On Friday, the Valencia Vikings football team won the title of Foothill League Champions in an impressive manner. 

The Wildcats ended their season on a high note as they go into their bye week before the playoffs.

In girls volleyball Hart and West Ranch remain the final two Santa Clarita teams in the CIF-SS playoffs.

Football – Valencia (8-1, 5-0) vs Hart (6-3, 3-2):

In Friday night’s matchup at Valencia High School the Vikings proved to everyone why they are worthy of being the Foothill League Champions when they defeated Hart 37-7.

For Valencia it was also an opportunity to end the Indian’s two season win streak over the Vikings in head to head action.

“It was definitely personal for me because last year I watched on the sideline, as we lost the game in the last 10 seconds,” said quarterback Jackson Askins. “So obviously it was personal but I’m just happy the way it turned out.”

For Hart this was a game that if they won, they would be in the playoffs but Askins and the rest of the Vikings had other plans.

Askins ended his night with 298 passing yards, 89 rushing yards with a rushing touchdown and a trio of passing touchdowns.

Jackson Askins shows off his speed on a QB scramble. KHTS/Steven Barrera

“The play of Jackson Askins I thought was phenomenal,” said Valencia Head Coach Larry Muir. “I thought he really led us and made some big plays for us. His passing and running really bailed us out a couple times and he did an outstanding job for us.”

During the game Askins connected with eight different receivers, with Luke Cruz being the most targeted of the bunch.

While Cruz was racking up the yards on offense, he also made his presence felt on defense with two interceptions and three tackles. 

“You can’t say enough about Cruz,” said Muir. “Luke Cruz I think is one of the best players in the entire Foothill League by far and he’s a special player on both sides of the ball for us.”

Aiding Cruz on defense was Isaac Shin and Gavin Corbert who both had an interception, along with Tony Testa who had three sacks. 

Even though the Vikings played a solid game Coach Muir acknowledged that his team has had an issue with penalties throughout the season.

 “We have to clean that up, that’s been a bit of a bugaboo for us all year long and we need to make sure we clean that up as we head for next week and the weeks after,” said Muir.

Valencia looks to finish the season out strong when they take on Canyon Friday night at 7 p.m. from Canyon High School.

Hart is set to host Castaic at College of the Canyons Friday at 7 p.m. in what may be their final game of the year.

West Ranch (7-3, 5-1) vs Castaic (6-3, 3-2):

In a game that would’ve sent the Coyotes to the playoffs for the first time in program history ended in a disaster as the Wildcats came up with a 56-28 win.

While the game didn’t end well for Castaic, West Ranch’s Luke Deperno had a stellar game with 189 rushing yards that put him over 1,000 yards on the season and a trio of touchdowns to go with it.

“Our o-line doesn’t get enough credit but those kids play their butts off and open up the holes and Luke does the rest, that’s what we need,” said West Ranch Head Coach Chris Varner. 

To start the game West Ranch’s Obi Ogbuagu ran back the opening kick off for a touchdown to take a quick 7-0 lead.

Obi Ogbuagu returns a kick return for a touchdown to open the game. KHTS/Steven Barrera

“That was huge, we struggled with that (referring to kick returns) all season, we made a few changes on that and obviously saw a better performance out of it,” said Varner.

Following that the Coyotes buckled down and went on to score 14 points to end the first quarter with a lead.

In the second quarter Deperno would score back to back touchdowns to put the Wildcats ahead 21-14.

Not long after that Castaic’s Tyler Lewis found the end zone for the second time in the half and tied the game 21 a piece.

Seconds before the end of the half Liam Mcdaniel turned on the jets and scrambled into the end zone to once again take a West Ranch lead.

During the second half the Wildcats kept their foot on the gas and outscored the Coyotes 28-7, to bring them to the final score of 56-28.

To the Wildcats’ delight they are set to be on a bye next week, before they enter into the playoffs.

“We need it, we have some bumps and bruises. Everyone has already had a week off but we’re the last ones to do it.” said Varner. “We have a few guys that have to heal up because we’re going to need them for the playoffs, so we’ll take it.”

Castaic looks to keep their playoff hopes alive when they take on Hart at the College of the Canyons Friday at 7 p.m.

Saugus (0-9, 0-5) vs Canyon (6-3, 3-2):

The Cowboys playoff hopes are still alive after their 28-13  win over Saugus.

Canyon started their season by going 4-0 but when league play came around they struggled to have the same dominance they had in non-league play.

During their non-league games the Cowboy’s run game was their bread and butter but they have since shifted more to the pass.

During the game against the Centurions Canyon quarterback Sebastian Martinez threw for 192 yards, completing 9 of his 16 passes.

A bulk of Martinez’s passing yards came from Jeremiah Taylor who had 120 receiving yards from four receptions.

 While Saugus is yet to pick up a win they have improved over the past few weeks.

In the Centurions first three games they were held to 23 points, then they went on a three game stretch where they did not score any points.

Since then Saugus has tallied up 55 points in their last three games.

During their matchup against Canyon, quarterback Jake Nuttall had 260 passing yards with a pair of passing touchdowns.

Nuttall’s favorite target of the night was freshman receiver Jayden Lepley who had nine receptions for 151 yards.

To finish the season Saugus is scheduled to play Golden Valley at Canyon High School Thursday night at 7 p.m.

Canyon will have their hands full when they take on Vikings Friday night from Valencia High School with kickoff at 7 p.m.

Private Schools:

Saturday night Santa Clarita Christian (6-2, 3-0) picked up their sixth win of the season when they defeated Desert Christian 54-14.

With a win over Desert Christian that puts SCCS as the number one team in the Heritage League.

The Cardinals had a well balanced offense with 162 yards through the air and 156 on the ground.

Leading the charge on offense was junior quarterback Cayden Rappleye who had two passing touchdowns to receiver Eli Duhm.

Duhm had 106 receiving yards along with 44 yards rushing.

On the other side of the ball the defense held it down only allowing 14 points and tallying up five sacks.

The Cardinals are set to take on the number two team in the Heritage League, Lancaster Baptist Thursday at 6 p.m.

Trinity’s losing streak continues as they fall 47-7 against Capistrano Valley Christian.

The Knights aim to turn things around Friday when they travel to take on Western Christian at 7 p.m. 

Girls Volleyball:

In the first round of the playoffs both Saugus and Trinity took tough losses, followed by Valencia bowing out in the second round of the playoffs.

Now the last two Santa Clarita teams remaining are the co-Foothill League Champions, Hart (23-6, 11-1) and West Ranch (19-2, 11-1) are preparing for the quarter finals on Wednesday.

During the Wildcat’s playoff push they have not lost a single set beating the likes of Burroughs and Warren High School.

Hart has also been dominating during the playoffs having only lost one set during their 3-1 (25-16, 22- 25, 25-14, 25-16) win over St. Margaret’s.

Hart is set to host Campbell Hall Wednesday at 6 p.m.

West Ranch is set to travel Wednesday to take on Arrowhead Christian at 6 p.m.

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