Schools

It's a Building Process: Sierra Canyon Eagerly Awaits New Football Stadium

The Trailblazers are hoping the new digs will be ready by the beginning of Alpha League competition.

Sierra Canyon High’s football team is getting a new stadium, and it looks like it's going to be sooner than expected.

Construction has begun, and coach Jon Ellinghouse says the target date for the grand opening is Oct. 6 – just in time for the Alpha League opener against visiting Kilpatrick.

“It’s a top-of-the-line stadium. It’s going to be awesome,” Ellinghouse said. “The foundation was put in last week, and you can see it’s going be a natural bowl.”

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In the meantime, Sierra Canyon, coming off a 12-2 season including fa runner-up finish in the East Valley Division, is practicing at Cal Lutheran in Camarillo – about 10 degrees cooler than Chatsworth.

“We’re lucky to be able to come there because Cal Lutheran’s coach, Ben McEnroe, is a good friend of mine from when we both coached at Chaminade,” Ellinghouse said. “It’s a nice college field.”

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If construction is not completed on time, Sierra Canyon will play its home games at neutral sites, mostly at Granada Hills High and one at Pierce College.

HARD WORK AHEAD

On Monday, Sierra Canyon returns from summer break, and this is when the going gets tough with two-a-day practices in full pads. In the past, it’s been known as hell week, but Ellinghouse doesn’t like that term.

“We have to be politically correct,” he said. “But these two-a-days, it’s something that everyone who plays football has got to do, so it’s sort of a rite of passage.”

The season opener is Sept. 3 against visiting Horizon at Granada Hills High. Kickoff is 7 p.m.

BY THE NUMBERS

After passing for 2,861 yards and 39 touchdowns as a junior, Tyler Stewart returns as Sierra Canyon’s quarterback. He’s more experienced and again has a good batch of receivers led by top college prospect Julian Brooks, but Stewart probably won’t pass for quite as many yards and touchdowns, Ellinghouse said.

But that’s a good thing.

“It’s only because we have so many good running backs, plus our entire offensive line is coming back,” Ellinghouse said. “I think Tyler is much better than he was last year, but we’re going to emphasize running the football.  That’s going to be our strength. Tyler has proven he can pass with the best of them, and this year he has to make the important throws.

“We know he can pass for 3,000 yards or whatever, but some games he might only pass for 100 yards.”

Sierra Canyon returns its three leading rushers from last season, senior Danny Jordan (837 yards, six touchdowns, junior Xavier Menifield (1,014 yards, 12 touchdowns) and sophomore Kieran Yancy (201 yards, one touchdown).

“Sometimes, they’re all going to be on the field at the same time,” Ellinghouse said.

Yancy is no typical third-string running back. He was a Pop Warner star, and he is expected to make a major contribution this year. He also has good bloodlines, as two of his brothers are playing college football.

“Kieran is going to be one heck of a football player,” Ellinghouse said.


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