Tag: Sierra Canyon football

Sierra Canyon’s undefeated season comes to an end vs. Mater Dei — but the Trailblazers’ future looks bright

Sierra Canyon, in its first year playing in the CIF-SS Div. I playoffs, fell in the semifinals to Mater Dei.

The Sierra Canyon Trailblazers (Chatsworth, Calif.), in their first year playing in the highest division of the California Interscholastic Federation South Section, found out what other teams have been dealing with for years:

One doesn’t just beat Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.).

Sierra Canyon’s season came to an end on Friday, as the Trailblazers lost to the Monarchs 41-14 in the CIF-SS Div. I semifinals.

Nevertheless, it was an excellent season for the reigning Div. II champions. Sierra Canyon went undefeated in the regular season, allowing more than 14 points only once as it faced programs like Oaks Christian (Westlake Village, Calif.), Saguaro (Scottsdale, Ariz.) and Serra (Gardena, Calif.). The No. 25 team in the Super 25, the Trailblazers entered the playoffs with something to prove.

“It’s been a great ride for us and there’s been a lot of great kids come through this place that have just slowly helped us climb the ladder,” head coach Jon Ellinghouse said to the Los Angeles Daily News prior to the start of the playoffs.

“We’re really proud of what our program has done until this point and this is where we’ve been trying to get. Now we’ve gotta try to prove that we belong.”

They did so with the 37-20 win over Santa Margarita to kick off the playoffs. The team was then outmatched by Mater Dei in the semifinals, a game in which junior quarterback commit Wyatt Becker threw 20-for-41 for 251 yards and a touchdown while running back Dane Dunn rushed for 74 yards and a score, according to the OC Register.

Becker, who committed to Utah on Wednesday, finished his junior year with 2,423 passing yards and 29 touchdowns to seven interceptions while completing 65.8% of his passes.

The defense was key in the Trailblazers’ success, and many important parts — namely, the pass rush — will return. While Carnell Ferguson, who had 20.5 sacks, will graduate, the line is in good hands behind sophomores Mikhal Johnson and Jonah Nadley and freshman Richard Wesley, who combined for 35.0 sacks.

Sierra Canyon didn’t get through Mater Dei, but it can—and should be—delighted with the success of this season. Undefeated entering the semifinals is nothing to scoff at, and they can prepare for next year to take on the behemoths of the division who are set to face off once again for the championship.

2 California and Arizona teams faced off and the result skewed heavily to Cali

Sierra Canyon and Centennial high schools took down Saguaro and Liberty, respectively, the night before USC traveled to Tempe to play ASU.

Ahead of this weekend’s college football game between the University of Southern California and Arizona State University, two of the top California high school teams faced off against two of the top Arizona teams. In what may be a precursor to the result of USC vs. ASU this weekend, Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.) and Centennial (Corona, Calif.) took down Saguaro (Scottsdale, Ariz.) and Liberty (Peoria, Ariz.), respectively.

We’ll start with Sierra Canyon vs. Saguaro because this game was brutal. Saguaro is a historically dominant team that once again reached the Open Division championship last year, but with the departure of head coach Jason Mohns at the end of last season, there has been some transition. Nevertheless, between the classes of 2024 and 2025, there are seven three-star players on the Sabercats, who entered the evening 3-1.

No matter. It was a 63-6 beat-down in which the Trailblazers took a 28-0 lead in the first quarter and continued racking up points through the third quarter. Wyatt Becker, ranked a three-star QB by 247Sports and four-star on the 247 Composite Ranking, had twice as many total touchdowns (8) as he did incompletions (4) as he finished the game 18-22 with 364 yards, seven passing touchdowns and a rushing touchdown, according to Dan Lovi of the Los Angeles Daily News.

According to ArizonaVarsity, Saguaro’s worst loss previously had been 65-0 in 2011. Friday’s game comes close.

Across Los Angeles County, past Anaheim, and into Corona, No. 17 Liberty was putting up a much better fight against Centennial. The Lions took a 35-21 lead over Centennial at the beginning of the fourth quarter, and it looked like they may hold on to beat what is widely regarded as a top-3 team in California.

Arizona’s optimism quickly turned as Centennial drove down the field in less than two minutes, with four-star QB Husan Longstreet connecting on a deep pass to three-star receiver Cory Butler, and then Cornell Hatcher ran in a 17-yard touchdown.

Hatcher has been playing absolutely out of his mind this month. Against No. 2 Bishop Gorman two weeks ago, he rushed for 233 yards and four touchdowns. This week, he one-upped himself and practically dragged Centennial to a win, rushing for 300 yards and four touchdowns, according to MaxPreps.

He scored that 17-yard TD to cut the deficit to a single touchdown. He punched in a one-yard touchdown that cut Liberty’s lead to one point after a missed PAT. And then he punched home the game-winning 13-yard run that preceded a two-point conversion, leading the way for 21 Centennial points in the fourth quarter alone.

With his rushing and tough fourth-quarter defense that caught an interception midway through the fourth and then iced it at the end, the Huskies eked out the victory and improved to 3-2, with their two losses coming against top-2 teams in the Super 25. Liberty’s loss is its first of the season.

As for USC and ASU, who will meet in Tempe on Saturday night? There’s definitely a chance it’ll look more like the Saguaro-Sierra Canyon game than that of Liberty-Centennial. Southern California will look to go 3-for-3 this weekend.

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