CANOGA PARK — It did not take long for the North Hollywood football team to show it was the more prepared team. Unfortunately for Canoga Park, it was on the wrong side of a scorching Huskies offense.
The Huskies beat the Hunters 35-0 in a nonleague game Thursday.
The Huskies have shut out back-to-back opponents to move to 2-0 this season and have outscored their opponents 87-0.
“We just kept digging deep and worked extremely hard,” said North Hollywood head coach Scott Faer. “Everything we did this week in practice showed out on the field tonight. We always have 11 guys flying towards the ball. That’s what we preach and that’s what we did tonight.”
The Huskies immediately clicked on offense and scored on their first possession. Omar Muhammed accounted for 33 rushing yards on just the first drive, which was capped by a 6-yard rushing touchdown from Jagger Belson for a quick 7-0 lead.
With the offense already clicking, the Huskies defense forced a quick three-and-out. On the ensuing drive, Belson scored his second touchdown of the game from 28 yards out to make the score 14-0.
After another forced three-and-out by the Huskies on the next possession, North Hollywood quickly moved the ball to the Warrior’s 20-yard line. Two plays later, it was another score by the Huskies, with a pass from Nate Arlauskas to Kelley Warburton that pushed the score to 21-0.
“We had some injuries and are missing about five starters, but we battled,” said Canoga Park head coach Lucius Mills. “We were facing an offense that grinds you out and North Hollywood has perfected that. We just got to watch film. We got a four-day weekend coming up and we’re going to prepare to play Hawkins.”
The Huskies were ready to score again after forcing yet another three-and-out, but despite bringing it down to the Canoga Park 9 after a 41-yard return by Muhammed, the Hunters held on and produced a blocked field goal.
The Hunters looked like they were starting to gain some momentum. Unfortunately, on their first play back on offense, Canoga Park fumbled right to Alejandro Sandoval, who took it back 15 yards for score that pushed the lead to 28-0.
A bright spot for the Hunters was Tristian Price, who ended his night with nine carries for 56 yards.
Belson ripped off a 34-yard run to gain a first down on third-and-long, and that was followed by a 44-yard touchdown run by Muhammed to make it 35-0.
Muhammed ended his night with 11 carries for 115 yards and a touchdown.
“It’s a great 1-2 duo with Jagger,” said Muhammed. “We just want to keep it going here, but it feels good to come out with another shutout win.”
Belson ended his night with six carries for 73 yards and two touchdowns.
“We kept getting 11 people to the ball at all times and made them keep fumbling,” said Belson. “Two shutouts feel good. North Hollywood is back on the map.”
