San Diego Program Preview: Granite Hills Eagles

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>The 2022 Granite Hills Eagles captured their first state title in school history with a 31-24 OT win over San Ramon in the D-2A championship. This year's team looks like a contender to make another championship run retaining key pieces on both sides of the ball with the leaders in rushing, receiving, and tackling all back for another season. The Eagles open 2023 with an early test against Mission Hills, then face important matchups with Madison and Helix down the road.</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Key Losses:</strong> DB Easton Peterson (Western Colorado), DB Davion Green (Palomar), DB Joaquin Thomas, RB Zak Darling, LB Derrick Ibarra </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Key Players: </strong>RB [player_tooltip player_id='612834' first='Maxwell' last='Turner'], RB Isaiah Jackson, WR Joshua Zander, DB [player_tooltip player_id='1128306' first='Jordan' last='Glaze'], DB Nokoi Maddox, ATH [player_tooltip player_id='780325' first='Cammeron' last='Purnell'], EDGE Demarrion White, OL Ethan Warner, OL Joshua Collins, LB Tyler Bertalan, DL Moshi Tileia </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Schedule&nbsp;</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:list --> <ul><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>8/19 vs. Mission Hills&nbsp;</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>9/1 <strong>@ </strong>St. Augustine&nbsp;</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>9/8 <strong>@</strong> Eastlake&nbsp;</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>9/14 <strong>@ </strong>Central&nbsp;</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>9/22 vs. Madison&nbsp;</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>9/29 <strong>@ </strong>Santana&nbsp;</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>10/6 vs. West Hills&nbsp;</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>10/13 <strong>@ </strong>Steele Canyon&nbsp;</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>10/20 vs. Helix&nbsp;</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>10/26 <strong>@</strong> Grossmont&nbsp;</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ul> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Offense&nbsp;</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Granite Hills' offense returns its talented 2025 RBs<strong> Isaiah Jackson</strong> and [player_tooltip player_id='612834' first='Maxwell' last='Turner']. Combining for over 1700 yards, 26 TDs, and 250 carries last season- the two bring complementing styles with Jackson's flashy speed/elusiveness and Turner's physical style and knack for yards after contact. This RB duo should be one of the best in the area this season. Senior WR/DB <strong>Joshua Zander</strong> is the team's top wideout- he's a downfield threat on the perimeter that can make contested catches and produce explosive plays. Seniors <strong>Ethan</strong> <strong>Warner</strong> and <strong>Joshua Collins</strong> will be OL to watch. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/SBLiveCA/status/1601731037096296448?s=20","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"twitter","responsive":true} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/SBLiveCA/status/1601731037096296448?s=20 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Defense</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The secondary lost some talented pieces of their championship defense, but return two high-level safeties in <strong>Jordan</strong> <strong>Glaze</strong> and <strong>Nokoi</strong> <strong>Maddox</strong>. Glaze is an extremely physical defender that can play in the box and led the team in tackling last season with 122 total. Maddox presents a high-upside blend of length, physicality, and range in coverage. He's been a major stock-riser in recent months adding offers from SDSU, Dartmouth, Montana, Navy, Weber St., Penn, and Columbia. Also added 2026 WR/DB [player_tooltip player_id='780325' first='Cammeron' last='Purnell'] from San Marcos- last season he showed shutdown potential as a lengthy CB with advanced instincts and reactions. The front-seven is led by arguably the best EDGE prospect in San Diego- [player_tooltip player_id='398391' first='Damarrion' last='White']. White's an explosive athlete at the LOS that can beat OTs to the punch and creates negative plays with 6 sacks and 18 TFLs as a junior. White will be choosing between Washington, Arizona, and Oregon St. at some point during the season. LB <strong>Tyler</strong> <strong>Bertalan</strong> and DT <strong>Moshi</strong> <strong>Tileia</strong> will be two seniors to watch.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/NokoiM/status/1686506615103537152?s=20","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"twitter","responsive":true} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/NokoiM/status/1686506615103537152?s=20 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->