After four weeks of pre-season football for the Santa Clarita Valley teams, the Foothill League season is finally here.
As for the private schools, Santa Clarita Christian still seeks its first win of the season, hosting Fresno Christian on Saturday, and Trinity Classical Academy takes its bye week following a loss to Gahr.
Here’s a look at this week’s matchups:
Saugus vs. Hart
Saugus (4-0) and Hart (2-2) ended the 2024 regular season dueling it out in a high-scoring thriller.
This year, the teams will open Foothill League action at Cougar Stadium against each other in what will be a potential title decider as both are coming off strong starts to the season with multiple wins.
The undefeated Centurions go into Friday with the most points scored out of any team in the Santa Clarita Valley and take that high-scoring offense into College of the Canyons with a favorable matchup over Hart’s pass defense.
In last week’s win over Heritage Christian, the Hawks gave up 399 total yards along with two receiving touchdowns to the Warriors’ offense. It’s a potential area that the Centurions offense will want to exploit with quarterback Jake Nuttall and receiver Landon Lattimore, who have already connected for six touchdowns together through four games.
But the Centurions’ offense isn’t the only team that is clicking at the right time.
Despite losing the first game of the year to Birmingham and tallying 14 points in the defeat, Hart scored 119 points through the next three games to make up for its slow start to the year.
And the main man leading that offense is Hart quarterback Jacob Paisano, who leads all Foothill League teams in passing yards with 808 and has thrown 11 touchdowns through four games.
By the end of Friday, the Centurions’ undefeated start to the year could continue or the Hawks could pick up a big win and continue their pre-season momentum onto league.
Either way, this week’s matchup at Cougar Stadium is poised to be a high-scoring one as both teams can very well be in the top-three in the standings and playoff hopefuls.
Friday’s game between Hart and Saugus is set to kick off at 7 p.m. at Cougar Stadium.
Signal Staff Pick:
Ryan Romero: Centurions defeat Hawks in shootout, 42-35 Saugus.
Valencia vs. West Ranch
The Vikings (3-1) had a strong start to the first two weeks of the season following back-to-back wins over Simi Valley and Chaminade.
And following a defeat to Bishop Amat at home and narrow win over Paraclete on the road, Valencia looks to keep its early season momentum for its third straight Foothill League title.
The Vikings are in a midst of winning 13 straight league games and even though the game is on their campus, they are the road team taking on West Ranch (1-3).
The Wildcats haven’t had the best of all starts to the season, despite a win on the road over Antelope Valley. West Ranch has been outscored by 102 points through four games. But the biggest worry for the Wildcats going into league is their injury situation.
With numerous starters on offense and defense sidelined in last week’s loss, there remains uncertainty for West Ranch and questions remain about who will start on a given Friday.
One name to expect for West Ranch is quarterback Blake Johnson, who made his season debut in the lone win over the Antelopes and played last week in the loss to Thousand Oaks. Johnson, who threw for a touchdown and scrambled into the end zone for another, is in for a tough matchup against Valencia’s defense.
The Vikings already have five interceptions through four games with Caysen Badawi and Elias Holloway picking off two apiece.
Friday’s game between the Vikings and the Wildcats is set to kick off at 7 p.m. at Valencia High School.
Signal Staff Pick:
Ryan Romero: Vikings continue winning ways, 42-21 Valencia
Canyon vs. Golden Valley
The Grizzlies (1-3) secured their first win of the season last week at home over South Pasadena and seek to continue their momentum into league play, hosting Canyon (0-4).
In the win over South Pasadena, Golden Valley’s offense exploded in the first half with running back-quarterback tandem Aaron McCormick and Jayce Johnson scoring three times before halftime.
Johnson accumulated 136 yards altogether, along with two touchdowns, and leads the Grizzlies for their first league match of the season over his former team, Canyon.
The Cowboys are having a tough start to the season, after recording 51 points through two games in losses to Buena and Kennedy, Canyon was still shut out on the road by Crespi last week.
Despite the shutout, if there’s an opportunity for that Canyon offense to shine again, led by the likes of Keyshawn Wooten and Carson Soria, it’s the matchup with the Grizzlies’ run defense.
Golden Valley gave up rushing 109 yards in the win, and in the loss to Lancaster the week before, gave up 339 yards. If the Cowboys want to break their five-game league losing streak they’ll have their best chance this week.
Friday’s game between Golden Valley and the Cowboys is set to kick off at 7 p.m. at Canyon High School.
Signal Staff Pick:
Ryan Romero: Golden Valley edges Canyon, 24-21 Grizzlies
Fresno Christian vs. Santa Clarita Christian
The Cardinals (0-3) had their best performing offense in the loss to Mammoth last week, scoring 28 points.
This week, SCCS will have its last home game until November, hosting undefeated Fresno Christian (4-0).
The Eagles are coming off a 56-14 win over Branson with its offense accumulating 505 total yards. And in the loss to Mammoth, the Cardinals gave up 332 total yards and are in for another tough matchup with Fresno’s offense this weekend.
Saturday’s game between the Cardinals and Fresno Christian is set to kick off at 6:30 p.m. at Hart High School.
