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Valencia's Mykael Wright reaches out to make a one-handed grab. Photo by Mauricio La Puente

Valencia Hosts Oaks Christian In CIF SS Division 2 Championship Friday

The Valencia Vikings will play for their first CIF Southern Section Championship since the 2013 season when they lost to Hart 28-21 in a thrilling all-Santa Clarita final. That game was for the Northern Division title, three years before CIF would realign the divisions (putting Valencia in the second toughest division).

This time they’re up against a traditional Southern California power, the Oaks Christian Lions, in a classic public school versus private school battle.  The Lions scored on a pick-6 in the closing seconds of last week’s Semifinal to upset previously unbeaten No. 1 Upland, 31-24; considering the relative youthfulness of the Lions’ roster (only seven seniors on the team), the Semifinal victory is even more impressive.

Oaks Christian boasts a pair of standout juniors on both sides of the ball in 2019 five-star defensive end Kayvon Thibodeuax and workhorse running back Zach Charbonnet. Thibodeaux has 16 sacks on the season while Charbonnet averages 7.7 yards per carry to go along with 22 touchdowns. The Lions will look to pound the ball on the ground to open up their deep passing game, and play stingy defense (fifth best of Division 2 playoff defenses at 18 points per game) with a ball hawking secondary.

Related story: Valencia and Golden Valley to Host CIF SS Championship Games

Valencia has its own pair of excellent juniors in four-star wideout/cornerback Mykael Wright and bruising defensive end Ben Seymour. Wright has been spectacular this season as the Vikings No. 1 receiver and No. 1 cornerback with 1,535 total yards and 20 touchdowns as well as four interceptions and numerous punishing hits.

Valencia’s run to the championship game can only be described as dominant both offensively and defensively. Anchored by one of the best offensive lines in the state, the Vikings have pushed around every defense they have faced. They have set school records for average points per game (54.6), total points in a season (711), and have scored the most points of any team in the CIF Southern Section. Last week, Heritage got within the closest scoring margin since Valencia’s loss at Calabasas, and still lost by 18 (52-34).

Related story: CIF SS Semifinal Scores

Both Valencia (12-1) and Oaks Christian (11-2) come in to the Championship riding eight game winning streaks. The Vikings were a 2-point loss at Calabasas away from being perfect, while the Lions only two losses came against Division 1 top ten teams early in the year.

A juiciest of matchups that has all the ingredients for the best high school football game the Santa Clarita Valley has seen in years.

Kickoff for the Division 2 Championship is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Friday at Valencia HS.

KHTS Sports will have extensive coverage of the CIF SS Division 2 and Division 6 Championship games, tune in to KHTS Radio starting with the Vargo PT Pre-Game Show at 6:45. For live scoring updates follow @KHTSSports on twitter or text “KHTS Football” to 90360 for text alerts.

Valencia Hosts Oaks Christian In CIF SS Division 2 Championship Friday

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About Justin Powell

Justin moved to the San Fernando Valley from the Inland Empire in 2011 to complete his BA of Communications degree at California State University, Northridge. Just a few months after getting his degree he moved to Valencia and started as an intern at AM-1220 KHTS, and was promoted to Sports Reporter within a year. Though Justin is still relatively new to the Santa Clarita Valley, he is an avid sports fan and passionate about building the sports department at KHTS into a special source for local high school sports.