Saugus scored early and often–three defensive touchdowns in the first quarter and a 57-0 lead at halftime made it an easy season debut for head coach Jason Bornn’s team.

If you were at Cougar Stadium for tonight’s game between Saugus and Taft and you looked away for a second, you probably missed the Centurions scoring.

Saugus capitalized on nearly every Taft offensive mistake, of which there were many, forcing three turnovers and gifted a couple more due to bad snaps (one Saugus recovered in the end zone for a touchdown, another Taft recovered in its own end zone for a safety).

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They took a 27-0 lead into the second quarter. Smothering the Toreadors defensively, and running downhill offensively, they more than doubled the lead with 2:04 to play in the first half to 57-0.

“The kids did exactly what we practiced and asked them to do, they’ve worked tremendously hard throughout the last several weeks of camp and it showed tonight,” said Jason Bornn after the victory.

“We executed on so many different levels … and we had an opportunity to get a lot of young men in tonight, that may not have ordinarily gotten in, so that’s great for everyone involved.”

In a show of class, the Centurions knelt the ball four times on First and Goal from the 5-yard line with a little under six minutes to play in regulation, as Coach Bornn instructed his players that they were not going to score.

He knows better than anyone that they won’t always be that easy, and even in a blowout win he and the coaching staff will have some areas to clean up.

“Well, obviously, one of those [areas for improvement] is the center-quarterback exchange, ’cause we had a couple fumbles … I think there were some fundamental issues, some tackling and blocking and finishing plays, and those are things that are all correctable.”

The Centurions will have a full week to make those corrections before they meet Agoura High School at Cougar Stadium of College of the Canyons next Friday night. The Chargers defeated Channel Islands tonight, 30-25, so it will be a battle of 1-0 teams next week.

KHTS Sports is your place for the 2018 Santa Clarita high school football season and your Santa Clarita Dodgers coverage. Find all the latest news and updates on your hometown schools here as they compete in the Foothill League, Heritage League, Western State Conference and GSAC. If you have any news and notes about our teams and players to share please send them to jp@hometownstation.com, like us on facebook.com/khtssports and follow us @KHTSSports on Twitter.