By Matt Lechuga
For The Signal
Saugus found its offensive groove in its 52-21 win over Canyon, scoring on seven straight possessions Friday night at Canyon High School.
The Centurions took an early lead on their first possession of the game when Zachary Barnes hit a streaking Landen Bartl up the right sideline for a 29-yard score. Canyon responded quickly with its own passing touchdown, a 14-yardpass from Julian Carlin to Philip Yrigoyen that Carlin threaded to a diving Yriogen in the end zone, but a blocked PAT left the Cowboys down a point.
From there Saugus hit the throttle and never looked back, scoring on its next six possessions.
“We just needed to get back to doing what we do and us being us,” said Saugus head coach Jason Bornn. “We just have to get better at the things we need to get better at. It’s a coach cliché but the truth is the last two games, two very competitive teams. Clearly demonstrates the things we have to get better at and every week just learning from the teams we face.”
Saugus’ next three possessions all ended in touchdowns; a 19-yard pass from Barnes to Ethan Benner, a 43-yard pass from Brayden Connelly, and a 1-yard run from Clarence Carlisle, to make the score 28-6.
The Cowboys responded with an 11-yard run by Benicio Wright and a 2-point conversion to bring themselves within two scores with just about a minute to play before the half. However, Saugus kept the throttle on, racing up the field and settling for a 23-yard field goal to put them up 31-14 at halftime.
“As long as there’s time on the clock there’s an opportunity for us. We’re not going to waste it,” said Bornn. “We felt like there wasn’t that much time left but as long as there’s time left, we’re going to take full advantage of it, use our timeouts, plays to get us out of bounds, and we were fortunate to get some points there.”
The Centurions scored three more times in the second half, a 15-yard pass from Connelly to Bartl, a 3-yard run by Jeremiah Caradine and a 26-yard rush by Jordan Medina to get to 52 points.
“The game plan was just go out and do our job,” said Connelly. “We wanted to bounce back from the losses and get a good win. That’s basically what we did out there. We executed and it showed on the scoreboard.”
The Cowboys kept fighting until the very end, scoring on their final possession on a 7-yard pass from Carlin to Jeremiah Herreres.
“I was proud of the kids’ effort tonight,” said Canyon head coach Ken Holsenbeck. “The scoreboard doesn’t reflect it but I thought they played hard. Carlin played great for us back there and Herreres is just an outstanding football player.”
Saugus will look to keep its momentum going next week against West Ranch and Canyon will face Valencia.
