The College of The Canyons Cougar football has a lot of momentum from last season going into 2025.
Going into his 13th year as head coach, Ted Iacenda is excited to see what results this year’s team can bring.
“This has been a group that has utilized that and really built in the off-season,” Iacenda said. “We’ve been lifting. We’ve been running since we started in February. So, this is a tight-kit group. They’ve been through a lot. They’re excited about the prospects of this year’s group.”
Last season the team went 8-3 overall and 5-2 in conference play while also winning the Valencia Bowl against Mt. San Jacinto.
But as is the story with every junior college football program, there is a lot of turnaround with players coming in and out.
As for Iacenda, he feels that this season’s team is a solid group and believes this year’s recruiting class is strong.
“We’re lucky. We had a great recruiting class, so we’ve got a lot of youngsters in this group,” Iacenda said. “They’re all going to see playing time at some point in another, but this is a really good group.”
At quarterback there is an ongoing competition for who will be the man under center. Returner Logan Scarlett is getting a majority of reps for now until the season starts but keep the name Jazel Riley in mind.
The incoming transfer is entering his first full year with the team after joining the team in February.
Another name to keep an eye out for is Braden Luedeker, an incoming transfer out of Mission, Texas.
But don’t expect it to just be one man under center all year. In typical Iacenda fashion, expect it to be multiple players at quarterback throughout the season.
“I have no problem utilizing two quarterbacks, three quarterbacks if I think there’s a benefit to it,” Iacenda said. “Each of them does something unique and has a skill set that I think we can utilize. So, it wouldn’t shock me at all if we were playing two or three.”
Whoever tops the depth chart at quarterback, Scarlett isn’t worried — all he’s focused on is helping his team win.
“I take every day the same way and I approach every game the same way,” Scarlett said. “I just try and do good things for this team and bring us to a good record.”
On defense, Iacenda has a lot to look forward to this season with many key returners in the linebacker corps and secondary.
The team will be without Tyrell Brown, last year’s Southern California Football Association, Northern League defensive player of the year.
Linebacker Jake Pikor is returning for another year and has bigger expectations for his sophomore year.
Last season, Pikor appeared in nine games and recorded 13 tackles along with two sacks.
“This off season, I took getting heavy very seriously, and I gained about like 20 pounds,” Pikor said. “It was hard to do, but I did it. And that’s helped me a lot. I mean, I’ve stayed bigger, faster, stronger, but adding those 23 pounds helps.”
In the secondary, Xavier Perry is returning to the team this season and has utilized this offseason growing as a leader with his teammates.
Perry appeared in eight games last season and recorded eight tackles.
“I’ve been focusing on the mental side of the game more than just the physical, being locked in every single day, trying to bring the younger guys with me,” Perry said. “Going into the season, I’m excited. I’ve been looking forward to this since January when we started like the first week.”
The chemistry around the Cougars’ defense is strong with returning players mentoring the newcomers and expecting bigger things out of themselves.
This year, Iacenda believes his defense will be solid and he knows they get better each week during the year.
“I’m expecting us to learn and be better than we are Week One at Week Five and better than we are at Week Five at Week 10,” Iacenda said. “That’s the true test of a team, to continue learning, to continue growing, continuing to develop and get better at this game, play it the right way.”
After over a decade of being the head coach, Iacenda just wants the core tenets of his program to remain in place.
Iacenda wants COC to be the school to grow players and to keep his goal alive by sending players to the next step.
“We want to be exciting, and we want to have great energy, but most importantly, we want to get kids out to the next level,” Iacenda said. “That’s really what it’s about. When the day is over, how many kids are we getting out to play at the four-year?”
As for this season, Iacenda wants to build off the success of last year and it all comes down to nailing down the basics.
And if his team can do that, then the sky is the limit for this year’s Cougars team.
“I’d like us to play smart football. I’d like us to play disciplined football,” Iacenda said. “I’d like us to execute the assignments that are called. I’d like us to play together as a team and have great energy. If we do those things, the results will take care of themselves.”
The Cougars open the season noon Saturday at Southwestern.
