Sierra Canyon football knocks off Servite in Division 1 playoff opener

CHATSWORTH – The Sierra Canyon football team came into the Division 1 first-round matchup against Servite with an 0-3 record against Trinity League teams this season. Sierra Canyon ended that streak Friday night with a 38-14 victory in a performance in which the team emphasized physical play.

Sierra Canyon moves on to the quarterfinals to take on the state’s top-ranked team in Mater Dei next week, a rematch of last year’s Division 1 semifinals.

“Their game plan was to impose their will on us and take their time,” Sierra Canyon coach Jon Ellinghouse said. “I thought our team responded really well to that and we out-physicalled them and did a great job of attacking their backs.”

The Trailblazers defense had a strong performance, forcing two turnovers on Servite’s first two possessions and holding Friars running back Quaid Carr to a long touchdown run in the second half. Servite also had only 38 passing yards on 11 passing attempts.

The first Servite turnover came on when Sierra Canyon’s Havon Finney Jr intercepted on fourth down after a nine-play Servite drive on the opening possession. Following the interception, Jaxson Stokes scored on a 7-yard run to give Sierra Canyon a 7-0 lead.

“I saw the receiver motioning, and not lining up normally so I thought he was gonna run an out and I was able to jump the route.” Finney Jr. said

On the second Servite possession, Sean Jones forced a Carr fumble that was recovered by Myles Baker. Ashton Zamani kicked a 34-yard field goal following the fumble to extend the Sierra Canyon lead to 10-0.

“It feels great to get the win,” Jones said. “I feel like these Trinity League teams kinda look at us a pushover and some little school in Chatsworth, so it just felt great to hit them in the mouth early and keep pushing from there.”

The Sierra Canyon defense stopped three Servite fourth down attempts in the first half. Following the third stop of the half, Dane Dunn scored on a 1-yard run to extend the Trailblazers lead to 17-0. Dunn’s score was set up when Wyatt Becker connected with Finney Jr. on a 58-yard pass.

On Servite’s final possession of the half, quarterback Allen Kennett V scored on a 41-yard touchdown run to cut the Sierra Canyon lead to 17-7 at halftime.

On Servite’s first possession of the second half, Carr scored on a 75-yard touchdown run to cut the Sierra Canyon lead to 17-14. Following the Carr score, Sierra Canyon scored 21 unanswered points with all the scores coming from their running backs Dunn and Stokes.

Stokes scored his second touchdown on a 44-yard run to give Sierra Canyon a 24-14 lead in the third quarter. Stokes finished the game with five carries for 65 yards and two touchdowns.

Dunn scored his last two touchdown runs in the fourth quarter to make the final score 38-14. Dunn finished the game with 14 carries for 87 yards and three scores.

“We worked really hard for this,” Dunn said. “We got some stuff to work on still, but I thought we did a great job overall.”

Messiah Mingo finished the game with five catches for 57 yards. Becker completed 14 of 20 passes for 186 yards.

Carr ran the ball 17 times for 141 yards and the one touchdown for Servite. Kennett V ran the ball 12 times for 88 yards and one touchdown.

“We got beat by a better team. Kudos to coach Ellinghouse and his crew,” Servite coach Chris Reinert said. “Ultimately they made more plays and had some critical stuff they accomplished in the third quarter.”