Sierra Canyon celebrates winning the Mid Valley Division Title.
By Tim Peterson
(San Dimas) – Sierra Canyon went up 14-0 in the first quarter and went on to shut out San Dimas 20-0 at San Dimas High Friday night to capture the CIF Mid-Valley Division Championship.
The Trailblazers went 80 yards on six plays on their second possession of the game. Eric Markes hauled in a 30-yard touchdown pass from Nico Harris to cap off the drive with 4:34 left in the first quarter for a 7-0 lead. It turned out to be all that Sierra Canyon needed.
The Blazers scored again on their next drive, this time going 55 yards on seven plays. Harris did it himself scoring from a yard out with just 27 seconds left in the first for a 14-0 halftime lead.
San Dimas marched all the way down to the Sierra Canyon 28 in the second quarter but was stopped on fourth down. The Saints were in Trailblazer territory three more times in the second half but fumbled the ball away on one and was stonewalled twice on fourth down on the other two possessions.
Sierra Canyon also sputtered in the second half as they failed to put the Saints away. The Trailblazers turned the ball over once and also botched a field goal attempt on a bad snap. They finally put the game on ice with 3:04 left in the contest when Bobby Cole scored on a three-yard run to finish a 55 yard drive. Sierra Canyon started the drive in good field position after recovering a San Dimas fumble.
*** Cole had 18 carries for 123 yards and a touchdown for Sierra Canyon.
*** Blazers’ receiver Markes had three catches for 74 yards and a score.
*** Harris threw for 147 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 33 yards and a TD.
*** Sierra Canyon tuned the ball over once – a Harris interception – while San Dimas had two turnovers.
*** Jarell Sykes was the workhorse for San Dimas with 24 carries for 91 yards. Sykes had the biggest play of the night for San Dimas running for 32 yards on a fake punt with just over eight minutes left in the fourth quarter. San Dimas however was unable to capitalize.
*** Dominic Cortez had 16 carries for 68 yards for the Saints.
*** San Dimas’ Joey Tamayo attempted just 11 passes and completed seven with an interception.
*** “This is a special group of kids and they did some special things this year. Tonight was a night where we faced some adversity and they could have given up several times but I’m proud of the way they played. They played like champions,” said Sierra Canyon HC Jon Ellinghouse.
*** Sierra Canyon finished the year a perfect 14-0 and is looking forward to the State playoffs.
*** San Dimas, in Head Coach Mark Holman’s first year, finished the season 10-4 overall.
“Joe has captured the essence of the high school football experience. You don’t have to have played or coached to be instantly engaged in the story and identify with the characters. A great read!…Lots of laughs and memories from what high school football is like on the inside.”—Mike Mooney
“A very accurate account of high school football.”—Jon Dimalante
“F-bombing Papa Joe, has written something truly great here…He’s done a great job capturing the moments in the life of a high school football player both big and small from a unique angle.”—Josh Ouellette
“TANGENT DREAMS”
A high school football novel by Joe Torosian will be available soon through Amazon.
(Cover by Pat Cherry www.blackheartart.com)
Leave a Reply