CHATSWORTH — In a battle of unbeaten high school football teams, Sierra Canyon football used exceptional quarterback play to down visiting Pacifica, 42-10, on Friday night.
Senior signal caller Demarco Hernandez paced the Trailblazers (5-0), going 22 of 23 passing for 282 yards with three touchdown passes in the win.
Sophomore Ian Patterson was a perfect 6 for 6 passing for another 50 yards as the duo combined for 26 straight completions to finish this one.
“I’m really proud of both of those kids,” Sierra Canyon coach Jon Ellinghouse said. “Those are two exceptional quarterbacks, and they’ve grown so much in their time here at Sierra, and I love those kids to death. Those guys can do great things they are kids who will play on Saturdays.”
Sierra Canyon’s lone incompletion came on the game’s opening drive. After his only incompletion of the day, Hernandez connected with Christian Butler for a 45-yard touchdown on his next pass.
Pacifica responded with a scoring drive of its own, using a hurry-up offense to move down the field. Taylor Lee capped the drive with a game-tying touchdown pass to Will Jones Jr.
“We stayed calm the whole time,” Jon Ellinghouse said. “I was proud with our composure, but their tempo is something that’s impressive and it got us there. We made good adjustments.”
Pacifica recovered an onside kick but was unable to take a lead after missing a field goal.
“Pacifica has a well-coached team with a winning tradition, and we knew that they were going to fight,” Ellinghouse said. “I love the fact that we got a little challenge there. That was exactly what we needed. Good football, good football team, good coaches.”
The Tritons (4-1) followed the missed field goal by forcing the only Sierra Canyon punt of the day. The ensuing Pacifica drive came to an end when Trailblazers sophomore Damion Garrison forced a turnover on downs when he broke up a potential touchdown on fourth down.
Three plays later, Jaxsen Stokes put Sierra Canyon ahead for good when he ran in a 58-yard touchdown. Stokes, a Cal commit, finished the day with 116 rushing yards on 13 carries. He registered two touchdowns.
After the Stokes score, Lee once again guided the Tritons downfield, and once again saw Garrison stop a potential scoring drive. This time it was an interception in the end zone for Garrison.
“Our defense played a little bit of bend-don’t-break, and those are those are plays that win football games,” Ellinghouse said.
Following the interception, Sierra Canyon tacked on another score before halftime as Mendoza went 9-for-9 on the drive. He threw a 20-yard touchdown to Lance Brown that sent them into the break with a 21-7 lead.
“It’s a great feeling when you get a stop on defense, especially after making the play on 4th down and then the offense is just scoring,” said Garrison. “Them scoring made us want to get back out and just get more stops.”
Mendoza threw a 32-yard touchdown to Darren Haggerty in the third quarter, while Jibri Abdullah added a 4-yard rushing touchdown and Solomon Stanford chipped in with an interception for Sierra Canyon.
Lee finished 29 of 47 passing for 278 yards in the loss.
“This was a great game for us,” said Ellinghouse. “I was proud of the way my kids fought, and it was a pleasure to compete against a great program.”