Sylmar Erases Grant, Clayton

It wasn’t so much about erasing Grant High as erasing the past.

Chalk it up. Sylmar’s convincing 42-7 victory Thursday night in a first-round City Championship game brought on a pleasant amnesia.

A year ago, the Spartans opened the playoffs at home and were embarrassed by Kennedy, 69-33. After disposing of Grant, unbeaten Sylmar is looking forward to looking forward.

“Everybody played well and we got last year’s debacle out of our system,” Coach Jeff Engilman said. “It’s on to the second round.”

Sylmar (11-0) beat the Lancers by taking the eraser and bashing them over the head with it. The Spartans gained 497 yards and seemed to make as many spectacular hits.

Isidro Medina, a 235-pound fullback, rambled for 153 yards in 15 carries. After a scoreless first quarter, Medina scored from 29 and seven yards early in the second quarter.

“They looked small to me,” Medina said of the Lancers. “I was able to run them over.”

Perry Clayton returned a kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown to cut the deficit to 14-7, but that was the only time the Lancer runner broke loose. Clayton, who entered the game with 2,323 yards, rushed for only 39 in 16 carries.

“Our sole purpose today was to hold that kid,” Sylmar assistant James Magee said.

With Clayton stifled, Grant (7-4) could not move the ball. Alfonso Estrada completed four of 15 passes for 75 yards and was constantly under a strong rush. He was sacked four times, reducing Grant’s rushing total to eight yards.

Sylmar took a 22-7 lead into halftime on a 15-yard run by sophomore James Pringle, who was back after missing two games with a shoulder injury.

The second half was even more one-sided. Sophomore Daniel Burney opened the third quarter by returning the kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown and Pringle scored from one yard late in the quarter.

A 28-yard run by James Rivera in the fourth quarter finished the scoring.

The Spartans’ passing game worked well too. John Valdez completed nine of 17 for 187 yards. Burney had 86 yards on four catches.

“That was a good, old-fashioned passionate butt-whipping,” Sylmar lineman Richard Delgaudio said. “We were good in every phase of the game.”

Grant qualified for the City Championship playoffs by winning the Sunset Six League. Although it was a successful season, the No. 15-seeded Lancers clearly are not in Sylmar’s class.

On Wednesday, the Spartans, seeded No. 2 behind Crenshaw, play San Pedro, a 14-11 winner over Jefferson. Sylmar believes it can make a run at its first City championship since 1994.

“We are running on all cylinders,” linebacker Josh Martin said.