I’m really impressed that they have been able to do this in one year.

“The players have committed the season to Coach [Ron] Murphy [the former coach who died of cancer in February] and they’ve worked hard in order to do that and honor his memory and they have done that. They’ve done everything that they set out to do to honor his memory. I’ve just been trying to be here and help them do what we wanted to do, which was to honor him, win games and do the best that we can do.”

The Foothillers face Eastlake in the CIF semifinals on Friday, Nov. 23.