Trailing by 21 points heading to the fourth quarter Saturday night, Santa Clarita Christian football’s three-game winning streak looked to be in jeopardy.
Twelve minutes and four unanswered touchdowns later, the Cardinals walked off the field at Canyon High School with a 42-35 victory over Fairmont Prep of Anaheim.
“This team has something special going on,” said Santa Clarita Christian coach Garrick Moss. “After our 0-4 start, our guys never lost hope.”
SCCS (4-4 overall, 3-0 in San Joaquin League) had something special going in the fourth quarter Saturday.
Quarterback Tristan Miller, who completed 22-of-36 passes for 426 yards on the night, threw two scores in the final frame.
He also ran for a 2-yard score that tied the score at 35 at the 2:16 mark.
SCCS got the ball back with a little more than a minute on the clock, and Miller hit Blaike Orth for the 26-yard game-winning touchdown with 40 seconds left.
“We’ve never won an 11-man league title,” said SCCS wide receiver Jacob Moss, who scored on a 9-yard run to spark the fourth-quarter surge. “We’re 3-0 now with two very tough games left against the best teams in the conference.”
Moss and Tyler Kalinske were Miller’s main targets, combining for 16 receptions and 259 yards.
Santa Clarita Christian will look to remain undefeated in the San Joaquin League when it travels to Diamond Bar next Friday to face the Southlands Christian Eagles, who are currently third in league standings.
Miller tied the score, 7-7, in the first quarter on a 22-yard pass to Kalinske.
After the Cardinals forced a three-and-out, Moss fumbled the ensuing punt, which the Huskies turned into a 25-yard touchdown run from Diego Serrano.
Fairmont Prep (4-4, 1-2) scored 14 points off of three Santa Clarita Christian first-half turnovers, before a 1-yard touchdown run from Miller made the halftime score, 20-14.
Serrano, who had 101 rushing yards, made the Cardinals pay again, scoring on a 3-yard touchdown run to give the Huskies a 35-14 lead at the end of a third quarter that saw Fairmont quarterback Darwyn Gines leave the game with a leg injury.
Moss’ 9-yard scoring run kicked off SCCS’ fourth-quarter fun at the 11:12 mark.
Then Miller connected with running back Seth Yu on a 52-yard touchdown pass five minutes later to bring the Cardinals within seven.
