The Santa Clarita Christian Cardinals were winless in the first six games of the season, but after back-to-back Heritage League wins, the team enters the final week of the regular season with a shot at the playoffs.
The Cardinals ended their four-game road trip with a 34-28 win over the Milken Wildcats, a victory that sets up SCCS for a championship game at home Saturday against Faith Baptist.
“We needed to get any sort of momentum for this against Faith, and to gain some confidence for a potential playoff run,” Cardinals head coach Austin Fry said. “The best thing for us was probably that we started clicking in a way we hadn’t done yet this season.”
The “clicking” that Fry is referring to is the offense having a mid-season turnaround as the Cardinals have outscored their opponents 90-54 in the previous two games.
In Heritage League play, the Cardinals are 2-1 and hold the third spot in the standings. It’s a massive switch from the non-league portion of the season when the team went winless in five games.
With two guaranteed playoff berths in the league, Fry believes his team is ready for a potential playoff run, and he credits the first half of the season for the development of his players.
“This team couldn’t be better prepared for a playoff run in the division we are looking at currently,” he said. “It was like being put on an anvil and I think it humbled us, which is always good, but it also fast-tracked our development. With our team being so young, it’s been a blessing in disguise.”
Fry will be hoping that the development can be shown on Saturday, when the Cardinals host the 6-1 Faith Baptist Contenders.
Not only do the Contenders have one loss in the season but are also unbeaten in league play and outscored their opponents 246-60 this year.
This week’s matchup will be tough for the Cardinals, but Fry is focused on having his team prepared as much as they can and giving it all they can on the field.
“We hope to encourage the guys that our ceiling hasn’t even been viewed, let alone touched,” he said. “They have the pieces to be great and as they learn their responsibilities, grow in unity, and develop determination, they can be as successful as they want to work for.”
The Cardinals and Contenders play on Saturday at Hart High School with the game set to kick off at 7 p.m.
