Golden Valley came into its footbal matchup against Castaic looking to get back to its winning ways.
The Grizzlies were able to do just that on Friday night against a gritty Castaic team, winning 36-28 behind a three-touchdown night on the ground from senior running back Jamison Torres and a three-interception game from safety Ace Frias, one of which shut the door completely on a Castaic side that came close to pulling off a comeback.
Things began well for Golden Valley (5-1) and two first quarter interceptions by Frias put his team in position to take an early lead.
They took advantage of good field position to lead 14-0 after two rushing scores from Torres – the first of which ended a drive where he was responsible for all 41 of the Grizzlies’ yards.
Castaic (2-4) brought in quarterback Khanai Langford to replace Jayden Broderick after the two interceptions, and bringing in Langford, plus emphasizing their running game via senior Monty Coleman, seemed to get the Coyotes’ offense somewhat back on track.
Langford found wide receiver Jesse Canaday for a 33-yard gain to put the Coyotes on Golden Valley’s 2-yard line, and Coleman’s 2-yard rushing touchdown helped trim the deficit to 14-8 in the second quarter.
Castaic headed into the locker room at halftime trailing by that score.
Castaic took its first lead midway through the third quarter after an interception ended a quality Golden Valley drive at Castaic’s 26-yard line.
Langford found receiver Logan Meitzner on a fourth and goal from the 18-yard-line to give the Coyotes a 16-14 advantage after a two-point conversion attempt was unsuccessful.
Eventually, a 19-yard touchdown pass by Brandon Contreras gave Golden Valley a 28-16 lead with 9:22 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Castaic wouldn’t relent, however, and they responded with a touchdown of their own to pull within 28-22.
But it was Frias coming through late to seal the win for Golden Valley.
Leading 28-22 with 5:37 left and with Castaic approaching the red zone, Frias read a pass from Langford near the left sideline and came up with a game-clinching pick-six to put Golden Valley up 36-22.
Castaic would score another touchdown, but Golden Valley was ultimately able to run out the clock to preserve the win.
Said Frias of that pick six, “It’s just a lot of film. Just watch a lot of film, you know, and we just realized some of the plays, read the QB’s eyes, saw what’s happening. … I was just at the right place, right time to take it to the house.”
Golden Valley head coach Dan Kelley gave credit to his whole team after the win.
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“The kids worked hard all week. We were focused, and came out tonight, and it was a tough battle. Give credit to Castaic. It was back and forth. We made the plays when we had to, controlled the clock, the offensive line did really well. And Jamison Torres ran the ball really well, but it was a total team win.”
And as to what Golden Valley could take going forward from Friday’s win, Frias had this to say.
“I think it’s just persistence. I think no matter what happens, whether we start off strong [or] we start off weak, we just gotta stay going through and play four quarters of football.”