Magnolia Misses Chances, Gets Shut Out by Canyon

Missed opportunities hurt Magnolia again Friday night in a 20-0 loss to visiting Canyon at Handel Stadium.

“We played hard from the start to finish, but when it comes to crunch time we always seem to beat ourselves,” Magnolia Coach Bill Friedrich said. “We were down close five times tonight and came away empty.”

Three of those missed opportunities were apparent touchdown passes from quarterback Robert Nichols that were dropped by Sentinel receivers.

Canyon took the opening kickoff and drove 69 yards on 11 plays to go ahead 7-0 when Canyon quarterback Adam Hoover scored on a three-yard run.

Magnolia’s first missed opportunity quickly became Canyon’s game when defensive back Brent Nogle intercepted an errant Nichol pass, and ran the ball back 55 yards to Magnolia’s 35 yard-line.

Four plays later, Canyon went up 14-0 when running back Ray Ramirez ran 29 yards to Magnolia’s 1 yard-line. On the next play, he dived over for the score.

Field goals of 40 and 37 yards by Canyon senior K.C. Wilson late in the second quarter ran the score to 20-0.