Particularly in football, the Spartans have won two city titles under former head coach Jeff Engilman, in 1992 and 1994.
Since then, the Spartans have had plenty of[clarification needed] 10+ win seasons making playoffs but have fallen short of advancing to the championship games.
Engilman retired from coaching in 2003 with London Woodfin, the offensive coordinator, taking the reins.
In Woodfin's first season as head coach in 2004 the team went 9–3 and lost to Dorsey High School 55–13 in the playoffs.
In 2014, the Sylmar football team made it to the Division 2 championship game, losing 58–31 to Hamilton High School.