After Golden Valley lost starting quarterback Jaxon Ray to an injury in last week’s loss to Hart, the Grizzlies came out to the football field on Friday night against Castaic motivated to bounce back.
The Grizzlies responded with a 30-9 win over the Coyotes behind sophomore running back Cornell Glass’ two-touchdown performance under the lights at Valencia High School and improved to 4-4 on the season.
“I’m just happy nobody’s injured. We’ve been getting banged up in some of the games,” Golden Valley head coach Dan Kelley said. “Our kids came out today and they played tough. They were focused. They were fired up. Probably the most focused we’ve been all week in practice.”
In the win for Golden Valley (4-4, 2-2), Kelley gave a lot of the credit to his offensive and defensive lines.
“They definitely won the football game for us,” Kelley said of his offensive line. “The way they struck off the ball and made the open holes for the runners to get through. So, yeah, they did a great job.”
Golden Valley’s rushing attack totaled 329 yards on the ground with senior Aaron McCormick leading the way with 153 of his own.
Sophomore running back led the Grizzlies on the scoresheet with two rushing touchdowns and 109 yards on the ground.
Golden Valley’s offense attempted just one pass downfield, a Samuel Flint pass to Andrew Markovich that converted a 2-point conversion.
After the game, McCormick added that all the yards recorded in the win over Castaic were thanks to the offensive line.
“They opened up all the holes, and it allowed me to just create separation to burst through them,” McCormick said.
Defensively, the Grizzlies held the Coyotes at bay all night.
With sophomore quarterback Cody King out for the season, the Coyotes turned to Aidan Standard-Mojica as the play caller.
Standard-Mojica completed six for 13 pass attempts and 113 yards through the air along with an interception from Golden Valley’s Andrew Sayadian.
The lone touchdown of the day for Castaic came off a Standard-Mojica 34-yard run scramble for a rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter’s opening seconds that brought the Coyotes within seven points of the Grizzlies.
Golden Valley’s offense had a late-game surge and added 13 points in the fourth quarter and spoiled Castaic’s homecoming night.
With the loss, the Coyotes fell to below .500 overall with a 3-4 record and 1-2 in Foothill League play.
The Coyotes will look to bounce back next week on Friday in another home matchup and will play host to the visiting Hart Hawks at Valencia High School with kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m.
As for Golden Valley, the win brings the Grizzlies back to .500 on the season with a 4-4 overall record. And in Foothill League play, they improved to 2-2.
The Grizzlies will look to rest up in next week’s bye but will return on Oct. 23 in a matchup against the three-time reigning Foothill League champion Vikings at Valencia High School.
The following week, the Grizzlies face the one-win West Ranch Wildcats. And should Golden Valley win both remaining matchups or split the games 1-1, the Grizzlies remain in contention for an at-large playoff berth.
For Kelley, the 13-year head coach is looking forward to the bye week and using the time to rest up players and prepare for the team’s final two games of the season with Ray expected to return practicing with the team in a few weeks. And with the Grizzlies controlling their own destiny for the playoffs, he’s looking to just getting healthy and cleaning up mistakes.
“We know who we’re going up against. Valencia and Hart will settle the league championship, and we have to come out of the game [against Valencia] healthy,” Kelley said. “So, we have to be creative, restrict the injuries that we’ve had and need to get better this week in the bye week.”
