Santa Clarita Christian football’s defense was ready for nearly anything in Saturday’s non-league matchup with the Chadwick Dolphins.
The Cardinals blasted the Dolphins, 35-3, behind a monster defensive performance. SCCS held Chadwick scoreless for nine straight drives, scored on a fumble recovery and stuffed nearly every Dolphins run throughout the win at Canyon High School.
The SCCS defense put the game away late after a bad snap led to a chaotic fight for the ball. After several players from each team attempted to snag the ball, Cardinals junior Caleb Shaffer was able to scoop and score the game’s final touchdown. Shaffer also came up with a clutch sack on fourth down to force one of several Dolphin turnover on downs.
SCCS (4-2) gave up Chadwick’s only points on the Dolphins’ opening drive off a 27-yard field goal from Asher Goldberg.
The Cardinals also scored on their opening drive but had a tough time maintaining a flow on offense. One of the plays of the game ended SCCS’ first drive when quarterback Cayden Rappleye threw a dot to receiver Wyatt Waldron, who wasn’t ready for the pass. The ball ricocheted off Waldron’s helmet and landed in the lap of Eli Duhm for a 23-yard score.
“That was kind of luck, but I was glad it happened,” Duhm said. “They’re rare plays, and they really start the football game.”
Duhm and Rappleye connected again to open the second half, as the receiver burst free for a 46-yard touchdown reception. The senior receiver finished the day with seven receptions for 119 yards, a pair of scores and several key tackles on defense.
“It was tiring, but we knew that throughout the whole thing that we needed to get it done and we needed to hold them,” Duhm said. “It was by God’s grace and God’s will that we were able to stop him just coming back.”
From there on the Cardinals struggled to move the ball down the field consistently, with a handful of turnovers on downs.
Chadwick (2-3) likes to throw dozens of looks and formations at its opponents but SCCS was ready with another “bend don’t break” outing.
“We know they throw a bunch of different stuff your way,” said SCCS coach Austin Fry. “They’ve got a ton of coaches, and they’re all good coaches. They came out with a new formation tonight that we hadn’t seen from them. We knew we were gonna see some random stuff with smart coaching. So we just thought if we hit our game plan well, don’t falter and don’t get emotional, we should be successful.”
Senior running back Jonathan Boelter wasn’t getting much space in the ground game until the second half. Boelter broke free for multiple 10-or-more yard runs, including an 18-yard rushing touchdown.
Rappleye finished the game 16-for-26 with 269 yards, three touchdowns and no turnovers. Of those passing yards, 118 went to senior Wyatt Shields, who also added a 44-yard touchdown.
The win avenges the SCCS 2023 postseason loss to Chadwick in which the Dolphins routed the Cards, 43-14, in the Division 1 opener. The victory also ends a two-game skid for SCCS, which is back on track just in time for Heritage League play.
SCCS now enters the home stretch of its season as three league games remain with another potential playoff run awaiting. Fry and the team remain confident they can repeat as Heritage League champions.
SCCS returns to Canyon to host Lancaster Baptist on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. before taking its final bye week of the season and taking on undefeated Faith Baptist.
“I just want to make sure we take this momentum and this mentality and finish through next week, take a nice break for a week, and then hopefully be nice and sharp and healthy and fresh to play Faith, who if they’re not the most physical team on our schedule, I’d be surprised.” Fry said.