Valencia sophomore Evan McCalister got his first taste of leading his Vikings on the football field in Foothill League play on Friday — and the first-year starter did not disappoint.
McCalister threw for four touchdowns in the Vikings’ 69-7 victory over the visiting Castaic Coyotes at Valencia High School’s Dr. Paul A. Priesz Stadium, while eight different Vikings (3-2, 1-0) were able to find the end zone in the Vikings’ 20th straight Foothill League win.
“It felt good to lead my team,” McCalister said. “First start for league, it just felt really good. You know, just making plays every play. Even when the mistakes happen, we know that we could bounce back. We all have that next-play mentality, and we all lean on each other. Just all trying our best to be us. But it felt really good, to get the win out here today.”
Valencia head coach Larry Muir said he’s seen great growth from his quarterback in the first half of the season. The Vikings went 2-2 in non-league play, though those losses came against Chaminade and Bishop Amat, both top-20 teams in the CIF Southern Section, according to MaxPreps.
“I think he’s grown a lot, and a big part of that I think is he was really tested and really had a lot of tough circumstances, and I was proud,” Muir said. “I think the biggest thing was how he handled it. I was so proud about how he handled some — we had some tough losses in there, and really physical games, and times where he was it was really tough for him. And I thought he was composed, I thought he stayed level-headed, he didn’t get emotional about it. He learned from it. He grew from it, and that’s just going to make him better and better as he goes down the line.”
Valencia senior Deshawn Palmer, who called McCalister “crazy good for a sophomore,” had two of those receiving touchdowns, both coming in the first quarter when the Vikings seemed to be clicking on all cylinders. Palmer finished with three catches for 59 yards.
Six different receivers made at least one catch for Valencia. Juniors Michael Wilder and Hudson Sanders reached the end zone once each.
“It’s a great receiving corps,” Palmer said. “Every day in practice, we push ourselves, we work hard — it’s just like, iron sharpens iron. All the receivers in the corps are good, so we push each other every day.”
Senior running back Luke Valdes scored twice for the Vikings and ran for 70 yards on just seven carries. He was deputized for senior Nico Funez in the second half after the Vikingsentered the break with a 41-0 lead. Funez had run for over 200 yards in last week’s win over Paraclete, and followed that up with a 74-yard rushing touchdown on Friday, his lone carry of the night. He nearly had another long score, but that one was called back for a Valencia penalty.
Senior Rocco Testa also made his way into the scoresheet on Friday, recovering a fumble on the second-half kickoff. Junior Diego Torres added a rushing touchdown late in the fourth quarter.
McCalister said everyone on the Valencia roster can make something happen, leaving opposing defenses guessing at what to expect.
“We all play as one unit,” McCalister said. “I know every game, we’re gonna go out here and play to our best ability, 100% every play.”
Castaic (2-3, 0-1) head coach Sirr Guy Shakir said his team has something to think about during its upcoming bye week before getting ready for the rest of the regular season. The Coyotes struggled to get much going on either side of the ball on Friday. Their lone touchdown came midway through the third quarter when sophomore Cody King ran in the ball from 8 yards out.
King finished with 44 rushing yards and 96 passing yards despite being harried all night by the Valencia defense.
“We have a choice, simply put,” Shakir said. “When you go through something like this, you find out a lot about yourself as a team, as a program, as coaches, and we have a choice on how we want the rest of our season to go. So, that’s the good part about it is it’s still in our hands.”
The upcoming bye gives the Coyotes a chance to not just reset, but get healthier, Shakir said. His team will travel to face Canyon on Oct. 2.
Valencia will look to keep its league-winning streak going next week when the Vikings host West Ranch. Another victory would put the Vikings one step closer to a fourth straight league title, but Palmer took a page from his head coach in talking at the rest of the regular season — before alluding to the Vikings’ ultimate goal.
“We’re just gonna take it one game at a time,” Palmer said. “Every win means a lot to us. So, take it one game at a time, and hopefully, we’ll get to that state championship, CIF championship. We’re gonna win that.”
Photos below from Valencia’s win over Castaic:
