THE BIG GAME / HELIX 35, EL CAPITAN 21 : Ethridge’s Kickoff Return Sparks Helix

Speed and some extra special special teams play Friday night helped Helix High turn a stale first half into a 35-21 victory over El Capitan in a nonleague football game at El Capitan.

And if this was the matchup of the year in the East County--as many people believe it was--the rest of Helix’s opponents could be in for a long run.

Helix, ranked second in the county, improved to 2-0 in front of 3,500. Tenth-ranked El Capitan, winner in 10 of its last 11 games coming in, fell to 1-1.

After a 7-7 lackluster first half, Helix speedster Teniel Ethridge returned the second-half kickoff 84 yards for a touchdown.

Three minutes later, Samaji Akili returned a punt 43 yards, and Chris Baker took the next handoff 37 yards for another touchdown to give Helix a 21-7 lead.

On Helix’s next possession, it was Ethridge’s turn again, and he bolted 66 yards on a trap play for yet another touchdown.

“We came out kind of sluggish, went into the locker room, talked it over and then came out and played our ball game,” Ethridge said. “Speed and special teams did it, all right.”

It happened quickly. At one point in the third quarter, Helix had as many touchdowns as it did first downs--three.

And who would thought a Helix team could score 35 points by completing only two passes?

It was all El Capitan for the first 20 minutes, but the Highlanders managed to force a 7-7 tie by halftime.

El Capitan gained 146 yards (126 rushing) and had nine first downs in the first half. Helix, meanwhile, had only 70 yards and two first downs but both first downs and 43 yards came in its last two plays of the half.

El Capitan scored first, marching 83 yards in 10 plays and 4:33. Eric Rockhold capped the impressive drive with a three-yard sweep into the left corner of the end zone, and it looked like it was going to be a long night for Helix.

While the Highlander defense improved steadily throughout the half, the offense went nowhere until a four-play, 51-yard scoring drive with 2:38 left made it 7-7 at the half.

On the third play of that drive, Helix quarterback Jeremy Gottleib completed his first pass, and Helix got its first first down. On the next play, Chris Baker scored on a nifty 31-yard counter play.

Gottleib finished the half one for six for 12 yards but three of his misses were dropped balls. He attempted only pass in the second half, a nine-yard completion.

Baker, who added a third touchdown late in the game, finished with 110 rushing yards in 11 carries. Ethridge added 93 rushing yards in seven carries as Helix finished with 261 total yards.

For El Capitan, which totaled 263 yards, Rockhold gained 154 yards in 19 carries, and quarterback Bobby Vickery added 41 yards in nine carries.

“They’re real quick, and they’re also very well coached,” Vickery said.

“We’ll use this as a learning experience. Hopefully, we can learn a lot from this one.”

Though the two schools had tied 7-7 last year at Helix, El Capitan has not beaten Helix since 1983.