Saddleback shuts out Magnolia in Zeta League finale and clinches outright crown

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Saddleback football players and coaches celebrate an outright league title Friday night. (Photo courtesy Saddleback Athletics).

Saddleback High School’s football team, which had already clinched a share of the Zeta League title, won the outright crown Friday night defeating Magnolia 23-0 at Saddleback.

It’s the first league title for Saddleback since 1986 and Coach Rob Thompson’s Roadrunners (6-4, 4-0) are headed to the CIF playoffs next week. It will be Saddleback’s first trip to the playoffs since 2015.

Quarterback Andre Scott threw a 34-yard TD pass to Andrew Alvarez. Chris Romero blocked a field goal attempt and Anthony Lopez returned it for a touchdown. In addition, JD Zuniga had a 30-yard touchdown run for Saddleback.

“Our defensive line played awesome,” Thompson said. “We gave them a ton of penalty yards and they still didn’t score. My defensive line coach Tupua Ionae did a great job with the defense this week.”

Magnolia fell to 1-9 overall and 1-3 in league.