CHATSWORTH — Sierra Canyon football’s brutal nonleague schedule came to a close on Saturday evening. It wasn’t the way the Trailblazers pictured it, but the lessons learned have them eager to take on, and potentially conquer, the Mission League.
The Trailblazers were in control early against Orange Lutheran, the No. 17 team nationally in the Maxpreps.com rankings, but the Lancers came back from a 19-point deficit in the first half to win 33-26.
“We faced a really big schedule over these last five games,” Trailblazers running back Jaxsen Stokes said. “Coming into league, we need to just go to work and win our league and work from there.”
Sierra Canyon (2-3) is ranked No. 45 nationally after playing competitive teams like St. John Bosco, JSerra and Oaks Christian. It will open up Mission League play at Chaminade on Oct. 4.
Defensive back Madden Riordan ended the second quarter by intercepting Lancers quarterback TJ Lateef, but Orange Lutheran (4-1) restarted its engine on the other side of halftime.
Aiden Migirdichian hit two field goals, Steve Chavez rushed for a score and Lateef played a role in two touchdowns to help the Lancers offense get back on track while the defense forced two fumbles.
“I just feel like we need to establish our rhythm,” Stokes said. “First half we were dominant and then Orange Lutheran made some adjustments and they were all to stop us a little bit. We need to have rhythm, we need to be able to finish games and execute at every level.”
Despite pressure from defensive linemen Richie Wesley and Mikhal Johnson, Orange Lutheran marched 58 yards down the field to the Sierra Canyon 2-yard line and Lateef plunged in for a touchdown. The Lancers were unable to execute the 2-point conversion after.
Chavez scored from two yards out as well with 9:12 remaining in the game and Joseph de la Torre grabbed a quick pass from Lateef for a 4-yard touchdown to bring the score to 30-26 with 7:54 to go.
“I think that teams need to learn how to win and we’re still in that process,” Sierra Canyon head coach Jon Ellinghouse said.
The Trailblazers looked well on their way to a win in the first half. The offense didn’t get onto the field until the eight-minute mark of the first quarter thanks to Havon Finney, Jr., who burned over 70 yards to score a touchdown on a kick return.
“All three facets at times played well,” Ellinghouse said. “I think our offense played well in the second half. I think that special teams did some things and defense played well and had some great stops.”
Sierra Canyon didn’t let up and poured on 26 points in the first half while holding the Lancers to just one touchdown, which came on a 45-yard pass from Lateef to Tyler Hennessy.
Even Jonah Nadley, who typically plays defensive end, got in on the scoring and was waiting deep in the end zone for a 3-yard pass from Wyatt Becker.
Sophomore defensive end Richie Wesley forced a fumble and recovered it with under four minutes left in the opening half to set up the 19-yard scoring drive.
“We haven’t thrown much to that position, but we’ve got a lot of plays for it and in that moment we did it,” Ellinghouse said of Nadley’s catch. “We had a feeling with what they would be in and it worked really well.”
Special teams continued to force their way into the spotlight with a blocked punt to set Sierra Canyon up at the 29-yard line. Stokes, who had six carries for 98 yards, took off on a touchdown run on the very next play. The sophomore is one of multiple players who have stepped up in place of starting running Dane Dunn, who missed the game due to injury.
“The run game was good,” Stokes said. “There were some holding calls but we’ve got to push through that.”
The Trailblazers have now lost two games in a row — both to Trinity League teams — after falling to St. John Bosco on Sept. 7.
“We played a nonleague schedule that nobody else in the area was willing to play,” Ellinghouse said. “I’m not a person that celebrates almost winning but, at the same time, our team is battle-tested. This one stings, but there’s a lot of lessons and a lot of things that we’re very positive about.”
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