Mohr Quits as Coach of Canyon Football

Larry Mohr, football coach at Canyon High for the last five years, resigned Friday for personal reasons, according to Principal Vicki Engbrecht.

Mohr, who took over for Harry Welch in 1994, guided the Cowboys to a 24-27-1 record. He will continue as a teacher at the school.

Earlier this year, Mohr was given a letter of warning by Engbrecht after allegations he was associating with a female student at Canyon after school hours.

Scott Arnold, an offensive tackle and one of Canyon’s top players, said Mohr seemed distracted by the controversy.

“He wasn’t himself during spring ball,” Arnold said. “You could tell it took a toll.”

Welch, who guided Canyon to a 120-31-2 record in 12 years as coach until his resignation after the 1993 season, said Friday he would come out of retirement if asked to Engbrecht.

“If she wanted me, I’d say yes,” Welch said.

Welch has continued to teach at Canyon.

Engbrecht said she hopes to fill the position by July.

Assistants Jack Bowman and John Albert will run the program until a replacement is named.

* The 16-team Hart summer passing tournament will be held today at Hart High.

The seven-on-seven flag football competition starts a busy summer campaign for high school teams.

Hart, Westlake, Crescenta Valley, Littlerock, Buena and Chatsworth are among the schools entered.

Play begins at 8:30 a.m.

The championship game is scheduled for 2 p.m.

MISCELLANY

* The 32nd annual Los Angeles Watts Summer Games, featuring thousands of high school athletes competing in 11 sports, begins today at 21 venues in Los Angeles County.

Soccer and basketball represent the largest sports in the games, with 2,000 participants in soccer and 1,000 in basketball.

Boys’ basketball games will be played at Dorsey, Fairfax, Franklin, Gardena, Jordan, Manual Arts and Verbum Dei, with Fremont, Locke, Morningside and Washington the sites for girls’ basketball.

Games takes place today and Sunday, with finals next weekend at L.A. Southwest College.

The Watts Games were born in the wake of the deadly Watts Riots.

SOCCER

* Cal State Northridge signed midfielder Danny Ortega.

Ortega helped Birmingham High win four consecutive Northwest Valley Conference titles from 1993 to 1996, serving as captain since his sophomore season. He then played two seasons with the Matadors before leaving the team when the program was briefly cut in 1997.

He is the second recruit to sign with the Matadors since Terry Davilla took over the program.

SOFTBALL

* The Oxnard 49ers youth football team is holding a softball tournament and barbecue June 27 to raise money for the family of Jacob Osuna, who was paralyzed in May by a hit-and-run driver.

Entry fees for the double-elimination tournament are $150 per team plus a $10 per game umpire fee.

The one-and-one count and three-strike rules will be utilized.

* The Pacoima-based Rebs is seeking experienced pitchers for its 18-and-under team.

Information: Edgar Gonzalez, (818) 366-0727.

BASKETBALL

* Jeff Staniland, who averaged 25.6 points per game for Ventura High and was the leading scorer in Ventura County last season, has signed with Azusa Pacific.