THE HIGH SCHOOLS : Canyon Won 11 Games, but Welch Would Love to Have Saved One for a Rainey Day

In the foggy darkness after Friday night’s game at Glendale High, after the teams had left the field and the fans had emptied the stadium, a solitary figure walked the rain-soaked sideline. Canyon Coach Harry Welch wanted some time alone with his thoughts.

For the first time in four years his Cowboys ended a season with a defeat, losing to Muir in the Coastal Conference semifinals, 22-14.

“I guess it was time for a little meditation,” Welch said Saturday. “I feel somehow that I could have done a better job. There is one more plateau our team could have reached, and I missed it.”

Welch said he was proud of this year’s team, which was 11-2 but won no championships.

“Everyone measures success in the obvious ways,” Welch said. “What was your record? Did you win the championship? There are so many cliches you use, but this team played as hard as it could.”

Still, defeat hurts.

“I think the kids were enriched by this process, but this is different from other years,” he said. “There’s a scoreboard for a purpose. You can’t deny that. Losing is sad.”

Muir meets Antelope Valley in the Coastal Conference final at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Antelope Valley. Welch, whose team’s only losses this season came to those teams, predicted an Antelope Valley victory by 14 points.

Numbers are deceiving: Although the final score indicates just another rout by Banning over a Valley team, Kennedy Coach Bob Francola insists Friday’s 29-0 defeat is misleading. Kennedy had one more first down than Banning and was outgained by only 30 yards (198-168), despite losing its best athlete in the first half when Dion Lambert was ejected for fighting.

Francola pointed out that Kennedy failed to score from the one-yard line early in the third quarter with Banning leading, 15-0, and Banning’s last 14 points came in the final four minutes of the game.

Banning’s last touchdown was a 48-yard pass with two minutes left, a play that infuriated Kennedy assistant coach Tom Sams, who accused Banning of running up the score.

He yelled from the Kennedy sideline, then directed his attack at Banning Coach Chris Ferragamo after the game.

Francola said he was embarrassed by Sams’ behavior.

“I can’t allow that to happen,” Francola said Saturday. “Tom and I have to sit down and have a talk.”

Still, Francola agreed in spirit with Sams.

“Chris wasn’t willing to sit on a 15-0 lead,” he said of the Banning coach. “I guess he figured that 15-0 doesn’t sound like a butt-kicking and 29-0 does. It’s a bitter way for the season to end.”

Ice man: Crespi’s J.J. Lasley spent Saturday soaking his injured right leg in ice and doesn’t know if he’ll play Friday against St. John Bosco.

The junior running back was injured on his first carry of this weekend’s 28-14 win over Eisenhower and sat out the rest of the game. He was examined Friday night and X-rays showed no break.