The CIF-Southern Section Week 5 polls were released on Monday with three Foothill League schools in action, wrapping up their preleague schedules this past weekend.
West Ranch (5-0) was the lone Foothill League team to crack the top 10 rankings. Coming off of a bye week, the Wildcats remain locked into the No. 2 spot in Division 6 and open league play against Golden Valley (1-4), which also had a bye on Friday.
Santa Clarita Christian jumped up two spots to No. 5 in Division 12 after having a bye last week. The Cardinals pick things back up on Friday as they head south to visit Rancho Christian.
Saugus (4-1) was the third Foothill League team with a bye and will open up league play against Hart at College of the Canyons on Friday.
Hart (3-2) goes above .500 for the second time this season after the Indians traveled to Ventura High School to take on the Cougars and came away with a 38-7 victory. Junior quarterback Zach Johnson threw for 360 yards and two touchdowns through the air, adding another one on the ground, according to MaxPreps.com.
Canyon (2-3) welcomed Royal of Simi Valley into Harry Welch Stadium on homecoming night and came away with a dominant 48-21 victory over the Highlanders on Friday. The Cowboys were without their starting running back Jake Acquaviva and were still able to amass over 280 yards rushing in the game.
Vikings’ Paialii picks up yardage
Last year, Calabasas beat Valencia 65-63 in a contest that featured a combined nine touchdowns through the air and another nine on the ground.
This time around, Calabasas came out with a 21-20 win. Both teams combined to rush the ball 72 times for 284 yards. Valencia’s Luring Paialii, who sat out the previous game due to injury, came back for an offensive explosion to carry the ball 24 times for 116 yards and all three of the Vikings’ scores. Most of Paialii’s carries came in the second half.
“I was trying to take it light on offense and focus on defense, but I knew I had to get out there and do everything I can and do what we had to do to win the game,” Paialii said after the loss.
Paialii is Valencia’s leading rusher on the year after Oregon commit Jayvaun Wilson went down before the season with a lower-body injury. On the year, Paialii has rushed 50 times for 234 yards and eight scores on the ground.
Knights’ use two quarterbacks to perfection
Employing a two-quarterback system, Trinity (2-3) bounced back from the Faith Bowl loss with a 42-7 road win against St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy on Friday.
Quarterbacks Phineas Yi and Rick Roberts combined to score four of the six touchdowns. Roberts threw three of the scores while Yi ran the fourth one in.
Kyle Fields and AJ Horning each scored two touchdowns for the Knights.
