HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL

Roundup of Friday, Saturday night’s local games

and the Independence defense pitched a shutout over the final two quarters to rebound after falling behind 17-7 at halftime.

EAST 24, WEST 21

While the Driller-Golden Hawk thriller may have been the headliner, an even wilder finish occurred at West, as the Blades pulled out a miracle in the closing seconds.

Down 21-17 and facing a fourth-and-18 with under 30 seconds to play, East quarterback Johnie Salazar found sophomore receiver Paul Campas for a 30-yard touchdown pass, pulling off the shocker and snapping a three-game skid against the Vikings.

Knowing the Vikings would be in a heavy prevent defense, Blade coach Kasey Tittlemier attempted to get creative with his play call and felt his team ran what was called to perfection.

“We knew they were going to be in a deep-prevent-type defense so we didn’t want to just run all (vertical routes) which is primarily what’s expected in that situation,” he said. “So we ran a post-wheel concept to try and draw some more attention from the defense on our post route and we were able to hit the wheel route behind it to score. “It was well-executed.”

West quarterback Daylon Leach accounted for 176 yards of offense and all three of his team’s touchdowns, each of them coming on the ground.

MIRA MONTE 41, KERN VALLEY 32

The tandem of Abraham Casillas and Sebastian Marbaugh proved too much for the Kern Valley defense and the Lions came away with their first season-opening win since 2015.

Casillas got the fireworks going in a hurry, returning the opening kickoff for a touchdown, before adding two scores on the ground. Marbaugh, the team’s quarterback, had two touchdown passes and a rushing touchdown in the win.

Kaden Preston did it all in a loss for Kern Valley, throwing for a touchdown, running for two and even catching a touchdown pass. Kieran McCarthy also accounted for 103 receiving yards and a touchdown for the Broncs.

GOLDEN VALLEY 6, FOOTHILL 0

Marquel Bruley connected with Santos Castillo for a 15-yard touchdown pass with 3:57 to play in the fourth quarter for the game’s only score, and the Bulldog defense was able to complete the shutout.

The win was just the second for Golden Valley since Nov. 3, 2018, and also marked its first shutout since Nov. 7, 2014.

SHAFTER 52, ARVIN 3

It was a thorough domination from the Generals from the start, who got four touchdown passes from quarterback Tyson Dozier, three of which went to receiver Cameron Huerta.

Huerta finished with 181 yards on six catches and also went a perfect 6-of-6 on extra points. The defense got into the scoring as well, with Anthony Hoxie returning an interception for a touchdown.

LA CANADA-ST. FRANCIS 48, GARCES 42

Things got even wilder Saturday, as the Rams went up by 14, surrendered 34 unanswered points and nearly came back from a 20-point deficit with under three minutes to play.

The Knights took the lead in the third quarter before the wheels fell off, as Garces gave up a punt return touchdown, a pick-six and a safety, all within the first 2:45 of the fourth quarter.

But after a 10-yard Travis Plugge touchdown run, the Rams turned an onside kick recovery into an Ian Jernigan touchdown run, then recovered another onside kick with 42 seconds to play.

But the rally ended there, as an Alejandro Ramirez interception finally put the game to bed for the Knights.