PREP FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS : NORTHWESTERN : Canyon vs. Antelope Valley : Cowboys After a Third Title

Hat tricks of two different kinds will be at stake when Canyon High of Canyon Country plays Antelope Valley for the Southern Section’s Northwestern Conference football championship Friday night at 7:30 at Canyon.

Canyon (13-0) will be seeking its third straight conference championship. Antelope Valley (9-4) will be after its third straight playoff victory over a previously unbeaten team.

In the quarterfinals, Antelope Valley stunned second-seeded Verbum Dei, 30-20. Last week, the Antelopes knocked off third-seeded Hawthorne, 13-12.

But in top-rated Canyon, Antelope Valley will be facing a team that has not only won 37 straight games but also numbers the Antelopes among its recent victims, having dispatched them in the final game of the regular season, 30-6.

That victory seemed to be a costly one for the Cowboys, who lost quarterback John Watkins for the playoffs with a broken left wrist.

His replacement, Ken Sollom, has performed exceptionally well in the last three weeks, however, throwing for eight touchdowns.

In a 30-6 win over Lompoc in the semifinals, Sollom completed 12 of 17 passes for 194 yards and 4 touchdowns.

Canyon has outscored its three playoffs opponents, 118-13. For the season, the Cowboys have outscored opponents, 417-51.

Canyon Coach Harry Welch said he is concerned that his team will be thinking: “Hey, we’ve won the last two championships and we’re playing a team we’ve already beat, so let’s phone this one in.”

Welch said Antelope Valley is playing much better than when the teams first met. “Chemistry is as important as physical talent,” he said. “Right now, they are playing with great chemistry.”

The addition of Byron Russell has aided the Antelopes’ running game.

Russell, a 5-foot 10-inch, 190-pound sophomore, rushed for more than 1,000 yards on the sophomore team. For the playoffs, he has moved from tailback to fullback.

“He has made our running game go,” Antelope Valley Coach Brent Newcomb said.

Antelope Valley has won three Southern Section championships, its latest being the 1981 Northwestern Conference title.

“Our kids are just sky-high,” Newcomb said Tuesday. “They could play tonight.”