Santa Clarita Week Seven Football Recap

After another week of Foothill League action, the valley’s top dogs are starting to emerge.  With four more games remaining, there is still time for struggling teams to turn their fortune around.

Outside of the Foothill League, Trinity Classical Academy remains undefeated and Santa Clarita Christian School picks up a win after two straight losses.

West Ranch (3-3, 1-1) VS Saugus (2-5, 1-2):

After dropping their first Foothill game of the season to Hart, West Ranch bounced back to defeat Saugus 48-24.

Luke Deperno has had a dominant season and it was no different against Saugus as he rushed for 282 yards and four touchdowns.

Joining Deperno in the backfield for the first time this season was sophomore quarterback Blake Johnson, who sat out the first six weeks of the season due to the CIF rules for transfer students.

In Johnson’s debut game he threw for 167 yards, rushed for a touchdown and to sweeten the deal he beat his former squad, the Saugus Centurions.

“It really meant a lot to me. I came out here and tried to do my best and I think I succeeded by defeating them,” said Johnson after defeating Saugus 48-24.

Defensively, Matt Piccolino terrorized the Centurions’ backfield with three sacks, one of which resulted in a fumble returned for a touchdown by linebacker Connor Wiseman in the first quarter.

Later in the game Piccolino pressured Saugus quarterback Jake Nuttall to make an off-balance throw that was intercepted and returned for a touchdown by Ethan Quesada.

The Wildcats aim to carry out their momentum into Thursday when they face off against Castaic at 7 p.m. at Canyon High School.

Saugus will have some time to regroup as they head into a bye week but will return Oct. 18 to play Castaic.

Hart (6-1, 2-0) VS Castaic (2-5, 0-2) :

The Hawks picked up a 35-7 win over Castaic to continue their winning streak to six games.

Unlike the previous six games, Hart was without quarterback Jacob Paisano, receiver Parker Maxwell and Nate Mata, who doubles as a running back and quarterback.

Taking over at helm for the Hawks was sophomore Matix Frithsmith who hasn’t had much playing time at the position but has been a playmaker for the offense with 488 all purpose yards this season.

Zach Rogozik helped bring some of the pressure off of Frithsmith, rushing for 231 yards and a trio of touchdowns.

Zach Rogozik runs through a West Ranch defender. Steven Barrera | KHTS

While Castaic had their fair share of struggles throwing four interceptions, they also had some upside in recovering two fumbles.

The Coyotes moving forward aim to clean up their turnovers and continue to force them on defense.

Hart is expected to have Maxwell and Mata back for the next game while Paisano’s return is a “day to day” situation, according to Hart Head Coach Jake Goosen-Brown.

The Hawks are set to host Canyon Thursday at 7 p.m. from College of the Canyons.

Valencia (2-4, 2-0) VS Canyon (3-4, 1-2):

Since beginning league play, the Vikings have been on a roll, outsourcing opponents 117-28. Valencia dominated Canyon, beating the Cowboys 55-7.

The bulk of Valencia’s points came within the first quarter when they scored four touchdowns. For the rest of the game the Vikings continued to sprinkle scoring drives with six points in the second quarter, 14 in the third and seven in the fourth.

Quarterback Brady Bretthauer and running back Brian Bonner were the main source of Valencia’s productivity. Through the air Brettauer had 177 yards, on the ground Bonner rushed for 149 and three touchdowns.

Another key player for the Vikings was senior Nick Seymour who had north of 75 receiving yards, one touchdown and a fumble recovery.

Thursday, Valencia will host the 5-1 Golden Valley Grizzlies who are coming off a bye week.

Trinity (6-0, 1-0) VS The Webb Schools (1-4, 0-1):

Last Thursday, the Knights had one of their toughest opponents of the season, but still managed to come out on top 49-14.

Trinity’s offense was powered by a strong pass game with quarterback Noah Visconti, who finished the night with 346 passing yards and six passing touchdowns to five different receivers.

Noah Visconti connects with Aiden Visconti for his first touchdown of the night against The Webb Schools.
Steven Barrera | KHTS

Andrew Carlson and Luke Backes both racked up over 100 receiving yards and three combined touchdowns against the Gauls.

While the pass game was unstoppable, the Knights weren’t able to get much going on the ground. The team also struggled with penalties and allowed a couple of big plays down the field.

“I feel we kind of stole one tonight, because we were sloppy. We weren’t playing well and [The Webb Schools] have a real good team,” said Trinity Head Coach Mike Parrinello. “Sometimes you get out of one of these when you don’t play your best. We played at least consistent enough to win one when we weren’t at the top of our game.”

Despite Trinity’s struggles, they still managed to pick up the win, but moving forward, Parrinello plans to work with the team to address some issues.

Trinity is set to take to the road to play the 4-1 Santa Rosa Academy on Friday at 7 p.m.

SCCS (4-2, 1-0) VS Chadwick (2-3):

After going on a two-game losing streak the Cardinals turned their fortune around Saturday when they defeated Chadwick 35-3.

SCCS’s defense was virtually unstoppable, only allowing 55 passing and 73 rushing yards off of 25 attempts from six different players.

Now, the Cardinals are shifting their attention to Lancaster Baptist for their game Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at Canyon High School.

KHTS FM 98.1 and AM 1220 is Santa Clarita’s only local radio station. KHTS mixes in a combination of news, traffic, sports, and features along with your favorite adult contemporary hits. Santa Clarita news and features are delivered throughout the day over our airwaves, on our website and through a variety of social media platforms. Our KHTS national award-winning daily news briefs are now read daily by 34,000+ residents. A vibrant member of the Santa Clarita community, the KHTS broadcast signal reaches all of the Santa Clarita Valley and parts of the high desert communities located in the Antelope Valley. The station streams its talk shows over the web, reaching a potentially worldwide audience. Follow @KHTSRadio on Facebook , Twitter , and Instagram .