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Murrieta Valley stuns San Clemente – Top 10 Southern California football game roundup (9/22/2023)

Murrieta Valley, Corona Centennial, and Kennedy (Los Angeles) all racked up massive victories on Friday

Lance Smith, SBLive Sports

Here's a quick look at the Top 10 games from Southern California for Week Five (games Sept. 21-23).

Stay tuned throughout the night for updates on the rest of the top 10 games, and other big SoCal matchups. You can also track updated scores across SoCal at our scoreboards below.

Last update: 7:06 a.m. Sunday

SCORES Sept. 21-23:

LA City Section: Thursday, Friday, Saturday

San Diego Section: Thursday, Friday, Saturday

Southern Section: Thursday, Friday, Saturday

10. Millikan 53, Jordan (Long Beach) 25

It doesn't look like there'll be any upsets for second place in the Moore League this year. Millikan dominated from wire-to-wire in a 53-25 victory over Jordan, the third-ranked team in the conference, which it has now defeated for the seventh season in a row. Xavier Jones scored four touchdowns for the Rams.

9. San Pedro 34, Dymally 28

One of the most highly-anticipated non-league games of the L.A. City Section regular season lived up to the hype. After San Pedro jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter and 27-6 in the second, Dymally spent the rest of the game trimming the deficit from three scores to two scores to one, but never quite caught up as the Pirates won 34-28. The outcome showed that both teams are about where most believed them to be entering the week – San Pedro a full-fledged Open Division contender, and Dymally successfully entering the tier of Open Division heavyweights.

8. Newbury Park 54, Thousand Oaks 42

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Newbury Park kept its offensive dominance going to start Canyon League play, registering a pivotal 54-42 win over crosstown rival Thousand Oaks. Brady Smigiel threw six touchdown passes, including four to Landon Bell.

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7. #19 Etiwanda 48, Cajon 26

Etiwanda rolled in a game that many expected to come down to the wire, defeating Cajon 48-26. Washington-bound quarterback Dermaricus Davis threw six touchdown passes to five different receivers.

6. Murrieta Valley 39, #13 San Clemente 38

After losing a one-point stunner at San Clemente in 2021, Murrieta Valley returned to San Clemente to pull off a one-point stunner of its own. The Nighthawks won 39-38 to record one of their biggest non-league wins in recent history. After scoring the first touchdown of the game, Murrieta Valley never led again until scoring the game-winning two-point conversion with 91 seconds left.

5. Kennedy (Los Angeles) 17, San Fernando 14

"Monumental" might not even be the right word for it. Kennedy is now the favorite to win the Valley Mission League – which it hasn't done in at least 20 years – after going on the road to upset previously-unbeaten San Fernando 17-14.

4. St. Mary's (Stockton) 41, Bishop Amat 31

St. Mary's put on for Northern California and dropped Bishop Amat to 1-4 in a big road win, outdueling the Lancers 41-31. Bishop Amat never led, but also never folded before succumbing to one of the top teams in the Sac-Joaquin Section.

3. St. John's (DC) 39, #9 Mission Viejo 17

Mission Viejo got going late in the game, but not after St. John's scored the first 33 points of the game. The Diablos fell 39-17 on the East Coast to its nationally-ranked opponent, which was led by Shamar McIntosh and Cinque Blount. 

2. #4 Corona Centennial 42, Liberty (AZ) 35

Down multiple scores to a nationally-ranked opponent yet again, Centennial showed its true colors, rallying for a 42-35 win over one of the top teams in Arizona. Centennial scored a touchdown with 18.9 seconds left in the second quarter to enter halftime tied 21-21, but then had to score the last 21 points of the game after Liberty jumped out to a 35-21 lead.

One of the top plays of the game was this 67-yard touchdown run from Centennial's 3-star running back Cornell Hatcher II:

1. #5 Sierra Canyon 63, Saguaro (AZ) 6 

If it wasn't yet time to call this the best Sierra Canyon team ever heading into the week, it's time now. Junior quarterback Wyatt Becker completed 18 of 22 passes for 364 yards and a school-record seven touchdowns as the Trailblazers avenged a 2021 loss to Arizona powerhouse Saguaro with a 63-6 beatdown.

Here's how we prefaced this game in weekly countdown:

"For the third time in six weeks of football, Sierra Canyon is playing in the No. 1 game in the countdown. This might be the last time that ever happens though, because the last two ended up in Sierra Canyon blowout victories. And we can't keep hyping up games that Sierra Canyon wins by halftime."

So, there you have it.

MORE NOTABLE SCORES:

#20 Damien 35, La Serna 21

Now ranked among the state's upper strata, Damien is 6-0 for the first time since 1999 after outdueling La Serna 35-21. Isaiah Arriaza led the way with three touchdown passes.

San Juan Hills 39, El Modena 18

In 2022, the highly-touted Stallions started the season a shocking 0-7. Now, they're one win away from starting the season with a reciprocal record, standing 6-0 after beating El Modena 39-18. Jake Javorsky had three sacks for San Juan Hills, which scored the first 32 points of the game.

Servite 34, St. Paul 13

Servite continued its resurgent start to the season by cruising to a 34-13 win over St. Paul, and now stands 4-1. Despite the lopsided loss, it wasn't a bad performance for St. Paul, which was able to play competitively with the Trinity League heavyweight for much of the game.

  • #1 Mater Dei 20, St. Frances (MD) 7
  • La Jolla Country Day 35, Army-Navy 6
  • Diamond Ranch 24, Glendora 23
  • Edison (Huntington Beach) 21, Wilcox 7
  • Granite Hills (El Cajon) 31, Madison 0
  • Rancho Cucamonga 34, Vista Murrieta 24
  • Upland 31, Charter Oak 10
  • Corona del Mar 17, Trabuco Hills 15
  • Citrus Valley 35, Ayala 24
Published
Lance Smith, SBLive Sports
LANCE SMITH, SBLIVE SPORTS

Lance Smith is a Reporter for SBLive Sports, covering basketball, football, and softball in California's Southern Section and LA City Section since 2019. He also covers Nevada and National Girls Basketball.

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