TV Show, Trophies Excite Helix at Rally Celebrating Football Champions

Three weeks after winning a state football title, students and Helix Charter High School players finally got a chance to celebrate. A before-class pep rally in the gym Wednesday was loud (and made louder thanks to a KUSI “scream-o-meter” to measure decibels before a Player of the Year presentation to quarterback Brandon Lewis).

But for nearly an hour, with Homecoming Queen Courtney Wendleton as MC, students were entertained by cheerleaders, the dance team, pep band, pipe band—and the boisterous football squad itself. Players pasted a Scotties sticker over a Grossmont “G” on a traveling helmet trophy and showed their dance moves.

Officials including Mayor Art Madrid, City Manager Dave Witt, schools Superintendent Ralf Swenson and Helix grad Ed Aceves, the police chief, sat with Helix executive director Rani Goyal, and heard from athletic director Damon Chase and head coach Troy Starr.

Staff Sgt. Joaquin Cuenca led a San Diego contingent from the National Guard, which sponsored T-shirts and a maxpreps.com trophy presentation—a Minuteman representing a top-30 national ranking. (The trophy said Helix was 25th, but Cuenca said a later calculation made the Highlanders 27th).  Starr noted Helix was No. 2 nationwide among medium-sized schools, however.

Wednesday’s class schedule—with Period 1 starting at 9:40 a.m.—meant the fun had to end by about 9:30. But for the hundreds of students who turned out, it was a chance to get on live TV and collect memories for a lifetime.