Chatsworth football sees historic season end with loss to Lindsay in CIF regional final

CHATSWORTH — The Chatsworth football team made history this season — even after making a head coaching change in just the season’s second week.

The Chancellors broke their final huddle of the year by shouting “history” in unison after falling 35-20 to Lindsay in the CIF Southern California Regional Division 7-AA championship game.

“It was really remarkable,” Chatsworth head coach Shawn Johnson said. “It was something that I will cherish for the rest of my life. I never thought the opportunity would come.”

Chatsworth’s playoff run ended with a game that lasted nearly three hours due to an excessive amount of penalties on both teams, including three penalties that wiped out Chancellor touchdowns.

Johnson is hopeful that dealing with the adversity will help build up the many players returning next season.

“All season we’ve been telling them we have to work through the refs, we have to play good football, clean football,” Johnson said.

The Chancellors’ rushing attack had proved reliable in the past. It was their passing that kept them in the game on Friday night.

Quarterback Connor Eagan and receiver Richard Rivera were responsible for Chatsworth’s only touchdown of the first half — and it came in a big way. A touchback had set the Chancellors up at the 20-yard line and Eagan fired off a short pass to Rivera, who ran over half the length of the field to score with 1:53 to go until halftime.

“It’s something we worked on,” Johnson said. “We know when we need to score we’ve got to score quick.”

Multiple running backs took the ball for Lindsay, but the scoring was balanced. The Cardinals scored three times in the first half on two touchdown runs by Jose Cortes and a 22-yard touchdown pass from Uriah Guerrero to Ethan Cortes.

After the first touchdown, the Chancellors blocked a PAT attempt. Shortly after, Guerrero threw to Jose Fernandez to execute a 2-point conversion to make up for the lost point.

Chatsworth forced a fumble near the end of the second quarter but the Chancellors were unable to score again before halftime.

Eagan completed a 32-yard pass to Jarrick Clemons to get Chatsworth to the 3-yard line late in the third quarter and Isaiah Alcantar scored from 6 yards out, just six seconds into the fourth frame.

Backup quarterback Joaquin Serrano came in at the end of the game to toss a 10-yard pass and Eagan returned to the field to score on a 5-yard keeper on the play immediately after.

“We’re excited about (Serrano),” Johnson said. “He knows he’s not the fastest so he’ll stay in the pocket and deliver the throws. He’s got a warrior attitude.”

Johnson said that he’s not sure he will be the head coach next season but he expects to be involved with the team in some capacity.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he said.