Canyon’s Country Boys Make Their City Proud, 9-7 : Cowboys Fumble 5 Times, but Beat Antelope Valley

Harry Welch stood in the middle of the Canyon High School football field, trying to explain what transpired Friday night.

“We picked a strange time to play our poorest game of the year,” said Welch, the coach of the Cowboys. “We did things tonight that we haven’t done in three years.”

Canyon did such uncharacteristic things as fumble five times, miss a conversion and generally not execute offensively.

But, the Cowboys did something that is not strange to them--they won the Southern Section’s Northwestern Conference title for the third straight year--a 9-7 victory over Antelope Valley before a crowd of about 4,000. It was the Cowboys’ 38th straight win over three seasons.

The victory ended a 14-0 season for the Cowboys, who had to struggle against a team they defeated, 30-6, four weeks ago in the regular season.

Despite its offensive struggles, Canyon still had control of the game, 9-0, with just under three minutes left to play. But on a fourth-down play from the Antelope Valley 48, what might have turned out as a disaster struck Canyon.

A snap over the head of Cowboy punter Randy Austin turned into the Antelopes’ only touchdown.

Austin ran the ball down, but his attempted pass landed in the hands of James Richards, who ran 20 yards for a touchdown with 2:41 left. It was Canyon’s fifth fumble, but the only one the Cowboys lost.

“That was our best offensive play of the game,” Antelope Valley Coach Brent Newcomb said.

Antelope Valley (9-5) was as inept on offense as Canyon was. The Antelopes had just 145 yards in total offense.

But after Peter Jensen’s extra point, the Antelopes trailed by just two points.

“I saw a green jersey and I just tried to flick it,” Austin, the Cowboys’ All-Southern Section linebacker, said of his attempted pass to a would-be Canyon receiver. “It was stupid.”

But Austin was saved from being the goat when Canyon’s Jeff Carter recovered an onsides kickoff attempt and Canyon ran the clock down to :46 before relinquishing possession.

Antelope Valley took over at its 33, but could only advance to its 47 as time expired.

“We just never got into sync on offense,” said Welch, who won his third title in four seasons as the Cowboys’ coach.

Canyon, which had been averaging 32 points a game, managed just 244 yards in total offense.

The Cowboys scored on their first possession, going 48 yards in eight plays.

Lance Cross, who rushed for 105 yards on 20 carries, went in from one yard out to make it 6-0 Canyon with 5:36 left in the first quarter.

It stayed at 6-0 when a bad snap foiled the conversion attempt.

It was one of many Cowboy mistakes.

Later in the first quarter, Ron Lindberg missed a 44-yard field goal attempt.

With 1:40 left in the first half, Jeff Paskwietz dropped a pass at the Antelopes’ five-yard line on a fourth-down play. The only thing that stood between Paskwietz and the goal line on the play was grass.

Antelope Valley also had its blunders. With 3:37 left in the half, Jensen was wide left on a 38-yard field goal attempt.

Canyon increased its lead to 9-0 the first time it had the ball in the second half.

From their own 33, the Cowboys drove to the Antelopes’ 11, before settling for a 28-yard field goal by Lindberg.

Antelope Valley then put together its best offensive drive, moving down to the Canyon 23.

But quarterback Ron Whipple fumbled the ball and Canyon’s Kevin Doss recovered at the 20.

Doss, a sophomore, was playing in his first varsity game in place of Cary Caulfield.

Caulfied, the Cowboys’ senior linebacker, missed the game after being involved in a car accident Wednesday. Caulfield required 70 stitches in his head from the incident.

“The team is 38-0,” Welch said. “They’ve won in the rain, they’ve won in the heat, they’ve won in Central California and they’ve won here. They’re 38-0. Who else can say that?”

Canyon’s 38-Game Streak

Date Opponent Site Score 1983 REGULAR SEASON Oct. 7 Dominguez Canyon 34-0Oct. 14 Antelope Valley Canyon 14-6Oct. 21 Palmdale Palmdale 21-7Oct. 28 Saugus College of Canyons 52-13 Nov. 4 Burroughs (Ridge) Canyon 33-20 Nov. 11 Quartz Hill Quartz Hill 40-21 PLAYOFFS

Nov. 18 Blair Canyon 41-20 Nov. 25 Mary Star Harbor JC 14-7Dec. 2 Monrovia Monrovia 27-25 Dec. 10 Bishop Montgomery College of Canyons 40-24 1984 REGULAR SEASON Sept. 7 Hart College of Canyons 21-6Sept. 14 St. Genevieve Canyon 46-7Sept. 21 Thousand Oaks Canyon 19-14 Sept. 28 Notre Dame Notre Dame 20-7 Oct. 5 Crespi Canyon 46-0Oct. 12 Palmdale Canyon 47-3Oct. 19 Saugus College of Canyons 35-6Oct. 26 Burroughs (Ridge.) Burroughs 21-0Nov. 2 Quartz Hill Canyon 28-6Nov. 9 Antelope Valley Antelope Valley 26-14 PLAYOFFS Nov. 16 St. Joseph Canyon 8-7 Nov. 23 St. Bernard St. Bernard 19-9Nov. 30 Atascadero Canyon 27-6Dec. 7 Santa Maria College of Canyons 33-61985 REGULAR SEASON Sept. 13 Hart College of Canyons 6-3 Sept. 20 La Canada Canyon 35-9Sept. 27 Thousand Oaks Thousand Oaks 21-0Oct. 4 Notre Dame Canyon 21-14 Oct. 11 Crespi Birmingham 35-0Oct. 18 Palmdale Palmdale 14-0Oct. 25 Saugus College of Canyons 42-0Nov. 1 Burroughs (Ridge.) Canyon 62-6Nov. 8 Quartz Hill Quartz Hill 33-0Nov. 15 Antelope Valley Canyon 30-6PLAYOFFS

Nov. 22 Serra Canyon 53-0Nov. 29 Santa Maria Santa Maria 35-7Dec. 6 Lompoc Lompoc 30-6Dec. 13 Antelope Valley Canyon 9-7 Last Loss was Sept. 30, 1983, to Notre Dame, 7-0.