Canyon Beats Hart to Win Foothill

Five seasons after coming out of retirement with a promise to resurrect the Canyon Country Canyon football program, Coach Harry Welch’s vision and commitment were fulfilled Thursday night when the Cowboys upset seventh-ranked Newhall Hart, 16-14, to win the Foothill League title in front of a capacity crowd at College of the Canyons.

J.J. DiLuigi scored his 37th touchdown of the season on a three-yard run with 8:48 left to give the Cowboys (9-1 overall, 5-0) a two-point advantage.

Hart (8-2, 4-1), which struggled on offense throughout, put together its best drive of the game after taking possession at its eight with 2:58 left. Quarterback Tyler Lyon completed a 30-yard pass to James Wheeler. Then Lyon ran 22 yards on a scramble. Soon, it was first and goal on the Canyon six. But a botched handoff fell to the ground, and Canyon’s Tyler Hawkins fell on the loose ball with 1:41 left.

By winning their first league title since 1990, the Cowboys made a hero of Welch, who in the 1980s guided Canyon to a 46-game winning streak and three Southern Section titles before stepping down. “We could not have done this without Coach Welch,” defensive tackle Garrett Leary said.

DiLuigi rushed for 140 yards in 24 carries, and Austin Civita completed 16 of 26 passes for 164 yards and one touchdown. Canyon’s defense shut out Hart in the second half after trailing at halftime, 14-10.

The Cowboys overcame a remarkable performance by Hart’s Wheeler, who returned a kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown, caught a 60-yard touchdown pass, made two interceptions, recovered a fumble, blocked an extra point and caught five passes for 113 yards.

-- Eric Sondheimer

Chino Hills 21, Chino 17 -- Getting big plays from its offense, defense and special teams, Chino Hills won what may have been the defining game in the school’s short history, a victory that clinched the Sierra League title. With only its second class of seniors, Chino Hills beat a team that had won eight league titles in the last 10 years.

Junior Steven Thomas blocked a Mario Merandi punt and returned it 25 yards to give Chino Hills (10-0, 5-0) a 7-0 lead. After Ryan Stanford scored on a 67-yard run to tie the score, Lance Roenicke passed six yards to Tony Harkey to give Chino Hills a 14-7 lead in the first quarter.

In the fourth quarter, when Chino (8-2, 4-1) had first and goal at the nine-yard line, defensive end Darren Smith made consecutive tackles for losses of two and seven yards.

On fourth down from the 18, Jason Basham tackled Chino receiver Corey Attaway inside the one.

Chino’s Attaway kicked a 29-yard field goal, and Stanford rushed 29 times for 235 yards, including another touchdown of 46 yards to give Chino a 17-14 lead after three quarters. Jason Assanah’s 11-yard touchdown run with 8:17 left in the fourth quarter provided the final margin.

-- Martin Henderson

San Pedro 29, Harbor City Narbonne 25 -- J’Vone Hibbler carried 33 times for 177 yards and a touchdown, and his San Pedro teammate, Devin Carter, carried 24 times for 142 yards and a touchdown to counter the performance of Narbonne tailback Major Culbert, who rushed for 230 yards and two touchdowns in 20 carries.

San Pedro (8-2, 5-0), which won its seventh game in row on its way to the Marine League title, ended a four-game winning streak for visiting Narbonne (6-4, 4-1).

Culbert ran for 154 yards in the first half, including a 92-yard touchdown near the end of the first quarter. He also had a 40-yard run that set up the Gauchos’ first touchdown, a one-yard keeper by Eddie Mendival. Narbonne scored in the second quarter when defensive end Antaan Brown picked up a blocked punt and carried it 14 yards.

Culbert ran 27 yards for his second touchdown midway thought the third quarter to give the Gauchos a 24-14 advantage, but San Pedro scored on a 20-yard Hibbler run with 4:00 left in the third quarter, then took its first lead on a three-yard run by Carter with 8:12 left to play.

-- Mike Terry

Long Beach Poly 48, Lakewood 10 -- Despite drawing a rain of yellow flags, Long Beach Poly continued its reign as Moore League champion with a convincing victory at Veterans Stadium in Long Beach.

Poly (8-2, 6-0) came in having won 60 consecutive league games, but for the third time in as many seasons had to beat Lakewood (8-2, 5-1) in its regular-season finale to extend its streak of league titles, which now stands at 11. Despite committing 18 penalties for 152 yards, the Jackrabbits rolled to victory, thanks in large part to an attacking defense and solid special-teams play.

Terrence Austin, who caught four passes for 54 yards, returned two first-half kickoffs for touchdowns to help Poly take a 21-3 lead into the break, and the Jackrabbits forced three second-half turnovers that led to touchdowns to put the game away.

Millicent Olawale completed seven of 11 passes for 145 yards for the Jackrabbits, capping the game’s scoring with a 75-yard touchdown pass to Patterson with 4:28 left.

Lakewood’s Justin Robertson rushed 23 times for 50 yards.

-- Josh Gajewski