By Ryan Menzie | Signal Sports Writer
A 67-yard touchdown from Saugus Centurions (7-1, 3-0) quarterback Brady Welch to running back Jacob Faraldo blew the gates open in the 42-7 win against the Golden Valley Grizzlies (3-4, 1-2) on Friday.
The Centurions showed what their defense is capable of, holding the Grizzlies to just 14 passing yards in the first half. The Grizzlies struggled all game, but running back Jared Giles provided the spark of the first half to avoid the shutout and running for 145 yards, which included a 75-yard rushing touchdown.
The Grizzlies would hold Giles to 32 more rushing yards the rest of the game and 92 passing yards.
“I saw a good football team in Saugus,” said Grizzlies head coach Dan Kelley. “An all-around great football team. They controlled the game on both sides of the ball, hats off to Saugus High School. If you don’t dust yourself after a game like this, the same thing is going to happen next game. We got to keep all our focus on Valencia now.”
Besides Giles, the Grizzlies were outmatched by the Centurions. Welch would finish the first half with 200 passing yards and two passing touchdowns while also running in a 9-yard rushing touchdown. Faraldo would finish the half with two total touchdowns (one rushing and one receiving) while accounting for 154 total yards, with the score 28-7 after two quarters.
Both of Faraldo’s touchdowns would come from 67 yards and he would end up finishing the game with 175 total yards.
“It all comes from practice,” said Faraldo when asked about his big touchdown to open the scoring. “We’re coming out knowing we had two big games ahead of us. We wanted to execute on all sides of the ball and the O-line blocked great. We’re keeping it on ourselves, it’s not about them and we’re going to keep doing what we’re doing.
The Centurions kept the attack going in the second half, racking up over 400 yards of offense as team. Centurions second running back Jacob Viger capped off the scoring for the Centurions with an 88-yard rushing touchdown.
The Centurions defense would stall any chance for a Grizzlies comeback, sealed and secured by an interception by defensive back Cody Collier in the fourth quarter. The Grizzlies defense would produce two sacks of their own and forced a fumble, but were unable to capitalize against the Centurions acclaimed defense.
The Centurions now have only allowed 21 points in league play.
“I feel that offensively we were doing the things we worked on in practice,” said Centurion head coach Jason Bornn. “Coach Kelley does a great job with his kids, they’re an extremely talented and well coached team. We were nervous getting ready for them but we focused on the things we can control. That’s a victory in my book.”
The Grizzlies next game is scheduled to be played against Valencia on Friday at 7 p.m. at Valencia. The Centurions next game is the showdown against West Ranch on Friday at 7 p.m. at College of the Canyons.
