Southern Section Football : Canyon Earns Another Golden Title, 41-7 : GOLDEN LEAGUE

Canyon High secured its sixth Golden League title in the past 7 years by rolling past Saugus, 41-7, Thursday night at College of the Canyons.

Rod Baltau threw 3 touchdown passes--2 to Jason Stanley--and Chris Peery ran for 2 other scores as Canyon (8-2 overall, 5-0 in league play) scored the first 41 points and rolled up 444 yards of total offense.

Saugus (1-8-1, 1-4) averted a shutout when Brandon King ran 1 yard for a touchdown with 3:33 left, capping a 97-yard drive.

Baltau, a senior who has passed for 1,479 yards this season, completed 13 of 20 passes for 212 yards.

Peery opened the scoring with a 1-yard run in the first quarter, and Baltau connected with Brian Schroeder on a 12-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter to give Canyon a 13-0 lead.

Stanley, who had 5 catches for 67 yards, was on the receiving end of scoring passes of 14 and 9 yards, the second of which gave Canyon a 27-0 lead.

Peery, who also scored on a 4-yard run late in the third quarter, ran for a game-high 110 yards in 15 carries. The tailback, who was the state sophomore player of the year last season, has rushed for 1,088 yards this season.

Mark Santos added 75 yards in 14 carries, including a 6-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

The Canyon defense held Saugus to 26 yards rushing and 137 total yards.

Saugus quarterback Jason Sachs completed 8 of 20 passes for 111 yards and carried 10 times for 17 yards.

Canyon’s Joe Wade had 4 catches for 52 yards. Canyon balanced Baltau’s passing with 219 rushing yards.