Defeat Became Academic for Harvard

The Harvard High football team had seen better nights.

Last Saturday at Valley College, the Saracens were playing Leuzinger in their first Southern Section championship game.

“It’s been a fun week at school,” Harvard Coach Gary Thran said before the game. “It’s been electric. The whole student body is excited.

“I’ve gotten phone calls this week from people I haven’t heard from in a long time. It’s been a thrill.”

The thrill quickly disappeared.

After trailing by only four points at the half, the deficit grew to 11 after three quarters and the Saracens ended up losing, 39-17, in the Desert-Mountain Conference final.

How tough was the game for Harvard’s offense?

Until the middle of the fourth quarter, the Saracens’ best offensive play began with an unintentional handoff. Quarterback Cory Thabit ran for four yards, fumbled and running back Andy Bell picked up the ball on a bounce and ran 28 more yards.

The fourth quarter was 12 nightmarish minutes for Harvard.

Early in the quarter, Thabit was intercepted with the Saracens trailing, 14-3. On the next play, Ron Phyfer ran 29 yards for a 21-3 Leuzinger lead.

With 5:25 left, Leuzinger increased its lead to 24-3 on a field goal.

Less than two minutes later, the Saracens trailed, 39-9. On the kickoff following the field goal, Merritt Robinson fumbled and Leuzinger’s Carlton Erwin recovered and ran 27 yards for a touchdown. The Olympians then scored on a two-point conversion.

After Harvard scored with 3:37 left, the Saracens attempted an onsides kick. Instead of recovering the ball, Leuzinger delivered its coup de grace. Al Parham grabbed the ball after one bounce and ran 41 yards straight through the Harvard defense for a touchdown.

“Sometimes,” Thran said, discussing the fluke Leuzinger scores, “you know it’s just not your night.”

Add Harvard: The biggest play of the game may have been at the start of the second half. Harvard trailed, 7-3, and got the ball to start the third quarter. But Harvard’s Alex Huh fumbled at his 31. Three plays later, Leuzinger led, 14-3.

Said Thran: “Looking at the kids’ faces as they came off the field after the fumble, you could see it was a bad sign.”

With a third straight Northwestern Conference football championship under his belt, Harry Welch is ready to do some traveling.

The Canyon coach is leaving Saturday for a 2 1/2-week trip to the Orient.

“I’ve never been there before,” Welch said, “but I hear they’ve got a pretty mean linebacker over there.

“On the way home, I’d like to stop off in Samoa and find a nose tackle.”

But Welch is not joking when it comes to the holes he must fill next year. The Canyon offense should be strong--nearly all of the skill players return--but the defense will lose nine starters, including All-Southern Section players Randy Austin and Joe Zacharia.

The 1985 Canyon football team, especially the defense, may never be matched.

“After 19 years of coaching and after seeing hundreds of teams on films,” Welch said, “I have never seen a team with a better defense.”

Canyon’s opponents scored just 58 points in 14 games this season.

“And most of the points were not scored on the defense,” Welch added. “This was truly one of the most wonderful teams I’ve ever seen.”

Welch said it was his best Canyon team ever because of the strength of the defense and the special teams.

The offense, averaging 30 points a game, was nothing to be ashamed of either.

“My gut feeling is that we have to be one of the top three teams in Southern California,” Welch said.

Add Canyon: The Cowboy players and the coaching staff were surprisingly subdued after beating Antelope Valley, 9-7, to win the title Friday.

Welch was disappointed because the Cowboys had to struggle to their 38th straight win.

“The scoreboard should not be the judge, the major measurement of evaluation,” he said. “The players, my coaches and the managers have a higher standard than the scoreboard or the CIF championship.

“I’m very proud that the kids have a higher standard.”

If the Cowboys had played up to those standards in the title game, Welch said, they should have won by 30 points.

Some people at Hart are already talking about the Canyon-Hart game next season.

Said Welch: “Let them talk about it for eight months and have a good time. Let them prepare their whole season for one game. We’re gonna prepare for 10.”

Hart Coach Rick Scott, for one, hasn’t allowed himself to get caught up in the hype--at least not yet.

Friday night, right after the Indians had lost the Coastal Conference championship to Muir, Scott was asked about the Canyon-Hart game, scheduled for Sept. 12.

“Geez,” Scott said, “do we have to start talking about next year already?”

Montclair Prep brought four propane heaters to use along the sideline in its Inland Conference championship game with Tehachapi Saturday night. At game time, the temperature in Tehachapi was 20 degrees.

The heaters began to go out in the fourth quarter, at about the same time the Mounties ran out of gas against the Warriors.

Montclair Prep lost, 17-7.

Before the football season began, The Times’ Valley Top 10 looked like this: 1. Canyon 2. Hart 3. San Fernando 4. Kennedy 5. Alemany 6. Granada Hills 7. Westlake 8. Notre Dame 9. Burbank 10. Thousand Oaks.

The final Top 10: 1. Canyon 2. Hart 3. San Fernando 4. Alemany 5. Simi Valley 6. Granada Hills 7. Thousand Oaks 8. Chatsworth 9. St. Genevieve 10. Harvard.