In Bid to Investigate Canyon, Southern Section Files Appeal

Southern Section Commissioner Stan Thomas said attorneys for the section filed an appeal with the 2nd District Court of Appeals on Wednesday seeking permission to conduct an investigation of the Canyon High football program.

Thomas expressed confidence in the section’s case, saying chances are excellent of reversing a court order that bars the section from conducting an inquiry. San Fernando Superior Court Judge Haig Kehiayan prevented such an investigation in a ruling he handed down last month. That ruling modified a preliminary injunction Kehiayan ordered in August that stayed a 5 1/2-month suspension of Canyon Coach Harry Welch.

“We think it’s totally unreasonable that the Southern Section is denied conducting a hearing with a member school,” Thomas said.

Welch and his attorney, Stephen J. Tully, have described the section’s attempt to conduct the hearing as vindictive and an attempt to circumvent the preliminary injunction.

Welch, who has posted a 105-22-2 record in 10 seasons at Canyon, has been accused of conducting an illegal off-season practice.