Replacing Gear Becomes Hot Issue

Moorpark High Coach Ron Wilford had every reason to be nervous this week, and not just because his team’s game against Nordhoff on Friday was for the Frontier League championship.

The Musketeers lost several pieces of equipment when a suspected arson fire Nov. 4 damaged a football storage shed.

But Moorpark administrators replaced most of the lost equipment this week, including blocking-sled bags and stand-up tackling dummies.

“Our administration did a good job of getting us our stuff,” Wilford said. “They understood how important it is to our program.”

Two Moorpark students, both 17-year-old males, were arrested Wednesday and charged with arson in connection with the fire.

Away at home: It was Valencia’s home game Friday night but Canyon fans made it seem otherwise.

The game was played at Canyon because Valencia does not have a stadium on campus. Canyon fans took advantage and poked fun at their cross-town rivals. A sign near the Valencia sideline read, “Real teams have stadiums.”

Awash in rivalry: Palmdale was less than pleased to find the sprinklers flooding Highland’s field two hours before its Golden League game.

Highland gave a unique excuse for the quagmire:

“We were trying to wash away all the paint,” Coach Lin Parker said.

Parker said Palmdale students painted several pro-Palmdale slogans in different parts of the field Thursday night. After more than five hours of running the sprinklers, black and white paint and the letters “PHS” were visible on the saturated turf.

Armed again: Agoura quarterback Ryan McCann, a highly recruited senior, was back in the lineup after missing four games because of a separated left shoulder.

Distressed that his recovery was taking so long, McCann flew to San Francisco last week and was seen by Dr. Michael Dillingham, the 49ers’ surgeon.

McCann, a three-year starter who is choosing between scholarship offers from UCLA, California, Arizona State and Fresno State, threw during practice Wednesday and rested his arm Thursday.

If he was rusty, so were his receivers.

In the first half, McCann completed only four of 14 passes for 56 yards, but had four dropped.