Saugus High wide receiver Jared Pane knows that stats and game film never tell the whole story.
The senior said Thursday night, on the eve of the Centurions’ CIF-Southern Section Division 6 first-round playoff game, that Crescenta Valley’s preleague loss to Golden Valley — a team Saugus beat — isn’t relevant eight weeks later.
After all, the Falcons (9-1) have rattled off eight straight wins since then by an average of 32 points.
But Crescenta Valley’s scoring surge, or Falcon Nobel Leduc’s 92 tackles and 8.5 sacks, for that matter, isn’t enough to intimidate Saugus.
“We’re not intimidated by anyone in terms of stats,” Pane said. “All we have to do is our job.”
Tonight at 7 p.m. at Glendale High, that job is to slow a Crescenta Valley offense averaging 41 points a game.
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Falcons quarterback Cole Doyle, a 5-foot-9 sophomore, has thrown for 1,453 yards, 13 touchdowns and five interceptions. He’s also run for 509 yards and another eight scores.
Crescenta Valley has four players who have rushed for at least 200 yards this season.
The Saugus offense is looking to get back on track after scoring just seven points and throwing four interceptions in a 24-7 loss to Hart last week.
The defeat dropped Saugus (8-2) into third place in the Foothill League and, ultimately, set a first-round date with Division 6’s No. 4 seed, the champions of the Pacific League.
The Falcons only loss came to the Grizzlies, 21-7, at Canyon High on Sept. 9.
Saugus beat Golden Valley, 21-9, a month later.
“At this point, that really doesn’t have any impact on us,” Pane said. “We wouldn’t want to think about the past. We’re just focusing on the team (they are now).”
The Falcons are also focused on the team in front of them, and it’s a bit like looking in a mirror.
“When you look at their kids,” Falcons coach Paul Schilling told the Glendale News-Press. “They’re very similar to our guys.
“It’s a tough matchup.”
The Falcons won the CIF-SS Southeast Division title in 2014. Last year, they lost to Cathedral of Los Angeles in the first round.
Saugus’ last playoff win came in 2013. It beat Atascadero 34-27 in the first round before advancing to the semifinals of the Northern Division bracket where it lost to Valencia.
