Defense Takes Loyola to the Final With a 10-3 Victory Over Canyon

A storied era in Valley-area football came to an end Saturday night as Loyola High defeated Canyon, 10-3, in an emotional, hard-hitting, defensive contest before an overflow crowd of 8,000 at College of the Canyons in a Division I semifinal.

With less than a minute remaining, Loyola defensive back Jim Schneiders batted down Canyon quarterback Kevin Bialas’ fourth-down pass at the Loyola 18-yard line, ending the Cowboys’ final bid against a tenacious Cub defense.

Loyola’s sideline erupted. The defense had done it again.

And that was it for retiring Canyon Coach Harry Welch, who is hanging it up after nine years, three Southern Section championships, a 100-19-1 record and eight consecutive appearances in the semifinals.

Loyola (11-2) will face Canyon’s Golden League rival, Quartz Hill, on Friday at Anaheim Stadium in the final. Quartz Hill was the only other team to defeat Canyon this year.

“Our defense was great,” Loyola quarterback Corby Smith said. “Just unbelievable. And they’ve been that way all year.”

Canyon was not without its chances. But each time the Cowboys (11-2) threatened, there was a Cub standing in the way:

-- There was Schneiders, batting down Bialas’ fourth-and-14 pass from the Loyola 32, knocking the ball out of Chris Spahr’s hands.

-- There was linebacker Drew Casani, trapping Canyon tailback David McDivitt for a seven-yard loss on the previous play.

-- There was a swarm of Cubs, stopping Bialas late in the third quarter on a fourth-and-six scramble from the Loyola 15-yard line.

And the one time a Canyon player had seemingly beaten a Loyola defender, Canyon’s Jim Zopelis dropped a fourth-down pass in the end zone just before halftime.

Canyon moved inside the Loyola 20 four times. It came away with just one field goal.

“This (Loyola) team is not as good as last year’s or the year before,” Cub Coach Steve Grady said. “But they’ve played with so much heart.”

Canyon’s normally solid ground game gained a paltry 41 yards. It was left to Bialas to pace Canyon’s offense, and he completed 15 of 28 passes for 166 yards. But his one interception was costly.

From the Loyola 17-yard line, he threw a pass that was picked off by Schneiders at the goal line late in the second quarter. Was it the best defense Bialas had faced all year?

“Yeah, pretty close,” Bialas said, his words trailing off as he stared at the ground. He turned and headed for the locker room. There was no place left for Canyon to turn.

On Canyon’s side, the emotion of Welch’s farewell was evident. Players wept; Welch was uncharacteristically subdued.

“I have no magic words, guys,” Welch said. “It was the tightest we’ve ever played.”

As for his farewell to Cowboy football? “I’ll certainly miss it,” he said. “I just can’t verbalize it right now.”

For Grady, the emotion of a trip to the final was nearly as overwhelming. He had taken his fourth team to the semifinals without a berth in the championship game.

“My dad was telling me what a great coach Coach Welch is,” said Smith, the son of USC Coach Larry Smith. “But then again, so is Coach Grady.”