Sierra Canyon football remains undefeated with wire-to-wire win over Bishop Amat

LA PUENTE — It was going to take more than a big speech or the magic of Kiefer Stadium to save Bishop Amat from powerhouse Sierra Canyon, ranked No. 7 in the country, and No. 2 in California by MaxPreps.

Maybe in a different era that stuff matters, but not on Friday as Sierra Canyon did to Bishop Amat what it has done to all the others. The Trailblazers dominated in every way imaginable, cruising to a 40-0 victory to remain undefeated, clinching their fourth straight Mission League title.

Sierra Canyon (9-0, 4-0), which is 18-1 since joining the Mission League in 2022, is ranked No. 2 in the CIF-Southern Section by HSratings.com, the computer that will decide playoff divisions following next week’s final regular season games. The Trailblazers are a near certainty to be the No. 2 seed in the Division 1 playoffs behind top-ranked St. John Bosco should both teams finish undefeated.

Sierra Canyon coach Jon Ellinghouse after their 40-0 victory over Bishop Amat, and how he’s feeling as the playoffs near. pic.twitter.com/uclBj2hfuT

— Fred J. Robledo (@SGVNSports) October 25, 2025

“We’re excited. We feel like our team has been working really hard,” Sierra Canyon coach Jon Ellinghouse said after the win. “Hats off to Bishop Amat, coach (Kory) Minor is doing a great job over there. He’s got those guys going the right way and I have a lot of respect for them. But we played good tonight.”

Sierra Canyon quarterback Laird Finkel put together a solid evening, completing 13 of 19 passes for 174 yards and three touchdowns. Four different Trailblazers players scored touchdowns with De’Markus Barnes scoring twice.

Ellinghouse said he’s not thinking about the playoffs yet, but he knows the postseaon is near.

“We’ve got to beat Loyola next week and we’ve learned lessons along the way,” Ellinghouse said. “We’re not looking ahead. We’re excited about where we are and what we’ve done so far this year. Super excited about the prospects, I believe in my guys. But we’ve got to take them one game at a time.”

For Bishop Amat, the most important hurdle it cleared was leaving Friday’s game injury-free heading into next week’s league finale at home against Serra. Thanks to back-to-back victories over Notre Dame and Loyola before taking on Sierra Canyon, the Lancers (5-4, 2-2) have a chance to finish no worse than third with a win over the Cavaliers next week.

Bishop Amat is in a strong position to earn either an automatic playoff spot through league play or an at-large berth, which would be a major accomplishment for first-year coach Kory Minor, who inhertied a squad that finished 2-8 last season, and was coming off its first back-to-back losing seasons in school history.

Minor thought his team played well and was physical in stretches, but also realized Sierra Canyon is a different animal than most.

“That’s a phenomenal football team we played,” Minor said. “That’s why they’re No. 2 in the state and No. 7 in the country. They’re good across the board. A lot of teams have one guy here or one guy there, but across the board, especially on defense, they’re all talented, all 11 of them. If you get behind the chains, it can be rough.”

Bishop Amat coach Kory Minor after a 40-0 loss to Sierra Canyon, and what he thought of one of the nation’s top ranked teams pic.twitter.com/Ci0xzkvKwZ

— Fred J. Robledo (@SGVNSports) October 25, 2025

The Lancers had trouble penetrating the Trailblazers’ defense, which posted its fifth shutout and has allowed just 40 points all season.

Lancers quarterback Domenico Doran had a rough night, completing just 2 of 9 passes for negative-3 yards. Standout running back Ryan Salcedo was held to 38 yards on 18 carries. Both were pulled after three quarters.

You knew things would be tough when Amat fumbled on its opeing drive at its own 29.

It was sort of a mini victory to keep the Trailblazers out of the end zone, forcing them to settle for Cartel Sobel’s 25-yard field goal and 3-0 lead.

The Lancers gave the Trailblazers another short field after falling short on a fourth-down try.

Just seconds into the second quarter, Finkel made them pay with a 12-yard touchdown pass to Brayden Tautolo for a 10-0 lead.

The Trailblazers extended their lead midway through the second quarter on a seven-play, 61-yard drive that culminated with Barnes’ 5-yard touchdown run to move ahead, 17-0.

Finkel threw his second touchdown of the half to Mikhal Johnson for 5 yards, extending the Trailblazers’ lead to 23-0, which they took into half.

The Trailblazers left no doubt on the second play of the second half. Finkel hit Sir Homer King Webb over the middle for a 78-yard touchdown and a 30-0 lead.

Barnes scored his second touchdown with a 23-yard run late in the third quarter.