SANTA CLARITA — Saugus offensive coordinator Scott Maxwell doesn’t look back poorly upon the series of events that took away his ability to walk.
Maxwell was a 2012 graduate from Village Christian who had caught 34 passes for 449 yards, three touchdowns and recorded five interceptions his senior year.
He surfed, mountain climbed, hiked and lifted weights at the gym. It was an active lifestyle for a young man who had gone from being a skilled football player to becoming a quality football coach.
“But everything in your life changes,” Maxwell said.
In 2024, doctors found cancerous lymphomas in his stomach and collarbone. The stomach lymphomas treated at UCLA had no lasting effect, but the same couldn’t be said about the rare melanomas on his collarbone.
“Finding that I had cancer was a very deep process,” Maxwell said. “There was episodes of weird itching and a lot of discomfort in the stomach, and that was really because the main source of cancer that was in my stomach and how that bulge was pushing on my internal organs. That took a little time, and I for one am not fond of going to the doctor.”
Maxwell received a CAR T-cell infusion, a treatment meant to deliver immune cells into the bloodstream to fight the cancers inside him. His immune system, though, began attacking his nervous system and damaged his spinal cord.
He was rushed to the hospital and put into a medically induced coma. Maxwell woke up on Sept. 4, 2024, and discovered he was paralyzed from the stomach down.
One of the major motivators for Maxwell are the words spoken by his former coach, Jeff Cortez.
“He instilled in us that the only two things you can control is your attitude and effort,” Maxwell said. “You can’t control anything else, but you can control how you respond to the things that happen to you in life. That’s what I really had to rely on.
“This episode happened to me and I didn’t have control over what happened. But I do have control of how I respond to it? Am I going to mope around and say woe is me? Or am I going to get off the mat and attack each day with the love for life that I had before. “
Maxwell spent two months in the hospital before being released, just in time to watch Saugus play Hart. Saugus lost that game to its Foothill League rival, the Centurions were happy to have their coach back.
“He was battling for his life and for him to battle to that and beat cancer and do what he had to do was at a high cost,” said Saugus head coach Jason Bornn said. “The benefit is that he’s alive, he’s thriving and it’s been a huge adjustment for him. He’s never had a negative outlook and continues to find ways to contribute. He’s done an amazing job.”
Among the players influenced by Maxwell is senior Landon Lattimore, who is senior captain and Saugus’ career leader in receptions and receiving yards. Lattimore met Maxwell in the eighth grade while he was deciding which Santa Clarita Valley school he wanted to attend.
Being coached by Maxwell played a role in Lattimore landing at Saugus.
“It’s great after seeing what he’s been through and all the work he’s put in and the time he’s taken out of being with his family to be at our games,” Lattimore said. “He’s taught me everything. Every little thing. He’s helping me with technique and texting me about recruiting and being there for me. Especially him being a (former cornerback). He gives you those extra two cents most coaches wouldn’t give you.”
Maxwell was declared cancer free in January 2025 and is now helping lead Saugus.
Saugus (3-1) plays its Foothill League opener against Golden Valley on Friday night.
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Maxwell is thankful for football. It’s the sport that not only made him an athlete but has allowed him to cultivate relationships and build a career in education.
He teaches online English courses at Saugus.
“I owe everything to this,” Maxwell said of football. “I wouldn’t have the life I have before the injury without football, and there’s been so many people who have poured into me and taught me life lessons I used up to that point.”