Saugus Making Believers After Quartz Hill Falls, 31-19

Step right up and buy your caps, pennants and T-shirts now, folks. Hurry before they’re all gone. Hop aboard that Saugus High football bandwagon before it’s too late.

Friday night at College of the Canyons, the Centurion bandwagon got a little more crowded as Saugus stunned defending league champion Quartz Hill, 31-19, in a Golden League game before an appreciative homecoming crowd.

In doing so, Saugus:

--Increased its winning streak to five, the school’s longest since 1978, and moved into a first-place league tie with Antelope Valley.

--Bullied the usually rough-and-tumble Rebels from start to finish. Saugus (5-2, 2-0 in league play) rolled up 315 yards. Quartz Hill? A paltry 135.

“They just whipped us all over the field, offensively and defensively,” Quartz Hill Coach John Albee said after his team fell to 4-3, 1-1.

Linemen Chris Finicle and Reno Torralba, and linebacker John Lopata led a ferocious Saugus defense.

“Our kids simply believe that they’re pretty good now,” first-year Coach Jack Bowman said.

The final score is kinder to Quartz Hill than Saugus was. The Centurions led, 24-7, at halftime, and Quartz Hill’s two second-half touchdowns came after Saugus took a 31-7 lead in the third quarter when linebacker Pat Gamel intercepted a Jake Haro pass and returned it 34 yards for a touchdown.

By that time, Bowman was drenched with sweat. Later, the magnitude of the win sank in.

“Certainly, we’re in the thick of the race now,” Bowman said. “It was a big win and a tremendous boost for our program, and now we’ve got Antelope Valley next week.”

Saugus dominated on both sides of the ball during the first half, but it was Quartz Hill that struck first.

Joel Hansen returned the opening kickoff 83 yards to set up a seven-yard scoring run by Haro. Two minutes into the game, Quartz Hill led, 7-0.

After that, the deluge.

Saugus’ second play from scrimmage was a screen pass from quarterback Bobby Cowan to David Doyle. Doyle turned the corner and raced 63 yards for a score.

Saugus took possession of the ball four consecutive times in Quartz Hill territory.

Three of those possessions led to relatively easy scores: a four-yard run by sophomore fullback Chris Johnson, a 22-yard field goal by Rob Chilton and another scoring run by Johnson, this one from two yards.

Meanwhile, Quartz Hill gained 31 first-half yards and posted just three first downs, one by penalty. Saugus, on the other hand, gained 201 yards before intermission (100 passing) and punted once.

Truly, it was a homecoming to remember.