THE HIGH SCHOOLS : Palmdale Flops After 28 of its Players Join for Coin Flip Against Canyon

The setup: How many Palmdale High players does it take to flip a coin?

The punch line: 28.

The reaction: Canyon Coach Harry Welch didn’t get it.

When Welch turned the corner of the bleachers before the Palmdale-Canyon game Friday night, he was met by the sight of his four co-captains facing off at midfield with 28 members of Palmdale’s team. Four of the Falcons actually were at the 50-yard line, while the rest lined up along the hash marks.

“To me, it doesn’t matter,” Welch said Saturday. “But I’d like to stay within the rules. I do believe, if it is a violation of the rules . . . then it shouldn’t be done. I thought you could only have four, maximum. That’s what I’ve been told.”

Kent Bothwell, the first-year coach of a Palmdale program that has taken its lumps this season, said the display was a tribute to his seniors.

“It was a unity thing for our leadership, our seniors,” he said. The final punch line? Canyon won the flip, and the game, 42-6.

Round two to Casey: For Jerome Casey, it was simply a matter of respect.

In Sylmar’s 28-8 win over Grant on Friday, the back-of-all-trades rushed for 147 yards, scored three touchdowns, passed for another and delivered some teeth-chattering blows from his safety position.

His best shots, however, were reserved for a certain diminutive tailback from Reseda. Two weeks ago, one Joey Tushnet--all 5-foot-6, 150 pounds of him--wondered aloud, real loud, whether Casey was indeed the area’s best back. That, of course, came after Reseda’s 20-6 win over Sylmar.

Casey, who leads area City Section schools in rushing and scoring, took some exception. “Pound for pound, inch for inch, I’m a better man and athlete than he’ll ever be,” Casey said. “He didn’t have to say nothing about me.”

Thanks, bro: The headline in the Nov. 3 edition of Highlander Highlights, the student newspaper at Granada Hills, reads “Jeremy Leach Breaks New Mexico Record.”

Leach, who quarterbacked the Highlanders to the City Section 4-A Division championship in 1987, has indeed set two career passing marks at New Mexico in little over a season and a half.

The story was authored by Leach’s younger brother, Josh, which might cause some to question the story’s objectivity.

But Josh didn’t pull any punches. He pointed out that his brother’s favorite target has been Terence Mathis, who ranks fourth on the National Collegiate Athletic Assn.’s career reception yardage list.

He wrote: “Together the accomplishments of Leach and Mathis should bring a little recognition to an otherwise dismal season.

“Let’s face it, at 1-7, the Lobos need about as much recognition as they can get.”

Lester the motivator: Lester Hayes, the pontificating Judge in his playing days as a cornerback for the Los Angeles Raiders, handed out a little of his legalese Friday night on the sideline of the Hart-Schurr football game.

Hayes, a friend of Joe McKeon, an assistant for Hart’s freshman team, took in a 14-14 first half, then gathered the Indians around him before the second half began.

“Half the kids didn’t know what he was saying, but they were impressed,” Hart Coach Mike Herrington said. “He was flashing those Super Bowl rings around and the kids got a little starry-eyed and came out to play.”

Hart scored three times in the second half to win, 35-28.

Lost in the mail: A communication error was the reason the Alemany boys’ cross-country team missed the Del Rey League finals Wednesday at La Mirada Park.

The meet, which was at St. John Bosco, was originally scheduled for Nov. 2 but was rescheduled one day earlier so that Del Rey races would not conflict with the Suburban League championships, according to St. John Bosco Coach Tim McIntosh. McIntosh said he mailed information regarding the change to all the schools.

“I have no idea why it didn’t get to me. I have no idea where it ended up,” said Dudley Rooney, Alemany’s athletic director.

“They said they mailed the communication so I will assume it was our fault. It was an unfortunate misunderstanding.”

Indians’ Coach Pat Connelly, however, was fit to be tied.

“If I was putting on the meet, I would have personally called everyone,” he said.

The start of the meet was delayed for 30 minutes while officials waited for Alemany to arrive.

Alemany’s absence from the finals, however, will not affect the league standings.

Loyola (4-0), St. John Bosco (3-1) and Crespi (2-2) placed first, second and third based on dual-meet results and will advance to the 3-A preliminaries Friday.

St. Francis (1-3) and Alemany (0-4) finished fourth and fifth.

This, too, shall pass: Franklin quarterback Santiago Alvarez, who passed for 324 yards in a 57-0 victory over Verdugo Hills on Friday, tied a state record with his eight touchdown passes. The mark put Alvarez in good company.

Other California players with eight touchdown passes in a game: Mike Smith of Los Altos, 1982; John Paye of Menlo, 1982; Kevin Tinney of Kennedy of Sacramento, 1987; Jim McKinley of Menlo, 1988.

Smith, of course, went on to play basketball at BYU, and he was the Boston Celtics’ first-round pick earlier this year. Paye became a quarterback at Stanford.

The national record is nine, set by Randy Hendricks at Seth Sherman of West Virginia in 1972.