EL CAJON – Valhalla quarterback Pete Thomas is considered a prime Division I college prospect. His name has appeared on several national Web sites for his passing prowess. Some schools, including Boston College, have already pitched a scholarship offer his way.

And he's just a junior.

The 6-foot-5, 207-pound Thomas did not throw a touchdown pass in Valhalla's 28-3 Grossmont South League victory over visiting Steele Canyon in last night's joust for the Jamacha Helmet perpetual trophy.

Thomas did, however, have a hand in 22 of the Norsemen's points. He scored Valhalla's only offensive touchdown on a 21-yard pass from James Leighton giving his team a 7-3 lead in the second quarter.

Thomas (17-of-31, 256 yards) made his biggest impact with his foot. He kicked a Valhalla record four field goals, connecting from 33, 26, 22 and 21 yards.

“I should have had five,” said Thomas, who missed wide left from 42 yards in the fourth quarter. “I shanked that last one, tried to kick it too hard.”

Thomas becomes only the fourth kicker in Grossmont Conference history to kick four three-pointers in a game. Helix's Scott Webb set the conference mark with five against Granite Hills in 1982.

“I probably kick about 15-to-20 balls about 10 minutes before every practice,” said Thomas, who is 7-for-10 on field goals and 26-for-27 on PATs.

Steele Canyon (4-4, 2-1) did a decent job of playing ball control in the first half, yet found itself trailing 13-3 at the break.

The Cougars, who claimed a 31-21 play advantage in the opening two quarters, used a 51-yard punt return by Taylor Mishler to set up a 22-yard field goal by Matthew Bruder to lead 3-0 early in the second period.

Valhalla coach Steve Sutton then brewed up a bit of wizardry of his own to put the Norsemen in control.

With the Steele Canyon defense focused almost exclusively on Thomas, the Norsemen sent him out on a pass route in which he reeled in the scoring strike from Leighton.

During that scoring play, Steele Canyon was tagged with back-to-back personal foul penalties. Thus, Valhalla (7-1, 2-1) was set to kick off from the Cougars' 35 and executed a successful onsides kick by Tanner Hitt (17 tackles). Kyle Hoyt made the recovery, giving the Norsemen possession on the Steele Canyon 19.

The Norsemen had to settle for the first of Thomas'field goals.

His second field goal followed a fumble recovery by Hanssell Wilson, who later had an interception.

Steele Canyon was flagged for seven personal fouls.