Canyon Comes Back to Earth in 14-3 Loss to Diamond Bar

The honeymoon is over for the Canyon High School football team.

After snapping a 17-game losing streak with a victory over Corona last week, the Comanches were beaten by the Diamond Bar Brahmas, 14-3, Friday night.

Mostly, it was a stingy Diamond Bar defense that kept Canyon from winning their second in a row. Canyon quarterback Chuck Nickerson was sacked seven times for 38 yards in losses, and the Brahmas secondary wasn’t any kinder. They intercepted Nickerson twice and covered his receivers so tightly he completed just two of eight passes.

“We just made a lot of mistakes . . . self-destruction,” Canyon coach Loren Shumer said. “We couldn’t give the quarterback enough time. Then when we did, he couldn’t find his receivers.

“We are just going to have to improve our passing game or we’re going to face 9- and 10-man fronts all season. They (Diamond Bar, 2-0) sent a lot of people and we just couldn’t block them.”

The Comanches (1-1) were more successful rushing, however. They gained 115 yards, with sophomore running back Jeff Brunswig getting 85 of them in 20 carries.

That wasn’t enough to produce any touchdowns, though. And it also wasn’t enough to offset Diamond Bar quarterback Tito Quiles (8 of 15 for 95 yards)--who kept the offense moving at just the right times--and touchdowns by running backs Mike Jones and Frank Delgadillo.

Canyon’s only score was a 24-yard field goal by Chris Snitko with 3:42 remaining in the first quarter. And that was the only score by either team until Delgadillo scored from two yards out late in the third quarter.