THE HIGH SCHOOLS : Quartz Hill Dulls Wedge’s Edge

Repeated low blows were necessary Friday night for Quartz Hill High to pull off its stunning upset of Canyon, the top-ranked team in the area.

Rebel defensive linemen were forced to take the low road to gain the upper hand against a Canyon offensive line that had rolled over five previous opponents.

“Canyon’s line is so great at the wedge block that they reestablish the line of scrimmage six or seven yards downfield,” said Ken Hettinger, Quartz Hill’s defensive coordinator.

But nose guard Paul Kaplan and defensive tackles Ralph Gutierrez and Gary Armstrong took the edge off the wedge by firing out as low as possible, knocking the legs out from under Cowboy blockers.

The line’s depth charges freed linebackers Selves Smith, Jason Carr, Richard Becker and Josh Patterson to eat up the Canyon running game as the Cowboys rushed for a season-low 77 yards.

Forced to take to the air, Canyon found the going no easier. Carr and defensive backs David Haney and David Nelson each had an interception.

Don’t fix it: Quartz Hill’s winning touchdown with 2 minutes 19 seconds to play was perfectly executed miscommunication and confusion. This was not a broken play; it never existed until it unfolded.

Wide receiver Darian Mabry dashed in from the sideline with orders to call a “halfback reach, tight end sideline.” Mabry, however, told quarterback Jake Haro, “halfback sideline, tight end reach.” Quartz Hill has no such play.

“The quarterback didn’t know what was going on, but we stayed calm and just ran the play,” said Patterson, the tight end who was told to run a “reach” pattern, which amounts to a streak straight upfield.

Haro dropped back and saw that Nelson, the halfback, was covered on his sideline pattern. Haro then rolled right and threw to Patterson, who was standing at the back of the end zone frantically waving his hands.

Patterson hauled in the ball for a six-yard touchdown, transforming the misspoken Mabry into an offensive wizard.

Add upset: The loss was just Canyon’s fourth on its home field in nine years. Mission Viejo beat Canyon in a 1989 nonleague game, Bakersfield beat the Cowboys in a 1988 nonleague game and Notre Dame won a 1983 nonleague game. Canyon began a 46-game winning streak after the loss to Notre Dame.

Canyon is 39-2 in Golden League play under Welch. The other loss came in 1986 against Antelope Valley and ended the Cowboys’ Southern Section record-tying win streak.

Thirst quencher: Blocking all night for a fellow who gains 258 yards can make a lineman awfully thirsty, so Terry Barnum, a thoughtful tailback with some fluid moves, provided his line with a six-pack of punch Friday night.

In Alemany’s 41-6 victory over Chaminade, Barnum scored six touchdowns, one each for his guards, tackles, center and tight end.

This jaunt of 36 yards is for you, Tim Markowitz, the center who supplies leadership along with blocks. Here are runs of 62 and eight yards for you, Jose Ontiveros and Michael Edemann, the guards who lunch on linebackers. Here are runs of two and one yards for you, Juan Martin and Joe Schneldorfer, the tackles who escort me into the secondary. And here’s another 62-yard dash for you to split, tight ends Richard Dice and Tom Engler, who alternate springing me on each down.

“I love my linemen,” Barnum said. “They say, ‘You don’t have to tell us the holes are big. If you’re gaining 258 yards, we know they’re big.’ ”

“(The linemen) all get along with him and we all want to block for him,” Markowitz said. “He has a lot of respect for what we do.”

Add Barnum: Terry’s 26-year-old brother, Usher, was an All-City Section fullback who led Chatsworth to a City Section 3-A Division championship in 1979.

Usher, only 5-foot-6, rushed for more than 1,000 yards two years in a row. Another Barnum brother, Eric, played running back for Chatsworth in the early 1980s.

Hardaway getaway: Some school records are difficult to verify, but this one’s a cinch. Chatsworth’s Brandon Ruedy and Delvon Hardaway connected on a pass play Friday against Kennedy that spanned 99 2/3 yards.

“I guess it’s the longest play I’ve seen,” Chatsworth Coach Myron Gibford said.

He’s not alone.

One play after Chatsworth stopped Kennedy on downs inside the one-yard line, Ruedy called an audible when he saw the cornerback playing Hardaway close to the line of scrimmage. Ruedy put the ball right on the money at the 20-yard line.

Hardaway, whose average per reception jumped from 18.5 to 25.8 on the play, did the rest.

“The corner dove at him and that was it,” Gibford said.

Quarterback toll charge: Taft Coach Tom Stevenson characterized Friday night’s 28-13 victory over Cleveland as a vicious, hard-hitting affair.

Jesse Menchaca of Taft and David Erhardt of Cleveland both were hurt in the second quarter with Taft leading, 13-10. Menchaca’s left ankle was broken while he was holding for a PAT kick and Erhardt suffered a separated right shoulder while being tackled after throwing a pass.

Taft dominated the second half, largely because backup quarterback Karlon Mack played well, finding Ruben Benitez with a 31-yard touchdown pass to put the game away in the fourth quarter.

“Karlon just came back from a knee injury, so we were lucky,” Stevenson said. “He was ready to play.”

Meanwhile, Cleveland tailback Delvon McDaniel was forced to replace Erhardt, and he fumbled early in the third quarter to set up a Taft touchdown.

Taming the Frontier: Fillmore felt right at home during its first Frontier League game after moving up from the Tri-Valley League.

The Flashes simply kicked up their feet, cooked up their usual goose-egg omelet, and cleaned up on defending league champion Santa Clara, 7-0.

The shutout is Fillmore’s fourth and the Flashes have allowed only 13 points in bolting to a 6-0 start.

“Every game we want a shutout. It keeps everybody psyched up,” said Jason Rengel, a senior linebacker who has been Fillmore’s leading tackler in every game.

Eight players start on both offense and defense, but fatigue takes a back seat to pride when a shutout is on the line. Rengel, who also plays center, and defensive back-quarterback Art Sosa and fullback-linebacker Anthony Chessani loudly remind their teammates that they have zero tolerance for anything but zeros on the scoreboard.

“The kids get violently upset when a team scores,” Coach Curtis Garner said.

Fortunately, there has been little occasion for such outbursts.