CHATSWORTH — Last week, the Sierra Canyon football team took advantage of its opponent’s early mistakes.
Facing off against Punahou on Saturday, a visiting team from Honolulu, the Trailblazers did the same thing, capitalizing on early takeaways by scoring in a hurry.
Sierra Canyon stopped Punahou on fourth down on its first possession of the game, and it took all of one play for the Trailblazers to score on their ensuing drive.
Quarterback Laird Finkel connected with wide receiver Tron Baker on a screen pass that Baker took down the left sideline for a 61-yard touchdown.
The immediate score set the tone, and the defensive stops opened up the floodgates for Sierra Canyon’s offense on the way to a 45-0 victory.
It’s the third straight shutout to start the season for Sierra Canyon.
De’Markus Barnes, who scored two rushing touchdowns last week, scored in the air this week by getting past the defense and hauling in a 25-yard pass from Finkel.
Baker got in the scoring column again, catching a 7-yard pass from Finkel on a slant route to give the Trailblazers a 21-0 lead heading into the second quarter.
Baker, a USC commit, finished with six receptions for 136 yards and two touchdowns.
“It was very big and it definitely sets the tone, knowing anyone can score at any moment,” Baker said. “I believe this is the best Sierra Canyon team that we’ve seen offensively and defensively.”
After Sierra Canyon stopped Punahou on fourth down in the second quarter, the Trailblazers’ offense made the most of the opportunity again.
Finkel connected with Havon Finney Jr. for a 45-yard touchdown the very next play to put Sierra Canyon up by four scores.
Finkel totaled 341 passing yards and four touchdowns on 20 for 31 passing attempts.
Punahou struggled to move the ball all game, but got into Sierra Canyon territory on a handful of occasions.
On one of those instances, near the end of the first half, Punahou got into field goal range and attempted a 40-plus yarder.
Determined to keep their shutout streak intact, the Trailblazers blocked the field goal, as Brayden Tautolo got his right hand on the ball.
“Absolutely, that’s what we prepare every day in practice,” defensive back Brandon Lockhart said. “We have a plan to come out here and execute and put up zero on the board, literally every time.”
Sierra Canyon scored two more times in the second half by way of a Jerod Terry Jr. touchdown run of six yards and a 21-yard rushing touchdown on a reverse for Madden Riordan.
The Trailblazers will put their shutout streak on the line next week on the road against undefeated Downey on Friday.
“We treat every game like it’s our Super Bowl. For us, we feel like we’re everybody else’s Super Bowl,” Lockhart said. “That’s the mentality we have to have when we come out here.”
“Knowing that somebody always has a target on you. There’s always somebody trying to come and smoke you and take your head off,” Baker said. “Keeping myself humble, stay on my team and relaying that energy to keep us all humble so we can keep going.”