Hart and West Ranch football highlight Foothill League slate

West Ranch Thierry Sirias (8) intercepts a Canyon pass. Dan Watson/The Signal
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By Haley Sawyer

Diego Marquez

Bryanna Winner

Signal Staff Writers

Entering today’s heavyweight Foothill League matchup, Hart and West Ranch football are both coming off 20-plus points wins against Canyon and Saugus, respectively.

The Wildcats sit atop the league standings tied with Valencia with a 3-0 record and have won each game by at least 23 points with a 52-13 rout of Golden Valley to kick off the league slate.

In last week’s win over Saugus, West Ranch quarterback Walker Eget threw four touchdowns in the first half and finished the game with 451 passing yards and seven passing touchdowns, breaking the school’s single-season passing touchdown record (seven) and the single-season passing touchdown record (27).

Eget currently ranks first amongst the Foothill League passing leaders with 2,078 passing yards sitting in second place is Cal commit and Hart quarterback Zach Johnson with 1,760 yards and 16 touchdowns, according to MaxPreps.com.

Eget is complemented by a strong running game led by Reiger Burgin, who is coming off the only game where he didn’t score a touchdown. Burgin is averaging 105.3 yards per game and still leads the league in rushing touchdowns (14).

Hart’s defensive line will combat the West Ranch offense with defensive lineman Dylan Vradenburg and linebacker Travis Gill, who lead the Indians with 61 and 63 total tackles, respectively.

Vradenburg is third in the league with six sacks and Gill in tied for fourth with four.

While Hart’s defense will have their hands full with the West Ranch offense, don’t sleep on Indians running back Taden Littleford, who is coming off his most productive game of the year where he rushed 25 times for 227 yards and three rushing touchdowns.

Wide receiver Ashton Thomas has caught at least one touchdown in each of the last five games with a three-touchdown performance against Saugus.

West Ranch’s front seven, headed by defensive ends JC Cotti and John Collier, and linebackers Byrce Buchanan and Zach Van Bennekum will add to their tackle totals covering the speedsters.

Kickoff is scheduled for today at 7 p.m. at Valencia High School.

Valencia at Saugus 

Valencia is looking to extend their three-game Foothill League win streak while Saugus is trying to snap a four-game losing skid as they continue through league play. 

The Vikings (5-3, 3-0) are currently undefeated in league play and downed Golden Valley 34-0 last week.

Valencia quarterback Ryan Morrison has accumulated 1577 yards and has thrown 14 touchdowns. Against Golden Valley, he completed 11-of-22 passes for 172 yards and one touchdown. 

Mitchell Torres caught four passes for 94 yards against the Grizzlies last week and senior Jake Santos caught one reception for eight-yards and carried the ball 12 times for 56 yards.

Valencia’s Mitchell Torres (5) makes a catch near the goal line to set up Valencia’s second touchdown in the second quarter against Golden Valley at Valencia on Friday. Dan Watson/The Signal

Saugus (3-5, 0-3) lost to undefeated West Ranch, 53-20, at College of the Canyons last week as they were trying to snap their losing streak. 

Quarterback Colton FitzGerald ranks third in the league with 1654 yards on 123 completions and thrown for 15 touchdowns, according to MaxPreps.com. In the loss against West Ranch, he went 26-for-51 and threw 331 yards. 

Senior Timmy Angelo had 130 yards off of seven carries with two touchdowns against the Wildcats last Friday. On the rushing side of the ball, junior Juliann Bornn rushed for 81 yards and one touchdown off of 21 carries. 

Kickoff is at 7 p.m. at College of the Canyons.

Canyon at Golden Valley

Both Canyon and Golden Valley are coming off losses to some of the toughest teams in the Foothill League.

Canyon fell to Hart last week, 41-20, while Golden Valley suffered its first shutout loss of the season, falling 34-0 to Valencia.

The Cowboys are still searching for their first win of the Foothill League season after playing the top three teams in the league in Hart, West Ranch and Valencia. Canyon was able to hold its own in the first half against Hart, however, with Aydyn Litz three touchdown passes to Reno Sifuentes and Colin Figueroa.

Canyon junior James Mendables makes a catch in a rivalry matchup with Hart at Harry Welch Stadium Friday night. Cory Rubin/The Signal

Golden Valley’s offense sputtered throughout the game. For the first time this season, running back Johnathan Kaelin was without a touchdown. The defense was able to recover in the second half and held the Vikings scoreless in the final quarter.

The Grizzlies are hoping to have running back and safety Chris Alcantar back soon, possibly for tonight. Alcantar has 444 yards on the ground on 80 carries and three touchdowns. He’s also made 6-of-9 PATs in his senior campaign.

Canyon and Golden Valley will meet at 7 p.m. tonight at Canyon High School.

The Foothill League board will meet today about the potential postponement of the Foothill League games and will have an update today.

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