The third week of the Foothill League football came to a close on Friday as the top three teams in the league — Valencia, West Ranch and Hart — each came away with a win.
Valencia and West Ranch both found themselves on the winning side of double-digit blowout wins against Golden Valley and Saugus, respectively.
After coming off the program’s first-ever win over Saugus a week ago, the Vikings handed Golden Valley its first shutout loss of the season. Valencia won 34-0 on their home field.
The Vikings dominated the Grizzlies from start to finish, scoring five total touchdowns in the win: three rushing scores, one through the air and a fumble recovery that was returned for a touchdown by Jack Seymour.
Defense was key in the Vikings’ win as they held the Grizzlies’ offense to zero points after averaging 37 points per game heading into the matchup. Defensive end Dean Miller held up his end, finishing the night with four sacks.
West Ranch was on a similar path against Saugus through the first quarter of play at College of the Canyons, holding the Centurions to zero. That all changed halfway into the second quarter as Julian Bornn scored on a 5-yard scamper to negate the shutout.
In total, the Wildcats scored eight total touchdowns, seven of which were receiving and one of which was rushing in the 53-20 win.
Nicholas Kohl and Zach Van Bennekum each caught three touchdowns and Brandon Wyre added another one.
Over at Canyon High School, the Cowboys and Indians found themselves in a bit of a barn burner throughout the first half of Friday night’s rivalry contest.
Both team’s offenses came out ready to play, combining to score 47 first-half points in the first half of play. Indians running back Taden Littleford led the offensive attack, running in scores from 1, 55, and 11 yards out, all in the first half.
But with every Littleford touchdown, the Cowboys responded with one their own as Aydyn Litz found Reno Sifuentes on a 62-yard touchdown reception and a 17-yard touchdown pass to Colin Figueroa. Jarrett Reeser also added points on two field goals.
Unfortunately, the Cowboys offense ran out of steam and was unable to get into the end zone in the second half, while the defense has a hard time containing the Indians’ offense as Hart quarterback Zach Johnson added two more passing touchdowns to finish with three in the win.
“It was special. A big crowd, alums everywhere. It was a special experience tonight,” said first-year Canyon head coach Joe Maiale after the game. “I look forward to doing this several more times. Hopefully, I can be here as long as coach Herrington. That would be really cool.”
Valencia and West Ranch are still tied for first place in the Foothill League standings. Hart sits alone in second place and Golden Valley follows with Saugus and Canyon rounding on the standings.
New week, new rankings
With Hart and West Ranch each handing Canyon and Saugus their third losses of the year, both schools find themselves ranked for the fifth-straight week.
Hart moves up a spot in the CIF-Southern Section Division 4 rankings from No. 8 a week ago to No. 7 and sits behind No. 6-ranked Loyola, which defeated Valencia 29-14 earlier this year.
West Ranch is sitting pretty in the Division 7 rankings ranked at No. 2 for the second straight week with an 8-0 overall record. The Wildcats have a tough rough ahead with games against Hart and Valencia coming up to conclude the Foothill League slate.
Although it suffered its biggest loss of the season, albeit, against D1/D2 opponent Valencia, Golden Valley moves up a spot to No. 9 in the Division 6 rankings.
Wildcats’ Eget rewrites history
West Ranch junior quarterback Walker Eget added to his family’s quarterback reputation in Friday night’s 53-20 win over Saugus.
Throwing four touchdowns in the first half, Eget added another three more in the second half to finish with 451 yards and seven touchdowns on 25-of-37 passes, breaking several records in the process.
With his performance on Friday, Eget now holds the school’s record for passing touchdowns in a single game (7) and single-season passing touchdowns (27).
