History is afoot for Santa Clarita Christian football.
If the Cardinals win their game against Southlands Christian tonight at College of the Canyons, it will mark their first undefeated regular season playing 11-man football.
“Our coach has been preaching to us this only comes around once in a lifetime,” said running back Lucas Pettee. “I mean obviously there’s some pressure that goes into that, but really we’ve just got to execute the game plan and just do our job, basically.”
SCCS has outscored opponents 333 to 140 this season, with one shutout.
Pettee has been a major part of the offensive success. The sophomore currently has 804 rushing yards and seven touchdowns on 107 carries.
He’ll likely carry a good chunk of the scoring load for the Cards, who will be missing receivers Caden Brenner and Ethan Schwesinger once again due to injury.
MORE: Germany native Noah Nnabuo flourishing with SCCS football
The pair is certainly missed on the field, but there’s a plethora of players waiting to step in at any given notice. Wyatt Kennedy, for example, has filled in for Brenner at safety.
“I’ve had to learn for myself being a safety to step in and in Caden’s place when he’s injured … I think its built my confidence and its also helped me lead the team and get better for next year to play my hardest,” Kennedy said.
Many of the Cardinals’ players go to school together, play football together, and go to church together. First-year coach Chazz Anderson is the youth pastor at Santa Clarita Baptist Church, which houses SCCS.
The result is increased chemistry and trust among the team.
“A lot of those kids go to our youth group, a lot of those kids serve at other churches in the area. For us, football is an extension of that,” Anderson said. “We have our own little extended family.”
SCCS takes on Southlands Christian tonight at 7:30 p.m.
