SCV Football: Week 7 preview  

Castaic Coyote Jesse Canaday (21) dashes through several yards leaving a few Golden Valley Grizzlies behind during Friday’s game. 092724 Katherine Quezada/The Signal
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By Justin Vigil-Zuniga and Tyler Wainfeld 

Signal Sports Writers 

Foothill League football is in full swing heading into week seven. 

Valencia returns from its bye while Golden Valley gets a hard-earned rest after a win over Castaic. 

Trinity opens up its inaugural Cottonwood League campaign on Thursday to kick off another week of football in the Santa Clarita Valley. 

Nearly every team should look a little different this week and add some tricks up their sleeves as the sit-out period ends, freeing up the new transfers to take the field. 

Here’s a look at the local week seven slate of football: 

West Ranch looking for bounce back against Saugus 

Saugus football enters week seven hot off its first Foothill League win since 2022. The Centurions found success both on the ground and through the air for the first time collectively this season, leading to the win over Canyon. Saugus will need the same recipe to take another league win this week as the team readies for West Ranch. 

The Wildcats (2-3, 0-1) stumbled in their league opener with the Hart Hawks last week. 

Saugus (2-4, 1-1) will need to tighten the screws in the run defense in hopes of stopping West Ranch running back Luke DePerno, who was 2 yards shy of his third career 200-yard rushing game against Hart. 

DePerno has already eclipsed 650 yards this season and has averaged over 7 yards per rush in every game but one. 

West Ranch allowed over 330 yards through the air last week, so look for Saugus quarterback Jake Nuttall and receiver Landon Lattimore to attack the Cats’ secondary. The duo have slowed down their aerial assault since starting league play but they remain a threat to make an explosive play on any down. 

West Ranch had never beaten Saugus before 2022 but now will play for its third straight win over the Centurions. West Ranch hosts Saugus on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Valencia High School. 

Signal Staff Picks 

Justin Vigil-Zuniga: West Ranch rebounds in strenuous game. 35-28 Cats. 

Tyler Wainfeld: Saugus continues to make strides. 28-21 Saugus. 

Valencia seeking more league dominance over Canyon 

The reigning Foothill League champs wasted no time in getting back to winning ways with the start of league play. 

After going winless against non-league opponents, the Valencia Vikings (1-4, 1-0) dominated in their first league game against Saugus before having their bye last week. 

On Friday, the Vikings will look to make it two-for-two this year when they travel to Canyon to take on the Cowboys (3-3, 1-1). 

The Vikings have won seven straight league games dating back to the final week of the 2022 regular season when they beat Canyon, 40-14. Canyon has not beaten Valencia since the 2006 season. 

Valencia has used a balanced offense so far this year. Junior quarterback Brady Bretthauer has thrown for 1,154 yards and eight touchdowns while junior running back Brian Bonner has recorded 617 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns. Bonner also has 259 receiving yards and three scores through the air. 

Bretthauer’s favorite target so far has been senior Nick Seymour. The two have connected on 24 passes for 464 yards and three touchdowns. 

Much of Canyon’s offense runs through the ground. Junior Semaj Richardson has led the Cowboys’ backfield with 386 yards and three touchdowns. Junior Keyshawn Wooten has 171 yards and two touchdowns. 

Canyon quarterback Sebastian Martinez has added some dynamism, throwing for 742 yards and six touchdowns. 

The Cowboys are coming off a loss to Saugus last week in which they came up short by just a field goal. 

Friday’s game is set to kick off at 7 p.m. at Canyon High School’s Harry Welch Stadium. 

Justin Vigil-Zuniga: Valencia moves to 2-0. 42-28 Vikings. 

Tyler Wainfeld: Valencia’s stranglehold on the league continues. 42-21 Valencia. 

Hart clashes with Castaic 

The Hawks can be the first team to reach 3-0 in league with their sixth straight win on Friday. Standing in front of that milestone are the Castaic Coyotes, a team still clawing for its first league win. 

