Sierra Canyon Football Takes Down Grace Brethren
By Jacob H. Pollon
Sierra Canyon Athletics Dept. Staff Writer
The Sierra Canyon football team did something no other team could do in eight attempts to Grace Brethren. The Trailblazers knocked off the highly-regarded Lancers 13-7 at Moorpark College Friday.
The victory didn’t come without drama. Sierra Canyon had to withstand a final drive from Grace Brethren only holding on when freshman Jonah Lewis broke up a near completion on third down and junior D.J. Harvey broke up another near completion on fourth down. Sierra Canyon took one knee and became the first team to beat Daily News No. 1-ranked Grace Brethren.
With the victory, the Trailblazers then became the areas top-ranked team for the first time in school history.
“It’s a good win against a good football team,” Sierra Canyon coach Jon Ellinghouse said. “We respect Grace Brethren tremendously. We play them every year. We’ve been fortunate to win the last four years.”
Chayden Peery was outstanding completing 24 of 37 for 307 yards, including a 48-yard touchdown pass to Harvey for what ended up being the winning score early in the fourth quarter.
“Chayden has been great these last few weeks,” Ellinghouse said. “The offense has really been coming along. We might not have scored a ton of points, but we are moving the ball well.”
Sierra Canyon got on the board first when sophomore tailback Jason Jones, Jr. scored from 32 yards out to give the Trailblazers a 7-0 lead. Jones finished with 41 yards on six carries in a game where rushing yards were very hard to come by for both teams.
Harvery led the six-pronged receiver corp with 119 yards on six catches. Quatro Sumlin caught eight passes for 74 yards.
Grace Brethren was led by Julien Stokes’ 104 yards rushing on 15 carries. Quarterback Mikey Zele gained 57 yards on 14 carries, while Josh Henderson was held to 19 yards on 10 carries.
Zele completed 8 of 18 passes for 110 yards, including a 35-yard touchdown.
Sierra canyon beat grace Brethren for the fourth consecutive year after a 39-32 victory in 2016, a 35-0 drubbing in 2017 and a close 20-26 victory in 2018.