Zeigler Breaks Reception Mark in 48-6 Victory

It was like a broken record. Ken Sollom to Chad Zeigler. Ken Sollom to Chad Zeigler. Ken Sollom to Chad Zeigler.

And in Canyon High’s 48-6 rout of Dos Pueblos in the first round of the Coastal Conference playoffs Friday night at Canyon, Zeigler did indeed break a record with 204 yards receiving--a school record.

The guy who held the mark happened to be in attendance. He was on the sidelines, in fact, and couldn’t have been more pleased with Zeigler’s effort.

Bill Bost, a Canyon assistant coach in charge of receivers, caught seven passes for 180 yards--both school records--against Hart in 1973. Zeigler caught seven Friday night, so their names will be side by side in the record book in that category.

“It made me real proud to watch Chad accomplish this,” said Bost, who has developed a friendship with Zeigler while coaching him for three years.

Zeigler, who caught touchdown passes from Sollom of 34, 43 and 79 yards, had a different expression on his face than he had last week when he dropped three passes against Palmdale. He smiled Friday.

“When I drop a pass I get down wondering if I’ll catch the next one,” he said. “During the week, the coaches questioned how much I want to play. I had to show them.”

On the 43-yard touchdown, he showed off a wicked straight arm that jolted two consecutive defenders. On the 79-yard touchdown, he knocked heads with a defensive back after catching Sollom’s pass 12 yards over the middle, kept his balance and outraced everyone to the end zone. Zeigler obviously showed no ill effects of the severe concussion that kept him sidelined for three weeks at midseason.

“Chad is the strongest guy on our team,” Coach Harry Welch said. “He bench presses 320, more than any lineman. I wouldn’t want to try to cover him or tackle him.”

Sollom, who is Zeigler’s cousin, enjoys throwing to him, however. After being sacked five times in the first half, the 6-3 quarterback went to a shorter drop and finished 12 of 20 for 285 yards and four touchdowns.

“I was overstriding on some early passes and waiting too long to release on others,” Sollom said. “I was more relaxed in the second half.”

So was Welch, who substituted freely after Canyon’s 13th consecutive playoff win was certain.

Canyon even tried to kick an extra point after its last score, but Chad Lems’ attempt was wide to the left. Because kicker Tom Gahry suffered a knee injury two weeks ago, Canyon has been going for dos after touchdowns and, against Dos Pueblos, was successful on three of six attempts.

Canyon (10-1) will play Thousand Oaks in the second round of the playoffs Friday.

Canyon converted twice on fourth and long in the first half on passes from Sollom to Zeigler. The second one came with less than a minute to go in the first half and resulted in a 34-yard touchdown that gave Canyon a 22-6 halftime lead.

The first fourth-down conversion helped the Cowboys along on their first scoring drive after the opening kickoff. On fourth and 16 from the Dos Pueblos 26, Sollom rolled left and threw across the field to Zeigler at the three. Lance Cross scored two plays later.

Dos Pueblos scored on a 30-yard run by Doug Wakumoto off a draw play early in the second quarter to close the gap to 8-6. A pass on the conversion try failed.

Canyon’s second score was an impressive 87-yard drive consisting of 10 straight runs. On the march, Paul Chadwell had carries of 17, 11, 8, 7 and 6 yards, and Cross had carries of 20 and 11 yards. Sollom scored on a two-yard run.

Cross capped Canyon’s scoring with a 60-yard run and had 121 yards on 11 carries. Chadwell caught a 40-yard touchdown pass from Sollom in the fourth quarter and rushed for 59 yards on seven carries.

Dos Pueblos quarterback Gary Trent completed only 10 of 29 passes for 120 yards and was intercepted by Lems and Pat Linson.