The High Schools : Welch Speaks Like a Beaten Man

Canyon High will lose to Thousand Oaks on Friday night. You heard it here first. And from none other than Harry Welch.

“We’re not going to win,” said Welch, the Canyon coach. “It’s the truth.”

A psychological ploy by Welch? A ruse to rouse his players? A smoke screen from which the Cowboys will emerge to smoke Thousand Oaks, the No. 2-ranked team in the Valley area?

Well, Welch had better think of something. For the second consecutive year, Canyon will enter its traditionally competitive nonleague game against the Lancers with an 0-2 record. And for the first time in Welch’s eight-year tenure, the Cowboys may lose three in a row.

Canyon has lost to Hart, 30-12, and Bakersfield, 24-14, while rushing for a combined 74 yards. Thousand Oaks (2-0), meanwhile, is the Valley’s top defensive team, having posted 27-0 wins over both San Marcos and Buena while surrendering a combined 87 yards.

Good thinking, Harry. Fire up those Cowboys. Make those Lancers fall on their face masks with overconfidence. Sly, really sly.

“Seriously, we’re not going to beat them,” Welch said. “I told the kids that going to Bakersfield. We made great improvements and I was pleased. We played with more confidence and intensity. It wasn’t a bad bus ride home and it wasn’t a bad experience for the kids in films the next day. We’re getting better.”

But Thousand Oaks, or so Welch insists, is just too good.

“They’re playing like champions. They are together and bright and they hustle. If I coached them, I’d be so happy and proud and excited. I won’t be ashamed to lose to them, but I hope we’re not embarrassed.

“I promise you, I’m going to coach as hard as I can and do everything to help the kids. But we’re not going to win.”

Add Canyon: Welch overlooks, perhaps by choice, one aspect of the match-up. Canyon holds a decided edge in the passing department.

Senior Tim Beidle, somewhat surprisingly, is the Valley’s top passer, having completed 38 of 62 passes (61%) for 493 yards and two touchdowns. Wide receiver Clint Beauer, one of the best in the state, is the Valley’s leading receiver, with 21 catches for 307 yards and two touchdowns.

But Welch sees the dark cloud within every silver lining. Beauer, he said, was stifled by Thousand Oaks senior cornerback Jim Magallanes in summer passing-league games. Magallanes, one of the top defensive backs in the Valley, had two interceptions against Buena.

“He shut Beauer down,” Welch said. “It’s hard to catch the ball when a guy is in your jock.”

Back in motion: Tailback Mike Lindsay, who rushed for 1,046 yards for Thousand Oaks as a junior, has been practicing and likely will see playing time Friday night, Coach Bob Richards said.

Lindsay injured his knee but has been quick to recover from this summer’s arthroscopic surgery. Richards added that Lindsay should be “full go” when the Lancers open Marmonte League play Sept. 29 against Channel Islands.

A new alternative: After an unusual experiment in which Granada Hills alternated quarterbacks on each down in last week’s 17-14 victory over Westchester, co-Coach Tom Harp has concluded that it is time to decide. And it looks like junior Bryan Martin, a transfer from Illinois, will replace last year’s starter, Chris Gadomski, as the No. 1 quarterback.

Gadomski started against Westchester and completed four of 10 passes for 39 yards. Martin was two of five for 29 yards and threw an interception. “It’s tough to bench the returning starter, but I think Martin is the quarterback of the future for us,” Harp said.

Harp will decide after Thursday’s practice on a starter for Friday’s game against Franklin, saying he is leaning toward Martin. The starter might play for the game’s duration, Harp said.

Harp insists that the quarterback controversy has not affected the team.

“I think the battle has pushed both players and they get along fine,” he said. “The rest of the team is willing to support either one.”

True Spartans: While tailback Jerome Casey is the focus of the Sylmar football team this fall, the defense is quietly preparing for a big year.

Coach Jeff Engilman said that in a scrimmage Friday against Cleveland, the defense picked off six passes, three by linebacker London Woodfin.

Woodfin, a converted tight end who stands 6-3, 225 and bench presses nearly 400 pounds, is a Division I prospect, according to Engilman.

Disciplined: The top seven runners from Antelope Valley’s cross-country team were suspended for last Saturday’s Woodbridge Invitational after an apparent run-in with local police in the San Luis Obispo area Sept. 9.

The Antelopes competed in the Morro Bay Invitational at Morro Bay High that weekend.

“They terrorized the town,” Coach Robert Terrill said. “So I decided to make them think about (their actions).”

Mike Glaze and staff writers Tim Brown, Sam Farmer, Vince Kowalick, John Lynch and Brian Murphy contributed to this notebook.