Canyon’s One-Man Steering Committee

Wes Scott has an innovative idea to improve the tackling skills of high school football players: Let them try steer wrestling.

It has worked well for Scott, a 17-year-old senior defensive end at Canyon Country Canyon High who learned to pull down calves long before ever tackling a quarterback.

He’s a real cowboy playing for the Canyon Cowboys. He finished second in the state rodeo steer wrestling competition this summer. He lives on a 10-acre ranch in Canyon Country and comes to school wearing a cowboy hat, belt buckle and boots.

He’s so proficient in handling a lasso that it’s surprising Canyon’s principal hasn’t offered him a job as a security guard.

“People will be walking by and he’ll rope their left foot or right foot,” Canyon Coach Harry Welch said.

Scott, 6 feet and 190 pounds, is used to tackling steers that weigh between 300 and 500 pounds, so chasing a quarterback is no big deal.

“They both fight back quite a bit,” Scott said.

In steer wrestling, the steer is let loose and Scott chases after it on a horse, with another rider, known as a hazer, adjacent to him. Scott slides off his horse, grabs the steer’s horn with one arm, holds it down and twists the steer’s nose to cause it to fall to the ground. Everything is supposed to happen in less than 10 seconds.

“With a steer, it’s more of a technique thing,” he said. “If you don’t have any technique, it will get away every time.”

During the 1980s, Canyon had one of the Southern Section’s most successful football programs. Welch’s coaching record was 120-31-2 from 1982-93, including consecutive section titles from 1983-85. He returned for a second stint of coaching last season, hoping to return the Cowboys to their glory days. Players with the commitment and work ethic of Scott are the ones who could help trigger a turnaround.

Scott had two tackles for losses in Canyon’s 24-10 season-opening victory over Lancaster. The Cowboys are 2-0 after beating Saddleback, 48-0, on Friday.

Scott truly believes in the cowboy culture. It’s as if he were born in a different era, when a handshake meant as much as a written contract and a person’s word was gospel.

“It’s the cowboy way to respect people and help them out if they need it,” he said.

Scott takes care of horses, goats, cows, chickens, cats and dogs at his parents’ ranch, which also has a roping ring. His father is a stunt coordinator for movies and let Scott begin to wrestle calves when he was 8.

Scott loves to watch westerns on television. He has seen the movie “Tombstone” so many times he can close his eyes and imagine he’s living in the time of Wyatt Earp.

“I’ve always wished I was born back then so I could ride with the guns and chase down the outlaws,” he said.

He’s a teenager who doesn’t mind sharing space with horseflies and rattlesnakes and isn’t bothered by rope burns.

“I just like being different from everyone else, wearing my cowboy hat and people recognizing me as a cowboy,” he said. “Everyone thinks it’s cool. Everyone wants to talk about it.”

Welch might want to examine the high school football rule book to see if it’s legal for a player to use a lasso during a game because Scott would be unstoppable with his 30-foot rope.

“It would be over,” Scott said. “I’d be roping everyone.”

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Eric Sondheimer can be reached at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.