Bigfoot: Highland kicker Derek Brown may be...

Bigfoot: Highland kicker Derek Brown may be the area’s best. His 48-yard field goal on opening night gave the Bulldogs a 22-20 victory over Valencia and set a school record. He broke the record last week when he kicked a 51-yarder against Canyon.

Brown, named the best kicker in three summer camps, was just short on a 58-yard kick and sent all five of his kickoffs into the end zone.

“I know he’s going to hit a 60-yarder at some point,” Coach Lin Parker said.

Goose eggs: The Verdugo Hills football team has yet to score a point this season, and the task of finding the end zone just got tougher.

Four starters--Michael Porter, Roderick Adams, Bernard Green and Joe Moore--have been suspended for Friday night’s game against Calabasas for breaking team rules.

The Dons, outscored, 61-0, in two games, will suit up 22 players against the Coyotes, who defeated Verdugo Hills last season, 35-15.

“We have to teach them now when they’re young so when they become juniors and seniors, they don’t make these mistakes,” said Coach Don Scott Jr.

Running out of time: The future is bright for the Quartz Hill High girls’ cross-country team, but 13-year Coach Kelly Marsh says this will be her final season.

With a junior and four freshmen among their top six runners in Saturday’s Ojai Invitational, the Rebels had one of the youngest and most talented teams in the region. But Marsh has decided to stop coaching so she can spend more time with her daughter, Kira, 7, and her son, Kegan, 3.

“My kids are going to grow up without me if I don’t watch it,” Marsh said. “Everyone keeps telling me that I’m going to want to come back because this team could do so well. But this is it for me.”

Half-hearted: Saugus football Coach Ron Hilton is questioning his team’s second-half intensity.

“Either we’re going to have to start playing more intense or it’s going to be a long year,” Hilton said.

Hilton was upset with his team’s response to a Palmdale touchdown early in the second half of last week’s 42-6 loss, when his team trailed, 19-0.

In its 44-35 loss to Santa Barbara in its first game, Saugus blew a 28-13 halftime lead.

The team held a meeting on Saturday and Hilton was optimistic following practice Monday.

“It was much more intense than it was all of last week,” Hilton said.

On the board: With its 28-26 victory over No. 5 Highland last week, Canyon moved into the Times’ regional rankings at No. 10 But Canyon Coach Larry Mohr isn’t resting on any laurels.

“It’s nice to be noticed, but the last time I checked 2-0 doesn’t win any championships,” he said. “It doesn’t matter where you are ranked now, just where you are in December.”