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Cents shake off Agoura, move to 5-0

It wasn’t easy, but Saugus remained unbeaten with a 35-23 victory Friday night at Agoura High.

Saugus (5-0) fell behind in the third quarter against Agoura (0-5) before pulling away at the end. The Centurions were led on offense by quarterback Nathan Eldridge, who completed 20 of 33 passes for 291 yards with three touchdowns and an interception. Quinn Sheaffer had 92 yards on 18 rushes for Saugus.

“We knew that Agoura was a very competitive football team. They had played some good teams in the preseason, so we knew they were going to be significantly better than their record indicated,” Saugus coach Jason Bornn said.

Saugus got off to a fast start, scoring on its opening drive. Eldridge hit wide receiver Jared Pane for 28 yards, setting up the quarterback for a 2-yard touchdown run.

After an Agoura fumble in the second quarter, Eldridge again threw to Pane, who broke a tackle and scored from 17 yards out. Saugus led 14-3, but with a minute to play in the first half, Lin found tight end Cole Brenner for a 59-yard touchdown.

Agoura took its first lead midway through the third quarter with a 39-yard touchdown pass from Lin to Morgan Koff. Saugus quickly answered with a 37-yard touchdown pass from Eldridge to Chase Seyforth. After a missed extra point, Saugus was up 20-17.

Sheaffer added to the lead early in the fourth quarter with a 21-yard touchdown run, but Agoura wouldn’t go away. Lin found Koff again – this time for a 24-yard touchdown with 4:22 to play.

Facing fourth down on the following drive, Saugus lined up for a 40-yard field goal attempt but decided to go for it. Eldridge found Pane for a 28-yard touchdown with 2:30 to go.

“We just re-evaluated it,” Bornn said of the decision to go for it. “It was out of our kicker’s range. It was too close to punt and too far to kick a field goal.”

It turned out to be the decisive play.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]