Santa Clarita Christian School was coming off a blowout loss to Cornerstone Christian last week, but before the team had the chance to right the ship they fell behind quickly to Avalon.
The Lancers (1-1) defeated the Cardinals (0-2), 41-12, with only 15 players suited up to play for SCCS.
“We came into this game looking at nine out and then as of yesterday, we were 11 out,” Cardinals head coach Austin Fry said. “So, we had 15 starters today.”
The game didn’t start out the way the Cardinals had hoped.
With Caleb Shaffer lined up under center, the senior fumbled the ball and Avalon recovered.
On the following drive, Avalon’s Aaron Rubio ran for a 46-yard rushing touchdown for the first scoring play of the game.
But the Cardinals’ offense didn’t lose any momentum after the turnover. Instead Josiah Durruty exploded for a 35-yard carry.
On the next drive, Avalon’s Mathew De La Rosa picked off Cardinals quarterback Caleb Grissom. On the following play with Lancers on offense, De La Rosa was handed off the ball and rushed into the endzone to score off the turnover.
In the second quarter, Avalon’s offense didn’t stop scoring. It was yet again De La Rosa who scored, this time a 23-yard rushing touchdown to extend the Lancers’ lead over the Cardinals, 20-0.
Before the teams could go into the locker room for halftime, De La Rosa picked off Grissom for a pick-six and extended the lead to 34-0 going into the half.
Throughout the game, officials called mandatory water breaks for both teams due to the heat. Shaffer was sidelined for most of the first half with pads and helmet off but suited back up for the second half.
“Quite honestly, if I went out there and tried to do that, I’d lose a couple plays, you know?” Fry said. “These guys are working hard and they’re giving it more than what they’re used to. So, you want to be understanding but you also want to keep them safe, and you want to push them to something higher. So, it’s just like a three-way balance.”
In the opening minutes of the second half, Lancers quarterback Owen Chavoya connected with De La Rosa for another touchdown.
And in the fourth quarter, running back Josiah Durruty would punch the ball into the endzone for the Cardinals’ first score of the game and avoid the shutout at home.
Durruty, who is at the top of the running back depth chart this week, steps into that role after Chase Kalinske and Jonah Babikian were banged up from the game last week.
“He was put in a position that we kind of were just like, ‘OK, we’ll ease you into it and make and give you an opportunity to earn some more reps.’ And then all of a sudden it was like, ‘OK, you’re starting,’” Fry said. “And he didn’t complain … what you see out of Josiah is the kind of motor that you can’t really teach.”
Durruty would score again in the closing minutes of the game with a rushing touchdown, his second of the game.
After the game, Fry kept the message to his team short but let the team know to rest after the game they just had because he doesn’t want any of his players to be overworked going into next week.
“We got a short week ahead of us and we got a short weekend,” Fry said. “The last thing I want to do is overwork us next week because it’s a short week. I think it’d be beneficial to narrow our focus this week, make sure we’re doing the right things and not necessarily overworking because of the pressure of a short week.”
The Cardinals play again next week at Hart High School, hosting Mammoth with kickoff scheduled at 7 p.m. Friday.
