Golden Rerun : Intra-League Rivals Canyon, Antelope Valley Meet for High Stakes Again With a Title on Line in High Desert

Moments after his team lost a close game to Canyon High, 10-9, Antelope Valley Coach Brent Newcomb weaved through a crowd of Canyon players, shaking hand after bandaged hand.

“Nice game,” Newcomb told the Cowboys, who clinched their sixth Golden League title in the past 7 years by defeating Antelope Valley on the Antelopes’ home field 6 weeks ago. “Hope we see you guys in the playoffs.”

Last week, moments after his team had flattened Buena, 45-14, in the Southern Section Division II semifinal, Canyon Coach Harry Welch learned which team the Cowboys would face in the championship game.

“I don’t like that at all,” Welch said.

Sorry, Harry. It’s A. V. . . . again.

With Antelope Valley’s 23-13 semifinal win over Palmdale, another Golden League power, Newcomb’s hopes were fulfilled--a golden opportunity to avenge the Antelopes’ loss in an All-Golden League final.

“It was a long shot, I know,” Newcomb said. “But I’ll tell you, we’re buzzing up here. Our kids are ready to play.”

And despite Welch’s initial reaction, so is Canyon. “I think it’s a challenge for me to prepare our kids,” Welch said. “It’s just that I would prefer not to play anybody I’ve played before.”

It seems that every time Welch turns around the Cowboys are butting their Stetsons with the antlers of the Antelopes. And almost always, something meaningful is on the line. A league title. A 46-game winning streak. A conference championship.

Tonight it is the Division II title, as Canyon (11-2) travels to Antelope Valley (11-2) for a 7:30 showdown. It is the sixth meeting between the schools in the past 4 years and the second time they will play twice in the same season. Canyon has won 5 of the 6, and, since he began at Canyon in 1982, Welch has won 6 of 7 meetings with the Newcomb-coached Antelopes.

“I think it’s kind of neat, playing a Golden League final,” Newcomb said. “Shows the rest of the section how strong our league is.”

Canyon, led by a swarming defense that has allowed an average of 13 points a game, has won 11 in a row after an 0-2 start. Behind a bludgeoning offensive line, the Cowboys have rushed for 2,643 yards, most in the Valley area.

Antelope Valley is led by multi-threat Tommie Smith (6-foot-2, 210 pounds), who has rushed for 1,799 yards and scored 26 touchdowns. Smith rushed for 101 yards in a 17-3 loss to Loyola, the only player this season to top the 100 mark against the Cubs.

Against Canyon, however, Smith rushed for a season-low 46 yards and fumbled in the fourth quarter on the Cowboys’ 1-yard line while diving for what would have been the winning touchdown.

“That was last time,” Smith said of the fumble. “It won’t happen again.”

Welch acknowledges that Canyon will be hard-pressed to repeat its performance.

“It’s very difficult,” he said, “for a high school team to beat the same team twice in one year.”

Welch speaks from experience. In 1985, Canyon routed Antelope Valley, 30-6, during the regular season. Yet a month later, the Cowboys squeaked by Antelope Valley, 9-7, in the Northwestern Conference championship game, the team’s third consecutive Southern Section title.

“They dominated that game,” Newcomb said. “Somebody of theirs dropped a pass that would have blown the game wide open.”

Antelope Valley’s only score came when Canyon linebacker Randy Austin, now with UCLA, threw a pass from punt formation that was intercepted and returned for a touchdown.

Both games in 1985 were played at Canyon. For Welch and the Cowboys, the road to their fourth championship in the past 6 years takes them into the high desert. And when Canyon followers think of the field at Antelope Valley, most assuredly they think of the 1986 regular-season meeting. Newcomb refers to it as “The Big Game.” Antelope Valley upset Canyon, 21-20, to snap the Cowboys’ famed 46-game winning streak.

“They dominated for three quarters,” Welch said. “We couldn’t do anything right.”

At least not in the final 8 minutes. Antelope Valley built a 21-0 lead, yet barely held on. Canyon quarterback Ken Sollom, now at Michigan, threw 3 quick touchdown passes to pull the Cowboys to within a point with seconds to play.

But the game--and Canyon’s streak--ended on a 2-point conversion attempt as Sollom was stacked up on an option play.

“The buildup on that game was incredible,” Welch said. “Everyone was there. Radio stations, USA Today.”

Said Newcomb: “It put us on the map.”

Yet with all the talk of rivalries, Newcomb’s “Big Game” amounts to his only win against Welch, who is 80-12 at Canyon and 34-1 in Golden League play.

Newcomb, in his 20th season at Antelope Valley, has a career record of 93-42-1, 8-5 against Canyon since the rivalry began in 1977. Antelope Valley won a Southern Section title in 1981 and lost to Muir, 37-0, in the 1986 championship game.

But since 1982, Welch’s first year at Canyon, Newcomb is 1-7 against the Cowboys. That is probably why he considers Canyon the favorite.

“They’ve had such great tradition and all the winning they’ve done, they’ve got the advantage,” he said. “Everyone probably assumes Canyon will win. But I’ll tell you, we’re coming off a high over Palmdale. There are 53 guys and 5 coaches who are just gonna do our best to stop them.”

Welch, whose team won both games in 1985 at Canyon, sees things differently.

“Certainly, it’s an advantage for any team to play on their home field. At Canyon we’ve lost maybe one or two games the whole time I’ve been there.

“I’d rather be playing someone else. But I like to think we have a mental edge. I’d rather be coaching the Cowboys than any other team.”