Thursday night was supposed to be a special night for Sierra Canyon (CA), the No. 17 team in the USA TODAY Sports Super 25 rankings, as the Trailblazers hosted Saint Louis (HI) in their home opener.
Unfortunately, the game would not be played to its conclusion as an injury forced the game to be called early on Sept. 10.
According to a report from Ethan Hansom of the Los Angeles Daily News, Saint Louis sophomore quarterback Luke Shigeta was injured with 6:41 remaining in the third quarter and had to be taken off on a stretcher.
Shigeta had been injured following contact to his helmet and the game was stopped.
After a lengthy delay, Shigeta was taken to a nearby hospital by ambulance. Hanson noted that Sierra Canyon head coach Jon Ellinghouse and
Saint Louis head coach Tupu Alualu met at midfield and decided to end the game with Sierra Canyon being awarded the 52-0 victory.
“Safety of the kids is most important thing,” Ellinghouse says in the report. “A lot of respect to St. Louis. It’s an emotional thing seeing a teammate hurt and being taken away in an ambulance. I think obviously the game was decided and we had a running clock situation anyways.
...We got together and (Alualu) thought it was the best way to end. I respected his wishes. Nothing but respect for him and we’ll move on to next week.”
Alualu has not provided an update on Shigeta's condition at the time but told Hanson about his importance to the team.
With the win, Sierra Canyon moves to 3-0 on the season and will host Orange Lutheran (CA) next Friday. Saint Louis drops to 0-4 on the season and will play its third consecutive game against a Super 25 team next Saturday as the Crusaders host St. John Bosco (CA).
Follow Sports Reporter Joe Spears on X at @joe_spears7 or via email: JSpears@usatodayco.com. For additional high school sports coverage, be sure to follow USA TODAY High School Sports on Instagram and X.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: California high school football game called early following injury
