High winds or a moved-up kickoff time, nothing stopped the Vikings from winning on Friday as Valencia came away with a 71-7 over the Cowboys and spoiled Canyon’s senior night.
Although it wasn’t a traditional gridiron showdown under the lights, the Vikings brought the fireworks with sophomore quarterback Evan McCalister tossing for four touchdowns.
“Everybody adjusted on the fly and figured this out,” Valencia head coach Larry Muir said afterward. “We want things to be the same all the time. So, it was really good that everybody was flexible and figured it out.”
The game, which was moved up to a 4 p.m. kickoff time due to power outages reported across the Santa Clarita Valley, didn’t affect Valencia’s (6-2, 4-0) offense.
McCalister was clean from the pocket as he completed six for six pass attempts and 139 yards through the air.
Halfway through the second quarter, Ariza Sanchez took over for McCalister behind center as the Vikings took a 50-0 lead over Canyon (1-8, 0-5) with four minutes left to play.
Sanchez made his mark quick as he scrambled and scored on a quarterback keeper for a 22-yard touchdown.
As for senior running back Nico Funez, who going into Friday’s matchups was tied for total touchdowns in the Foothill League, lit up the scoreboard at Harry Welch Stadium.
In the game’s first play, Funez dodged the Canyon defenders for a 65-yard touchdown. He finished the game with two touchdowns and rushed for 215 yards.
Defensively, the Vikings were near-perfect all afternoon with the only blemish in the second half’s opening drive when Canyon’s Julian Carlin hit Jeremiah Herreres for a 70-yard touchdown.
In total, the Cowboys were held to just over 100 yards on offense.
Carlin completed just five for 13 pass attempts along with 103 yards through the air and two interceptions.
Muir said he’s proud of his team’s defensive effort and ability to execute throughout all four quarters.
“I thought they did a great job of staying in the right position,” Muir said on his defense. “Canyon brings up a lot of motion and give you different looks. But, I thought our guys did a good job, again, with all the different circumstances.”
With the win, the Vikings recorded their 23rd Foothill League win in a row, a feat dating back to the 2022 season.
With a 4-0 Foothill League record, the Vikings remained unbeaten. And should Valencia win its following matchup against Golden Valley, the Vikings will be on a collision course for a winner-takes-all for this season’s Foothill League championship against Hart.
Muir understands the circumstances that surround a potential Foothill League title decider on Oct. 30.
Instead, Muir is keen to keep his players focused on next week’s matchup against the Grizzlies at Valencia High School on Friday and go 1-0 every week.
“We got Golden Valley next week, and that’s another step that we got to go,” Muir said. “Part of that is the standard and how it’s constantly moving, and it is moving out front next week for us to another level.”
As for Canyon, the loss to Valencia Friday afternoon kept the Cowboys out of the win column for the seventh consecutive week.
With the seven-game skid, the Cowboys will look to grab their first win in Foothill League play in the team’s final game of the season next week against the Hawks.
Next week’s matchup on Friday between the Cowboys and Hawks is scheduled for kickoff at 7 p.m. with Hart as the designated home team at Canyon High School.
