HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PREVIEW : Rise of Saugus Threatens to Eclipse Hart-Canyon Encounter

For the past decade, the annual Hart vs. Canyon game has been one of the most eagerly anticipated showdowns in the Santa Clarita Valley, not to mention the Southern Section.

Crowds of 8,000 regularly attended the season opener at College of the Canyons. So, when Canyon this year moved to the realigned Foothill League--of which Hart is a member--it seemed like a match made in heaven.

Instead of simply starting the season playing for bragging rights in the Santa Clarita Valley, Canyon and Hart would be playing on the final Friday night of the regular season with a possible league title at stake.

It was a perfect setup. Except for one little detail.

Saugus High.

The Centurions, Santa Clarita Valley neighbors of Canyon and Hart, routinely were routed by both teams during the 1980s, but things began to change last year when Jack Bowman became coach.

First, Saugus broke a 10-year winless streak against Hart with a 40-21 trouncing of the Indians. Later, the Centurions were on the verge of beating Canyon in a Golden League game, but a 40-yard field-goal attempt went awry on the final play of an 18-16 loss.

Saugus finished 6-5 and qualified for the Division I playoffs. Not bad for a team that averaged two wins a season over the previous six years.

“Last year, the kids were happy just to win some games,” Bowman said. “This year, they want to do a lot more than that.”

Like beat both Hart and Canyon in the same year and win a league title to boot.

The three schools are in the same league as a result of the Southern Section releaguing process that prompted realignment of the Golden and Foothill leagues.

Under the new setup, former Golden members Canyon and Saugus joined Foothill members Hart, Burbank and Burroughs, replacing Schurr, Alhambra and San Gabriel.

Highland and Littlerock, free-lance teams last year, replaced Canyon and Saugus in the Golden League.

Aside from the five-team makeup of the Foothill League, which created nonleague scheduling problems, the coaches welcome the change. Burbank’s Randy Stage likes the new league even though the Bulldogs must contend with three quality football programs from the Santa Clarita Valley, not just one.

“We’re excited about the season,” Stage said. “We realize we’re looking at playing three really good teams from the Santa Clarita Valley, but it makes more sense than playing three teams from the San Gabriel Valley.”

Hart Coach Mike Herrington says Saugus is the team to beat, and the straight-shooting Bowman does not disagree.

Saugus boasts seven players who started on an offensive unit that averaged 306 yards and nearly 25 points a game out of the wing T last year.

Senior quarterback Bobby Cowan passed for 1,607 yards and 10 touchdowns last season, and junior running back Chris Johnson rushed for a team-high 744 yards. Canyon Coach Harry Welch says Cowan was the best quarterback he saw during passing-league competition this summer and rates Johnson as one of the best fullbacks in the area. Welch also praises wide receiver/defensive back Jibri Hodge as one of the area’s top all-purpose players.

Add center Shawn Stewart, a 6-foot-4, 280-pound preseason All-American to the mix along with a defensive line that Bowman calls, “real fast with good size,” and Saugus indeed looks formidable.

Welch cautions, however, that no team “quite has the skill-position people that Hart does.”

Lost to graduation was Ryan Connors, who passed for 39 touchdowns and a Southern Section record 4,144 yards while leading Hart to the semifinal round of the Division III playoffs.

But with Davis Delmatoff taking over at quarterback and leading receiver Deriek Charles returning, the Indians’ run-and-shoot seems as potent as ever. Charles had 85 receptions for 1,090 yards, rushed for 494 yards and scored 21 touchdowns last season.

Ed Williams, Canyon’s 5-8, 156-pound little big man, rushed for 1,554 yards and 19 touchdowns as a sophomore last year, but he is one of only five returning starters for the Cowboys, who tied for third with Saugus in the Golden League last year. Canyon finished 6-6 after forfeiting a win and a tie for using an ineligible player.

The Hart-Saugus game at College of the Canyons on Oct. 16 shapes up as the league’s pivotal contest and might overshadow the Hart-Canyon clash four weeks later.

“It is going to be different this year,” Welch said of the game against Hart. “I’m going to miss not playing them in the first game of the season. There was all this mystique surrounding that game. It was a great way to start the season.”

This year, it could be a superb way to end the regular season--but only if Saugus has failed to wrap up the league title by then.

FOOTHILL LEAGUE

FINAL 1991 STANDINGS PROJECTED FINISH Hart 9-4, 5-0 Saugus** Schurr* 10-3, 4-1 Hart Burbank 6-5, 3-2 Canyon** Alhambra* 3-6-1, 1-3-1 Burbank Burroughs 1-8-1, 1-3-1 Burroughs San Gabriel* 0-10, 0-5

* Denotes schools that have transferred to the Almont League.

** Denotes teams that have transferred from the Golden League.

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PLAYERS TO WATCH

Player School Pos. Ht Wt Class Rod Blythe Burbank DL 6-3 235 Sr. Deriek Charles Hart RB 5-9 170 Sr. Bobby Cowan Saugus QB 6-1 182 Sr. Davis Delmatoff Hart QB 6-1 190 Sr. Soren Halladay Hart WR/DB 6-2 170 Jr. Chris Johnson Saugus RB 6-1 211 Jr. Calvin McNeal Canyon OL 6-2 222 Sr. Travis Rappleye Hart LB 5-8 180 Sr. Shawn Stewart Saugus OL 6-4 280 Sr. Ed Williams Canyon RB 5-8 156 Jr.