Valencia football clinches league title with win over Hart   

Valencia football has dominated every Foothill League opponent this season, but with the team’s most tested opponent coming to campus, the Vikings played nearly flawlessly to clinch the 2025 league title.  

The Vikings defeated the Hart Hawks at home, 38-7, and won their 18^th Foothill League game in a row, a feat that dates to the 2022 season.  

“I thought our guys played really well, all night long. They were intense. They were very focused on what they wanted to accomplish and how the level they wanted to play,” Valencia head coach Larry Muir said. “They’re playing Viking football, and at the end of the day that’s what it’s always been about, and it always will be about.”  

Throughout the game, it was the partnership of quarterback Brady Bretthauer and running back Brian Bonner that led their team to another title, as both contributed to every touchdown Valencia scored in the game.  

Bretthauer threw three touchdown passes, including two to Bonner.  

“They’re the two best players in Santa Clarita,” Muir said. “There’s a lot of good football players out here, but those two guys are just special. They’re just on a different level. And go to work. 
But a big part of that is the work that they put in every single day here. They go to work, and they do the little things really well. And then out of that comes the big things.” 

And just as Valencia’s offense has done all season, the Vikings didn’t let the hype of Friday’s game get to their heads, and they scored early and often.  

The Vikings opened the game with a trick play with multiple handoffs that resulted in freshman Evan McCalister throwing a 10-yard pass to Bretthauer.  

And on the same series, Bretthauer threw a pass to Elias Holloway, who, in open field, ran down the sideline for a 46-yard touchdown.  

On the next offensive drive, Valencia scored again. 

Bretthauer threw a simple pass to Bonner 5 yards out from the line of scrimmage, but it was the senior running back’s speed that took it to the end zone, breaking multiple tackles in the process.  

Prior to the scoring drive, Valencia’s offense had favorable field position thanks to its defense that forced a turnover on downs from Hart’s offense.  

Following the game, Bretthauer reflected on how great the offense can be, but the goal they’ve been trying to reach all season is simply being the best the whole team can be.  

“I think our biggest goal is just to be ourselves, play our football, and like we’ve been saying all year long, if we play our best football, no one will be able to beat us,” he said.  

But in the second quarter, the play on the field became sloppy.  

Multiple flags were thrown by the officials for face masks, personal fouls and holding on both Hart and Valencia that prevented any team from driving the ball downfield.  

Late in the second quarter, Valencia’s offense managed to navigate a drive downfield thanks to the Bretthauer-Bonner connection.  

Following a big pass downfield from Bretthauer to Bonner that resulted in Valencia having the ball in the red zone, the Vikings kicked a field goal and extended their lead to 17-0.  

With two minutes left to go in the first half, the Vikings capitalized again off back-to-back Bonner touchdowns, one on the ground and another reception from his quarterback.  

In the second half, Valencia played tight-knit defense to not let Hart complete any consistent drives but allowed a late touchdown off a 20-yard pass from Hart quarterback Jacob Paisano to Joshua Wagner.  

With the loss, the regular season ends for the Hawks as the team has a bye scheduled for week 10. The team ended with a 5-1 league record and tallied a 7-3 overall record.  

Although the team didn’t win the league title this season, Hart head coach Jake Goossen-Brown has brought back the football program as a team that can consistently finish at the top of the standings, an accomplishment that can’t be understated for the coach.  

“I think every week we were trying to get better. I think we showed that we got better each week,” he said. “Luckily, we got a bye week before playoffs, and we have an opportunity to get better and make sure that we can go out there and be 1-0 in the first week of the playoffs.”  

As for Valencia, the Vikings moved to 5-0 in league play and secured their eighth win of the season, a victory that solidifies Valencia as the best team in the Foothill League.  

But for Muir, all that matters is continuing to play clean football with one more regular-season game left to play next week.  

“I think it’s the same message it is every week,” Muir said. “Every single week is to be us, be Vikings football, we believe that other people try to practice to beat us, we practice being us. And I think that’s a big difference of how we approach everything we do.”  

The Vikings have a designated road game next week against the winless Castaic Coyotes at Valencia High School.