In Passing, Canyon Lands Another Title

For the Canyon High football program, 7-on-7 summer passing league games are just experiments.

Yet for the second weekend this summer, Canyon turned competition into a clinic and picked up a championship, this one at the Cal Lutheran Passing League tournament on Saturday.

“That was a very nice Saturday afternoon outing,” Coach Harry Welch said in a pleased tone.

Minus its No. 1 receiver, Canyon easily beat San Marcos, 26-6, in the championship game to complete a six-game sweep in the two-day event.

Jason Stanley caught 7 passes for 84 yards and 3 touchdowns as he picked up the slack for the missing Clint Beauer, who aggravated his back during a semifinal game against Notre Dame earlier in the afternoon.

Canyon, which has won 70 of 80 7-on-7 games in the past six years, according to Welch, captured the L. A. Games title earlier this summer. And Welch is not ready to rein in his charges just yet.

“Everything we do, we try to do as well as we can,” Welch said. “That’s our process, every one of our practices is demanding.”

Before Canyon’s meeting with San Marcos, the Cowboy players gathered at the foot of the Cal Lutheran bleachers, chatting and tossing the ball around as if waiting for the grill to heat at a picnic. But once the whistle blew they changed faces.

Quarterback Rod Baltau methodically marched the team 70 yards in six plays, hitting Stanley in the corner of the end zone with a 16-yard scoring pass.

Canyon stopped San Marcos, which defeated Thousand Oaks in the semifinals, and scored again, this time on a 10-yard Baltau-to-Stanley pass a minute before halftime.

Stanley also stood out on defense, blunting San Marcos drives by knocking down two passes. Gilbert Delgado, a substitute for the ailing Brian Zemojtel, intercepted two other passes for Canyon, both on balls tipped by teammates.

The summer wins give Canyon confidence as well as momentum going into the high school season, Welch said.

“We’re here to get ready for the football season,” Welch added. “When you play 30 different schools in the summer, you’re going to come out saying ‘I’m a pretty fair athlete.’ ”