Carson Guzzo was the starting center for Simi Valley’s freshman football team this season. He got called up to the varsity to stand on the sideline and get some experience watching the intensity of the Southern Section Division 5 playoffs.
But when the starting center went down because of an injury on Friday night, Simi Valley coach Jim Benkert didn’t hesitate to turn to Guzzo, who delivered in the second half to help the Pioneers upset Temecula Valley 35-30.
Benkert said Simi Valley’s next-man-up mentality was embraced by the 5-foot-11, 240-pound freshman. Guzzo didn’t have any bad snaps when the Pioneers were in shotgun formation.
Simi Valley is 7-5 and set to play Agoura in a Division 5 semifinal. Benkert has 324 career coaching victories, the most by an active high school coach in California.
Quarterback Connor Petrov passed for three touchdowns and Salvador Villa ran for 191 yards and one touchdown for the Pioneers.
This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.
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