BURSTING WITH PRIDE FOR FOOTBALL TEAMS CANYON VIES FOR ITS FIRST-EVER STATE TITLE.

Byline: PATRICIA FARRELL AIDEM Staff Writer

CANYON COUNTRY -- It's all about the green and gold in Canyon Country as the weekend of the first-ever state championship high school football game approaches.

Hundreds, maybe thousands, will head Saturday to the Home Depot Center to see the back-to-back CIF Southern Section Div.I champion Canyon High Cowboys play Northern California's formidable De La Salle High, ranked No.1 in the nation.

``This is, this is a -- wow!'' Cowboys coach Harry Welch said Thursday. ``The hype is second to none. It's never been this way. It is a wow.''

The campus is buzzing. Kids are sporting Canyon green sweat shirts and talking Cowboy. Posters mark the walls, urging fans to buy their tickets to The Game.

``Go Cowboys. Good luck in the state championship,'' reads the marquee at the Mountasia Family Fun Center a mile or so down Soledad Canyon Road from campus.

The amusement park is at the gateway to Canyon Country, where football rules and Welch is king.

``It's everywhere. Through the entire community people are talking about this game,'' cheerleader Amanda Tarango said.

Outside the Associated Student Body office on Thursday, a half-dozen girls painted posters that will adorn the campus today and dot the Carson stadium on Saturday.

Freshly painted ``Ride with Cowboys Pride'' and ``Welch for President'' signs dried as the team painstakingly continued its work.

``Winning CIF was fun, but going to state is a big bonus,'' freshman Taylor Kemper said. ``Everyone's like: `Are you going to The Game? Are you going to The Game?'''

Nobody is making predictions, except for one signmaker who wrote ``Ain't no pity in Cowboy city'' on a poster affixed to a classroom wall.

``De La Salle has a storied program,'' Principal Bob Messina said. ``But they're a Northern California team, and -- not to be prejudicial -- I think the better football's in the south.''

Canyon has an 11-2 record this year. De La Salle is undefeated this year and has lost just five games since 1991.

Canyon defensive end Dillon Schelske will predict only that it will be a ``really tough game.

``They're No.1 in the nation for a reason,'' the senior said of the USA Today ranking. ``But no matter what, this is exciting to represent Southern California. People are excited. Everywhere you go, everyone's stoked.''

Tarango, a senior heading off to college soon, is relishing her final high school days.

``I'm just so proud of our school. To make it to the first state championship, ... that's huge,'' she said. ``It's like a dream. I'm so proud to be a Cowboy.''

Hard to believe, but no campus pep rally was scheduled this week at Canyon, Messina said. With final exams approaching, not even Cowboy fever can supercede academics.

Picking up the slack is Route66 Classic Grill, a few blocks off campus.

The band, the cheerleaders, the players and Welch, of course, will gather with fans from 5to 9p.m. today to celebrate history in the making.

``We're totally blown away,'' restaurant owner George Thomas said. ``We're still a very small community, and there's a lot of that kind of excitement and pride, not because they won CIF but because the program is such a class program.''

Hours after the lights went out on the scoreboard marking Canyon's stunning CIF win last week -- a field goal in the final seven seconds won the game -- Welch walked into Route66 to a standing ovation that lasted some three minutes, Thomas said.

``If we win on Saturday, we'll probably stay open all night,'' he said.

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Photo: Canyon High football coach Harry Welch checks out the championship T-shirts he is selling to promote Saturday's state championship game. The shirt is modeled by Cowboys team manager Kylie Patterson.

David Crane/Staff Photographer

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