Sylmar Gets Double-Teamed by Junior Transfer Valdez

John Valdez of Sylmar High thinks his game is basketball.

Of course, football Coach Jeff Engilman will tell you differently.

But Valdez’s performance certainly helped ease the pain of Sylmar’s three losses in the Valley College passing tournament Friday. Valdez shared the quarterback duties.

Eased, not erased.

“He’s a real competitor,” Engilman said. “He may yell and get mad at himself, but he doesn’t yell at [his teammates].”

“He’s a natural. His knack for spotting people is excellent. For a kid that has never played football, he has a natural touch on the ball. You can see he’s a special ballplayer.”

Too be sure, Valdez was not the reason Sylmar went without a victory at Valley. A porous defense took care of that.

Valdez, a 6-foot, 175-pound junior, has the tools to be an excellent high school quarterback. Quick feet, high release, strong arm, pinpoint accuracy.

For a guy with so much raw talent, it’s hard to believe he was only thinking basketball when he transferred to Sylmar from L.A. Lutheran last fall.

He discounted his football skills because his experience in organized football is limited to one season of eight-man as a freshman.

That’s why his only goal was to make the Sylmar basketball team. And the pure shooter who has played organized basketball half his life even had doubts about that.

“I really didn’t know how good I was [compared to other Sylmar players],” Valdez said.

After about a week of proving himself, Valdez made the varsity basketball team and was the first guard off the bench.

“In practice he would destroy people,” Coach Bort Escoto said. “As soon as he got comfortable, he was on a tear.

“Boston College came up to me after a [tournament game] and said, ‘I’ll be back in two years to take that kid from you,’ ” Escoto said. “The guy’s a scoring machine. [He will be] the best 11th grader in the City.”

Engilman knew what he had the first time Valdez threw a pass.

Sylmar coaches heard through the grapevine Valdez had a great arm. One day, the coaches asked him to throw a 10-yard pass to George Wrighster on the blacktop outside the coaching office.

“After that one pass, Engilman turned to me and said, “He’s your quarterback,’ ” said Danny Kelly, Sylmar’s offensive coordinator.

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The old virtue “forgive and forget” was apparently lost on the seven-person committee which this week chose Jack Bowman over Harry Welch to coach the Canyon High football team.

Based on the curious decision, one can only assume that Canyon would prefer to settle for mediocrity over a proven winner with a controversial past.

Principal Vicki Engbrecht disputes that assumption.

“There is nothing to be said for mediocrity, nor would Canyon High School settle for mediocrity,” Engbrecht said.

Still, Bowman’s record does not compare to that of Welch.

Bowman left Saugus in 1996 because of parental pressure. In six years, his teams averaged six victories a season.

“There were several factors that went into the decision,” Engbrecht said. “Only one of those was past record.”

Perhaps track record off the field weighed heaviest.

Welch’s Canyon teams were 120-31-2 in 12 years, won consecutive Southern Section titles from 1983-85 and tied a section record with a 46-game winning streak.

But he cannot escape the controversy that began with his team’s illegal use of blocking dummies and sleds in a 1991 spring practice.

Welch received a one-year suspension from the Southern Section. He then endured a two-year court battle and questions surrounding a $30,000 defense fund the booster club allegedly loaned to Welch, who did not repay the money after receiving an undisclosed settlement for dropping his suit against the section.

Welch, who resigned in 1993 and is still a teacher at Canyon, thought the time was right to return as coach.

“I really did want the job,” he said. “I wanted it dearly. I wanted it for the players, for the community and I wanted it for myself.

“When people talk about Harry Welch, I wanted the chance to make them stop thinking of the exception and remember the 12 years of terrific times.”