HIGH SCHOOL NOTEBOOK
La Canada is 2-0 for the second time in Coach Rich Wheeler’s four years. But more impressively, the Spartans have outscored Burbank and Glendale, 89-22.
La Canada averaged 20.9 points a game last season, but the Spartans were held to fewer than 10 points five times.
They were held to 15 points or fewer in nine of 11 games in 1998 and were shut out three times in 1997, when they averaged an anemic 12.5 points a contest.
“We’ve got more good skill-position players than we’ve ever had, we’ve got better team speed than we’ve ever had and I think we’ve just got a little bit better kids than before,” Wheeler said.
La Canada, which hosts Burroughs (0-2) on Friday, has outscored opponents, 69-0, in the last five quarters. The Spartans beat Glendale, 41-0, after scoring 28 consecutive points in the fourth quarter of a 48-22 victory over Burbank.
“That [run against Burbank] definitely carried over to last week,” Wheeler said. “La Canada has never been a second-half team, at least not since I’ve been here.
Chase McKibben, a 5-10, 180-pound senior running back, has rushed for 275 yards and five touchdowns in 26 carries.
McKibben rushed for 197 yards and two touchdowns in 37 carries last year to rank third on the team behind Chet Johnson-Blausucci and David Rosales.
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