Verdugo Hills football edges Sun Valley Poly in East Valley League battle

TUJUNGA – Jordan Martin led the Verdugo Hills High School football team in receiving in a 17-14 East Valley League win over Sun Valley Poly but his most important catch was the one he made on defense at Turner Field Friday night.

After Verdugo Hills pulled ahead with less than two minutes to go, Martin intercepted a pass on the second play of the next drive to help seal the victory for the Dons (5-2, 3-1 East Valley).

The senior standout also knocked down a pair of passes on a night he pulled in five catches for 71 yards and a touchdown.

“He’s a great player on both sides of the ball,” said Verdugo coach Sean Jackson. “Without him, we wouldn’t be able to do a lot of the things we’re doing this year.”

The Dons took the lead on a 14-yard run play with 1:58 left in the contest. Aidan Mejia capped off an impressive drive, going for 43 yards on five carries after the Parrots were able to bottle up the run most of the night.

“We saw that they were getting a little aggressive,” said Jackson. We have a couple plays in our pocket that use to sort of neutralize that pressure.”

Verdugo Hills kicker Daniel Forgoso accounted for the only points of the first half when he kicked a 32-yard field with 2:36 left in the second quarter.

The Dons moved deep into Sun Valley territory on two other first-half drives but junior Michael Paynter and senior Jayden Cardines ended the drives with interceptions.

Sophomore Jered Smith put those two first-half interceptions behind him, finishing 18 of 27 passing for 212 yards, including a 25-yard strike to Martin that put the Dons ahead 10-6 late in the third.

Cardines had rushing scores of 11 and 67 yards from his quarterback position for the Parrots (4-3, 2-2 East Valley) while running back Damian Rosales racked up 93 rushing on 17 rush attempts.

Matthew Pirnazari chipped in with five receptions and Mejia also added a three catches in the win.

“We came out tonight and played a pretty good game,” said Jackson. “Had a couple lapses but for the most part we were locked in. We have a lot of work still to do offensively but if we can get that going we could be a force to be reckoned with.”