Hart has won three straight games by three or more scores and has shown little signs of slowing down.  

Castaic struggled to slow down the run game last week with Golden Valley but will have a new challenge in slowing down Hawks receiver Parker Maxwell. The senior receiver scored all eight of his touchdowns this season in the win streak along with having three outings of at least 150 receiving yards. 

The Coyotes will also need to slow down Hawks running back Zach Rogozik, who is hot off a four-touchdown game in the win over West Ranch. Rogozik pounded in two on the ground, adding a monster day of eight catches for 157 yards and a pair of scores through the air from quarterback Jacob Paisano. 

After two early interceptions against the Grizzlies, the Coyote passing game came alive with quarterback Khanai Langford. The junior signal caller finished the game with 215 yards passing, 50 rushing yards and a trio of touchdowns, two of which were to receiver Logan Mietzner. 

Castaic has dropped two games in a row to open up league play but has been in both games to the end, losing both by a combined nine points. 

The Coyotes will be fighting hard for their first league win of the year, on top of the program’s first win over Hart. 

Castaic is set to host Hart at College of the Canyons on Friday at 7 p.m. 

Justin Vigil-Zuniga: Hart stays red-hot with sixth straight win. 28-21 Hawks. 

Tyler Wainfeld: Hart keeps the ball rolling. 35-21 Hart. 

Trinity aiming to take hot start into league play 

One of the hottest teams in the entire Southern Section gets its league campaign started this week as Trinity Classical Academy has its first Cottonwood League contest. 

The Knights (5-0) welcome The Webb Schools Gauls (1-3) to the Santa Clarita Valley on Thursday looking to keep their three-game shutout streak intact. 

Having given up just 12 points all year, all coming in one game, the Knights have been nearly impossible for opposing offenses to break down. 

Just as prolific has been the Trinity offense, averaging more than 53 points per game. The Knights had put up at least 50 points in each of their first four games before being held to just 49 in last week’s win over Nordhoff. 

At the heart of that offense is senior quarterback Noah Visconti, who has thrown for 1,202 yards and 21 touchdowns against just one interception. Senior John Carlson has scored eight of those touchdowns as part of his 349-yard season. 

Four Knights have caught multiple touchdown passes this year, as senior Luke Backes (5), sophomore Andrew Carlson (6) and senior Andrew Kelley (2) have been calling opposing end zones their homes all year. 

The Gauls have given up 124 points so far this year and have scored 66 themselves. Junior running back A. Mozia has led the way with 343 yards and a touchdown. 

Two quarterbacks have seen time under center for the Gauls in junior M. Pino and sophomore K. Grayson. The former has thrown for 253 yards and two touchdowns in four games while the latter has thrown for 212 yards and two touchdowns, along with 126 rushing yards and a score, in just two games. 

Thursday’s game is set to kick off at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday at College of the Canyons’ Cougar Stadium. 

SCCS looking for revenge, hosts Chadwick 

The Cardinals enter week six of 8-man football on a two-game skid following their 22-14 loss at Avalon. 

The Santa Clarita Christian menu for this week: Getting back on track with a side of revenge. SCCS will play host to the Chadwick Dolphins, the same team that knocked out the Cardinals in last year’s CIF Division 1 playoffs. 

The Cards returned both Cayden Rappleye and Eli Duhm to the starting lineup after injuries sidelined the duo two weeks ago. SCCS will need its pair to shine again against a tough Dolphins team that has won two of its last three outings, with one defeat coming in overtime. 

Beating Chadwick starts with slowing down junior quarterback Bryson Edgar, who accounts for over 80% of the team’s offensive yards. Edgar leads the pass-heavy attack with 670 yards, 12 touchdowns and zero interceptions. 

A rebound on Saturday would be huge for the Cardinals, who enter three straight weeks of Heritage League play to close out the season next week. 

SCCS and Chadwick kick off at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday at Canyon High School. 

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