Saugus’ Cowan Came to Pass--so Did Vow

Time was running out on a promise Bobby Cowan made to himself several years ago as a wide-eyed adolescent.

Cowan had been disgusted by how Santa Clarita Valley rivals Canyon and Hart constantly embarrassed Saugus on the football field. He could do nothing about it sitting in the stands and cheering for Saugus as a junior high student, but Cowan believed things would change when he arrived on campus.

One phase of his plan was completed last season when, as a junior quarterback, Cowan helped the Centurions upset Hart, 40-21. However, there was no sweep; Canyon held off Saugus, 16-14.

That left only one more chance for Cowan to help end a school losing streak to Canyon that had reached 10 games.

As of Friday night, mission accomplished.

Averaging 30.7 yards a completion, the strong-armed senior connected on eight of 10 passes for 245 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions in the Centurions’ 26-17 Foothill League win.

“Beating Canyon was like lifting 100 pounds off of my shoulders,� Cowan said. “I can remember watching the varsity lose so badly, so many times to those guys. This had been a long time coming.�

Eleven years, to be exact.

Since 1982, Canyon used its encounters with Saugus as tuneups to bigger things--often Southern Section titles.

Saugus’ last win over Canyon was in 1981 by a score of 31-13. Cowan was then an avid cartoon viewer and an undersized lineman playing youth football.

During the past decade, the Cowboys outscored the Centurions, 315-78, and shut them out twice. This was anything but a competitive rivalry.

“Beating Canyon meant even more to me than beating Hart because I am a senior,� Cowan said. “Last year I looked up to other people, but now I am the one who has to be a leader.

“It would have been tough to handle if I lost to Canyon as a senior.�

But victory did not come easily. After the Cowboys scored a third-quarter touchdown to take a 17-14 lead, they seemed to seize momentum.

However, Cowan roamed the sidelines after the Canyon touchdown, assuring his teammates Saugus would win.

“I just wanted to get back out there as soon as I could after Canyon scored,� Cowan said. “I told my linemen not to worry about anything, just to give me the time and we would score again.�

True to his words, Cowan threw a 44-yard touchdown pass in the waning moments of the third quarter and directed a fourth-quarter drive that resulted in another touchdown.

Cowan, who entered the game as the fourth-rated passer among area Southern Section quarterbacks, had touchdown passes of 64, 83 and 44 yards. He has completed 53% of his passes for 1,688 yards and 18 touchdowns with 10 interceptions.

“He made the right decisions and hit the right receivers every time,� Coach Jack Bowman said. “I told him he would have to do things right for us to win, and that’s what he did.�

The 6-foot-1, 185-pound Cowan threw for 1,607 yards and 10 touchdowns last season, his first as a starter. And football might not be the best sport for someone who holds most of Saugus’ passing records.

A pitcher in baseball, Cowan was the Golden League most valuable player last spring and was selected to The Times’ All-Valley Team. Cowan, whose fastball has been timed at 87 m.p.h., tied Roger Salkeld’s school record for victories in a season with 12.

Cowan said he is being recruited to play baseball at California and USC and that he is leaning toward the Trojans. He will not rule out a collegiate football career but concedes baseball is his first choice.

Currently, however, his thoughts are exclusively on football.

“I just want to win our last couple of games so that we can get a good spot in the playoffs,� he said. “I think this is a team that can go a long way.