CHATSWORTH — Sierra Canyon football players hold paper plates that struggle to support heaps of pasta, fried chicken and pizza. It’s a Trailblazers favorite at the team dinners that are usually held ahead of home games.
It’s a much-needed team bonding event before the first home game of the season, although losing to JSerra the week before may have galvanized the team even more.
“We have come together because we learned that we weren’t invincible,” Sierra Canyon defensive end Mikhal Johnson said. “Every team wants to come get us, so we have to hold our ground to continue to push forward.”
There is no rest for Sierra Canyon (1-1), which plays Oaks Christian (1-0) on Friday at 7 p.m.
The game will test the Trailblazers’ ability to bounce back after they beat Punahou 30-7 in Hawaii in their season opener, then lost to JSerra 35-7. Sierra Canyon rushed for only 42 yards and had 314 yards of total offense in the game.
Players came into the weight room on Saturday with a renewed perspective and energy, from players like quarterback Wyatt Becker, Madden Riordan and Jae’on Young.
“We were just trying to find our identity,” Young, a Cal commit, said. “We were trying to pick each other’s heads up. There were a lot of people encouraging each other. That loss actually helped us.”
Oaks Christian is coming off a 24-17 win over Chaminade in which it scored all of its points in the first half. Deshonne Redeux rushed for 139 yards and two touchdowns but left the game early due to injury. Head coach Charlie Collins said Redeux is expected to play Friday night.
Oaks Christian football beat Chaminade 24-17 in the season opener on Aug. 23. #journalism #reporter #highschoolfootball #football #sports #chaminade #oakschristian #westlake #westhills #sanfernandovalley #footballhighlights #footballgame
The Lions’ defense was productive in last week’s game, as well, with four different players recording a pass breakup. Easton Thompson returned an interception 50 yards for a touchdown and Brian Narcisse had an interception, pass breakup and fumble recovery. Linebacker Christian Knoos was the leading tackler with 10 total tackles, two tackles for a loss and a sack.
“Practice has been real chippy between the offense and defense,” said Lions tight end Stevie Amar, who committed to Boston College on Saturday. “It was cool to see the defense come out and battle for somebody else. They’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time.”
Classes at Sierra Canyon started this week, which means the school will be paying more attention to football. It’s not uncommon for classmates or even teachers to make comments to players about the outcome of games.
Resuming classes also means a change in structure for film and team meetings, but there’s no change in the workload. There may have even been more work in the film room than usual this week during the morning and afternoon meetings.
“We came back in. We studied what we did wrong,” Johnson said. “There were minor mistakes — it wasn’t like the whole team broke down. This week we should be very successful because we spent a lot of time fixing our mistakes.”
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