NOTEBOOK : Tailback Injuries Leave Canyon With Few Options

Canyon High is in the market for a healthy tailback. David McDivitt, third among area players in rushing, missed last week’s game and is expected to miss four more weeks because of a hematoma in his thigh resulting from a deep bruise suffered on the first play of the Cowboys’ win over Hart on Sept. 7.

Safety Mark Santos was moved to tailback against Notre Dame and rushed for 105 yards and one touchdown in 20 carries. Unfortunately for the Cowboys, he sustained a dislocated shoulder in the first quarter. Santos reentered the game and played until the fourth quarter, when he again hurt the shoulder.

So, who is next? Coach Harry Welch was considering using fullback Mike Torres until Torres suffered a sprained ankle Monday in practice. Welch is reluctant to put defensive starters Jason Brenner and Scott Blade in the backfield and disrupt the chemistry of one of the area’s top defenses. And with nemesis Thousand Oaks visiting Canyon Friday night, the Cowboys appear to be in a bind.

With few options, Welch believes that Santos, healthy or no, will strap on the helmet and give it a shot.

Said Welch: “He’s as tough as God makes them.”

Add injured tailbacks: Channel Islands’ Renard Carn suffered a stress fracture in an ankle Friday in the Raiders’ 30-19 win over Hueneme and will be sidelined for five weeks.

Carn, a 6-foot, 185-pound senior, rushed for 197 yards in Channel Islands’ opener. He had 47 yards in seven carries before leaving Friday’s game in the first half.

Second-string running back Jason Bell will take Carn’s place in the backfield.

Spread the wealth: St. Francis used 11 different rushers in its 27-0 win over St. Bernard on Friday and has used 13 in two games.

“We try to spread it around,” St. Francis Coach Bill Garrison said. “It’s running back by committee. We look at it from the production standpoint and we just can’t get the same output from one kid.”

Thus far, the equal-opportunity approach has returned dividends.

St Francis (2-0) has outscored its opponents, 55-0, and has doubled its win total from last season when the Golden Knights finished 1-9.

Bronner’s boots: Hoover’s David Bronner, who also plays on the school’s soccer and baseball teams, booted field goals of 39 yards and a lifetime-best 44 yards, kicked an extra point and caught a touchdown pass to help lift the Tornadoes to a 21-20 victory over South Pasadena on Friday night.

Bronner, an All-Foothill League punter last season, also kicked a 43-yard field goal and three extra points in Hoover’s win over Crescenta Valley the previous week.

Latest Swinton: Montclair Prep, at a loss in its backfield since the transfer of Derek Sparks, turned to a familiar name for its game against Simi Valley.

The talented Swinton family, which sent current Washington State player Riche and brother Jamal to Montclair Prep, has another member carrying on the tradition: sophomore Eliel Swinton.

Swinton, 5-foot-10, 185 pounds, rushed for 252 yards against Simi Valley and might be the answer to the question mark in Montclair Prep’s backfield.

“Our offense certainly features a tailback,” Coach George Giannini said. “For a sophomore, he’s got great downfield instincts.”

Giannini, aware of the family ties, believes that Eliel has a lot of potential. “He’ll probably turn out to be the best Swinton I’ve coached,” Giannini said.

Shake-up: After a 38-13 loss to Muir, Palmdale shook up its lineup and rode the change to a 35-0 win over Chaminade last Friday. Coach Kent Bothwell moved quarterback Rodney Williams to flanker and defensive back and inserted junior Jay Mapson at quarterback.

Bothwell said that the move to Mapson was made because Mapson “will do things the way coaches want him to do it and the way coaches teach him to do it.”

Williams, though, is not in the doghouse: He will return kicks and punts as well as start two ways.

Solace in history: With a 14-3 loss to Crespi last week, Hart has dropped its first two games. However, Coach Mike Herrington is not too worried. Hart started 0-3-1 in 1985 but went on to win the Foothill League title and advance to the Coastal Conference final.

“You can’t make predictions,” Herrington said. “(After a bad start), you never know what’s going to happen. (The loss to Crespi) has got our kids fired up.”

Staff writers Kirby Lee, Brian Murphy and Jeff Riley contributed to this notebook.

REGIONAL FOOTBALL TOP 10

Selected by sportswriters of The Times

Last Rk Wk Team League Record 1 1 Granada Hills West Valley 1-0 2 2 Canyon Golden 3-0 3 3 Westlake Marmonte 2-0 4 4 Quartz Hill Golden 2-0 5 5 Thousand Oaks Marmonte 2-0 6 7 Crespi Mission 3-0 7 8 Taft West Valley 0-0 8 9 Kennedy North Valley 1-0 9 NR Channel Islands Marmonte 2-0 10 6 Hart Foothill 0-2

NR--Not ranked.