Canoga Park’s 6-Minute Drill Ends in Victory Behind Myers

Behind the precision passing of Jeff Myers, Canoga Park High came from behind and defeated Chatsworth, 17-14, at home Friday.

With six minutes left in the game Canoga Park trailed, 14-10, but the Hunters drove 77 yards in nine plays and scored the winning touchdown on a one-yard run by Myers.

Myers, who completed 18 of 30 pass attempts for 187 yards, was 6 of 6 on the drive. Three of the completions were good for first downs and Myers picked up another with a 12-yard run.

But Chatsworth did not fold easily. The Chancellors took over on their own 30-yard line with just under three minutes left, and were able to move the ball to Canoga Park’s 19-yard line.

Chatsworth attempted to call a timeout with 10 seconds left, but had used its final one a few minutes earlier. The Chancellors’ field-goal unit stood on the sidelines as their offense watched the final seconds tick off without running a play.

With the win, Canoga Park (5-2, 3-0 in league) moved into the driver’s seat in the Sunset League race. Chatsworth, which has won the last two league titles, dropped to 4-3, 2-1.

Before leading Canoga Park to its winning touchdown, it appeared that Myers might be the game’s goat.

On its first possession of the second half, Canoga Park held the ball for over eight minutes and moved to Chatsworth’s 24-yard line. The drive ended there, however, when Myers was intercepted by Kurt Moeller. Moeller returned the ball 66 yards to the Canoga Park 12-yard line.

But Chatsworth could not take advantage of the turnover. On fourth-and-two at the Hunters’ four-yard line, the Chancellors were unable to make a first down when Brian Hoffman tackled Spence Durham for a two-yard loss.

Durham did not start the game, but finished with 57 yards on 12 carries. Quarterback Bryan Addison led the Chancellors with 100 yards rushing, but he completed only 7 of 20 passes for 82 yards. Six of his passes were deflected and he was sacked three times.

Canoga Park held a 10-7 advantage at the half after Mike Conover kicked a 35-yard field goal with just under two minutes left in the half.

The field goal was set up by a Chatsworth penalty a few plays earlier. Canoga Park was forced to punt the ball, but the Hunters were allowed to maintain possession after Chatsworth was penalized for having 12 men on the field.

Canoga Park took a 7-0 lead two minutes into the second quarter on a 62-yard punt return by Les Estrada. The ball was punted in Conover’s direction, but Estrada stepped in front of him and returned the ball down the left sideline for the score.

Chatsworth tied the score on its next possession when Durham scored on a seven-yard run around the left end. Durham appeared to have been forced out of bounds inside the one-yard line, but the officials indicated Durham had scored.

The score climaxed an eight-play, 65-yard drive by the Chancellors. Addison, who rushed for 90 yards on eight carries in the first half, picked up two first downs on the drive with runs of 23 and 18 yards.

Chatsworth missed a scoring opportunity on its first possession of the game when Matt Helm’s 35-yard field goal attempt sailed wide to the left.