By Ryan Menzie
Signal Sports Writer
Santa Clarita Valley football teams completed their first league matches this past weekend and officially began their 2021 league season. The Foothill League consisted of highly anticipated games that lived up to the hype, but the rest of the Santa Clarita high schools also found their fair share of excitement.
The Signal covered Valencia versus West Ranch, Hart versus Golden Valley and Canyon versus Saugus. Here are the results of the rest of the local high schools’ games from this past weekend:
Trinity beats Silver Valley, 26-20
The Trinity Classical Academy Knights (5-1, 1-0) beat the Silver Valley Trojans (2-4, 4-1) on Friday. Despite slow and sloppy play in the beginning, head coach Mike Parrinello saw that his team learned to never give up. They were without their starting center due to COVID-19, but freshman Paul Robertson started his first game and played flawlessly, according to Parrinello.
“In the beginning we couldn’t get into rhythm, but once we settled down things started looking good for us,” said Parrinello. “We want to try to tighten things up more and get things more crisp and precise. When things got tough in the second half, they kept playing hard and learned what they are capable of. It wasn’t our best effort and it wasn’t pretty, but we are now 1-0 in league and we are moving on to Big Bear.”
The Knights were led by quarterback Wil Jackson, who finished the day with 159 yards on 16 completions to go along with his two passing touchdowns while also contributing 12 carries for 67 yards and two more touchdowns. Wide receivers Sam Robertson and Collin Tomlinson each recorded their first touchdown catch of the season, combining for five receptions and 45 yards.
Outside linebacker Noah Estanol hauled in one interception and finished with eight tackles, including one tackle for loss. Outside linebacker Rocco Izzo led the team with 23 tackles, which included four tackles for loss and two sacks. Safety Dominic Smith finished the game with 10 tackles, which included four tackles for loss and two sacks.
Santa Clarita Christian loses to Cate, 45-8
The Santa Clarita Christian Cardinals (0-5) lost to the Cate Rams (4-0) on Saturday. The Cardinals have been struggling this season, but to make things harder they were without their head coach, Austin Fry, for their game. Fry was out due a non-COVID-19-related sickness.
Fry was still able to watch the game through a livestream from his home.
“It was brutal to not be able to be at the game,” said Fry. “Even with the livestream, it was impossible to have a feel for the game and the players effectively. Despite everything, we’re still showing a lot of promise. As a young team starting four freshmen and one sophomore, those moments are huge. We’ll look to continue to sharpen the fundamentals of football as we progress through the season.”
Castaic beats Hoover Glendale, 48-6
The Castaic Coyotes (3-2) beat the Hoover Glendale Tornados (5-1) 48-6 on Friday. The Coyotes started the game very well, according to head coach Tony Uebelhardt, starting the game off with a kickoff return for a touchdown straight out of the gate.
“The kickoff return set the tone for the whole game,” said Uebelhardt. “We ran the ball very well and threw the ball when we needed to. Our main focus coming into the game was to run the ball, and that’s what we did. We had many different guys running the ball for us, but now our focus is for the pass-heavy team in St. Margaret.”
Running back Anthony Martinez had himself a day, finishing with five total touchdowns. He had three rushing touchdowns scored from 80 yards, 55 yards and 39 yards. He also was responsible for the 75-yard kickoff return touchdown and hauled in a 30-yard catch for a touchdown. Quarterback Tyler Soles finished the night with 154 yards on five completions to go along with his three touchdowns.
The Castaic Coyotes rushed for 362 yards and finished the game with 516 total yards of offense.
