By Bryanna Winner
For The Signal
Golden Valley football defeated Newbury Park 55-27 to complete the first-ever undefeated nonleague season and 5-0 start in school history.
“5-0 is huge. I believe it’s the first time in school history, and these guys wanted it tonight. They really came out and played well,” said head coach Dan Kelley.
The Grizzlies were up 20-0 at the end of the first quarter. Johnathan Kaelin scored two touchdowns in the quarter, while junior wide receiver Madhi Bey scored one. Kaelin scored a one-yard and a 12-yard touchdown, both on the ground with 7:14 and 10 seconds left in the quarter, respectively. Bey scored his on a 61-yard reception with 4:58 left.
The Panthers were able to get on the board during the second quarter with three passing touchdowns of their own. But with each Newbury Park touchdown, came a Kaelin touchdown, as the senior was the only Grizzly to score in the second quarter.
He scored his first touchdown of the quarter with 8:05 left, his second less than two minutes later with 6:39 on the clock and his last of the half would come with 1:25 left in the half.
By halftime, the Grizzlies were leading the Panthers 41-10 on Kaelin’s five first-half touchdowns.
“Newbury Park is a Division 5 team, and we are a Division 6 team. We knew we were going to have our work cut out for us,” Kelley said. “We knew we had to really lean on our ground attack and our offense to run the clock and keep them out of their hands, and we felt that our offensive line could do the job. Our offensive line won this game tonight.”
The scoring didn’t stop there as the Grizzlies tacked on two more touchdowns in the third quarter: one by junior Luke McCoy with a three-yard quarterback keep with 5:33 left in the frame and another by Kaelin, who scored his sixth on a 67-yard touchdown run with 2:57 left.
The Grizzlies wouldn’t score again as they let the clock run down. Kaelin scored the last touchdown in each of the three quarters they scored.
“Johnathan Kaelin is a special, special player. He is a competitor, and he really rose to the occasion tonight,” Kelley said. “He ran the ball really hard for us, and he is exactly who I thought he was. He is a team leader, and he leads by example. He did that tonight.”
Newbury Park scored its final touchdown of the game with 22 seconds left in the third quarter to bring the score to 55-27.
While running the ball down the field, Kaelin noticed how the offensive line’s work made it easier for him and the rest of the team to score touchdowns. He would also attribute their formations as a key part of their win.
“(I credit) our power formations …. running it down the field and just destroying them,” said Kaelin. “Our blocking was there, and it was much easier to get downfield.”
The Grizzlies are scheduled to start league play on Friday, Oct. 4, against West Ranch at Canyon High at 7 p.m.
