Golden Valley and Canyon High School Football: Path to CIF Playoffs
By Tim Haddock and Sage Rafferty
Golden Valley and Canyon High School football teams are working hard this summer to improve their records and make it to the CIF Southern Section playoffs. Both teams have talented returning players and determined coaches who are focused on overcoming last season's challenges and achieving playoff success.
Golden Valley Football Eyes CIF Playoff Return
The Golden Valley football team is looking to improve its record from a year ago. The Grizzlies won only one Foothill League game and finished in sixth place, missing the CIF Southern Section playoffs.
This came after reaching the championship game of the Southern Section Division 7 playoffs the year before.
Golden Valley lost to Laguna Hills by one point, 28 to 27, in the Division championship game and had high hopes for another successful season last year.
But Golden Valley struggled, went 3 and 7 overall and the team’s only win in the Foothill League was against Saugus, which didn’t win a single game last year.
Golden Valley coach Dan Kelley talked about what his team is working on this summer to return to the success it experienced two years ago.
“Well, we return three offensive linemen that had some playing time last year,” Coach Kelley told Santa Clarita Weekly. “I think that's one of our big strengths on offense. We're looking for a running back. We've got three or four guys trying that position. I think we'll be OK. We've been kind of spoiled the last few years with pretty good running backs. We're looking at some new tight ends, but they've got some playing time either at the lower level or the varsity level. Receiver-wise, we've got some newcomers out there that are proving themselves through the spring and through the summer. We've returned our quarterback. That's a strong student on offense.”
Coach Kelley made it clear that he wants the team to make the playoffs.
“Well, we take one game at a time we have a tough schedule our league is tough,” Coach Kelley said. “You know, our expectations are always to make the playoffs. We missed it last year. We lost two games, one game by a field goal, one game by a touchdown that cost us a playoff spot. You know, the year before that in 2022, we made the playoffs and went to the CIF finals. um so obviously our goal is to get back to the playoffs, but our goal also is to win football games and play tough week in and week out and stay injury free. That's the key.”
Golden Valley High School has a young and talented group of players, in particular Jamison Torres at defensive back and Anthony Seregusa at slot receiver, who don’t want to miss the playoffs again.
Torres told Santa Clarita Weekly’s Tim Haddock that the team needed to come together.
“I think our strengths are our passing game,” Torres said. “We have a returning quarterback, a lot of returning receivers… We need to work on is coming together as a team.”
Anthony Seregusa agreed.
“As a team, we're looking really good,” Seregusa told Tim Haddock. “Last year, we had a lot of ‘me’ players instead of ‘we’ players. And this year's team, we're just building together, and we're going to make something happen this year.”
Canyon High School Preparing for a Strong Football Season
The Canyon football team showed signs of improvement last season and are close to being a playoff team again. It’s been a while since Canyon was in the CIF Southern Section playoffs. The proud program finished with a winning record at 6 and 4 last year but won only two Foothill League games and finished in fifth place. The last time Canyon made the playoffs was in 2014 – nine years ago. It’s been a drought that came close to ending last year but Canyon was not offered an invitation to the CIF playoffs despite its winning record. The Foothill League is always challenging. But Canyon has been moving in the right direction in recent years and will be a tough team to beat this season.
Ken Holsenbeck, who is in his third season as coach of the Canyon High football team, talked about what his team is focusing on in summer practices and what it needs to do to be a playoff team again. He doesn’t want to leave it to chance to make the playoffs. He wants to finish in the top three in the Foothill League and guarantee his team a spot in the CIF playoffs.
“Yeah, we just keep building upon our successes, right?” Holsenbeck told Santa Clarita Weekly. “We've established our norms of how we do things around here and just keep raising the bar to expectations. And this year, we just wanna build upon everything we've done over the last couple of years, right? We got our first league win a couple years ago; we'll build on that. Again, this past year ended up with a winning record, and so this year we're just hoping to take that next step and get to the point where we get that automatic playoff berth from the league.”
Coach Holsenbeck opined on the legacy of longtime Canyon High School Coach Harry Welch, who was inducted into the CIF Hall of Fame two years ago.
“Obviously, we have a proud tradition here at Canyon High School,” Coach Holsenbeck said. “Great history with Coach Welch. And one that, you know, he's a tough man to replace and a tough coach to try and match his success. But with that said, we enjoy the challenge. We embrace it every day. And we just look to keep climbing and getting better on the field and all facets of the game.”
Canyon has an advantage with returning senior quarterback Sebastian Martinez, who brings leadership and experience to the team.
Sebastian Martinez told Santa Clarita Weekly what strength he brought to the team: “I've been playing for the last 12 years of my life, and I just know that I know most of these players because we played when we were growing up, and I just know my team.”
Martinez said that the Canyon High School football team intends to make it to the playoffs.
“We know that we have to improve on the problems that we did last year because I know it was the first time we had a winning record in a long time,” he said. “And I know that we all are striving to go to playoffs this year, even at the CIF Championship. And we are for sure trying to win league.”
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