Canyon Survives Lancers

A fast, furious and physical first half gave way to a sedated second half on Friday night at Canyon High, where the Canyon Cowboys limped off the field claiming a somber 27-13 victory over a Thousand Oaks team that left its mark on the Santa Clarita Valley and the now-4-0 Cowboys.

Ambulances arrived on the field to cart away Canyon defensive back Jason Brenner after the game. Nearby, fellow defensive back Joe McKeon held an ice pack to his head. And center John Doherty sat motionless at midfield as the crowd cleared before getting his energy to walk off the field.

And these guys won?

They did, and rising above the field of injured bodies was fast-charging quarterback Kevin Bialas, a 6-foot, 165-pound senior who completed 15 of 20 passes for a career-high 231 yards and two touchdowns. Bialas rushed for 42 yards in eight carries, and, given ample time by a territorial offensive line, looked as confident as he had all season.

“That ain’t bad for a quarterback who everybody was picking on,” said Canyon Coach Harry Welch, in reference to the team’s criticism of Bialas in a recent practice. Bialas has since completed 33 of 44 for 428 yards.

“It was weird,” Bialas said. “In a way, I didn’t understand their defense, but it seemed like every ball was right there.”

His final completion, a 17-yard touchdown pass to Jim Zopelis, was the only score in the second half and sewed up a hard-fought win for Canyon.

The Cowboy defense, although surrendering 133 rushing yards in 21 carries to Thousand Oaks’ Cory Bowen, stiffened when it had to, as senior defensive back McKeon came up with another big play in what is turning into a big season.

With the score 20-13 late in the third quarter and Thousand Oaks (2-1) driving behind a hard-running Bowen, the Lancers faced third and four from the Canyon seven-yard line.

Thousand Oaks quarterback Scott Peterson (five of 18, 100 yards) rolled to his left and lofted a pass near the goal line. An alert McKeon, tightly covering his man, reached up and picked off a slightly underthrown ball at the two-yard line then returned it 54 yards to extinguish any Lancer threat and effectively end the game. It was McKeon’s fourth interception in four games.

“I have no second-guessing,” a terse Thousand Oaks Coach Bob Richards said. “We were doing what we do best.”

Welch agreed, saying that Thousand Oaks’ best was in fact better than Canyon’s best.

“T.O. outhit us, that’s for sure,” Welch said. “And they certainly outcoached us. We should have moved the ball better on offense.”

Moving the ball was little problem in the first half, for either team.

Both teams played exciting first halves, the difference in the 20-13 Canyon intermission lead being only that Thousand Oaks’ final drive was stopped by the clock.

After Thousand Oaks punted on its first series of the game, the only non-scoring drives turned in by either team were ended by fumbles (one each) in the opposition’s territory.

But if the first half was claimed by any individual, it was Canyon’s Bialas. After sluggish efforts against St. Louis and Hart, the 6-0, 165 senior looked strong for his second week in a row.

By intermission, Bialas had completed 12 of 15 for 189 yards.