Welch Back in Cowboys’ Saddle Again : Prep football: Buoyant Canyon coach shifts attention from courthouse to practice field after legal victory over Southern Section.

As the packed courtroom in San Fernando emptied Monday after Canyon High football Coach Harry Welch’s legal victory over the Southern Section, one Canyon varsity football player turned to another in the outside hallway.

“I guess this means Hell Week’s back on the schedule,” he said in mock pain.

Hell Week is back, Harry Welch is back and the players couldn’t be happier. More than 20 Canyon football players showed up in court Monday to lend moral support to their embattled coach and were among the most exultant after Superior Court Judge Haig Kehiayan granted Welch’s request for a preliminary injunction, allowing the coach to retain his job.

“The (Southern Section) tried to ram it down our throats,” said Chuck Osborne, a three-year varsity player. “But they got it the other way around. We crammed it down their throats.”

Monday’s practice was business as usual for the Cowboys, who underwent a rigorous three-hour workout. The only departure from the norm was the storytelling of players who had attended the hearing for the benefit of those who had not.

“Now, the lies begin,” Welch said, laughing. “If it was close to a slam-dunk in the courtroom. . . . Now, if you listen to the players, it was the most one-sided victory in the history of jurisprudence. It’s almost myth by now.”

But even Welch, who tried to run a no-frills practice just hours after the hearing, admitted he felt different.

“A burden had been removed,” he said. “It was sensational to be with the Cowboys again.”

The feeling was mutual among players who had attended the hearing. They conceded that during the two-week span in July, when Welch’s suspension was in effect, there was a noticeable difference in intensity.

“I didn’t get criticized as much at practice,” said quarterback Chad Engbrecht, with whom Welch works exclusively. “I liked always having him there to tell me what I was doing wrong.”

Returning wide receiver/defensive back Jim Zopelis agreed.

“When he was gone, we seemed to hit a real low point in our workouts,” Zopelis said.

Zopelis said that the team gathered before the Hart passing tournament earlier this summer to discuss the possibility that Welch might not coach this year. The players decided to focus more on the idea that he would be back and tried to go about their summer workouts.

“The intensity was definitely lower,” linebacker Craig Reiter said. “To have had the same coach for so long, it would have been terrible to go into the season without him.”

But when Welch received a temporary restraining order July 31, a shot of life went through the program.

“As soon as he got back, it felt like everything was back,” Zopelis said.

Osborne, too, felt the rush.

“I got the feeling that he’d be here for good,” Osborne said.

Welch encouraged his players to attend the hearing on Monday--but for more than moral support. He said he wanted them to have an up-close look at the process by which their coach was trying to retain his job.

“I believe in the process,” Welch said. “I believe it’s good for them to be involved. I thought that I’d like for them to see me handle a loss.”

Instead, they saw him win.

When it was suggested to Welch that, in football terms, it was as if his side had intercepted a Southern Section pass and returned it for a touchdown, Welch chimed in: “Not only that, we’ve kicked off and they fumbled the kick.”

Welch’s buoyant mood will give way to the grind of two-a-day practices and then, as summer turns to autumn, he will confront a challenge of another type. The Golden League once again will feature powerhouse rivals in Quartz Hill and Antelope Valley.

Reiter, though, spoke for the team when he said: “I think we can hang with them. We’ve done it before.”

BACKGROUND

A San Fernando Superior Court judge on Monday granted a preliminary injunction to Harry Welch, allowing Welch to retain his position as Canyon High football coach. The injunction stays a 5 1/2-month suspension recommended by the Southern Section commissioner and accepted by Canyon that would have barred Welch from contact with his players until Dec. 31. The Canyon program was investigated after conducting an off-season practice in violation of Southern Section rules. Welch has admitted that a violation occurred but has denied that he is guilty of wrongdoing.