CANYON GETS HELP FROM FRIENDS.Byline: GERRY GITTELSON GITTELSON BITS CARSON - Canyon High pulled out all the stops Saturday against De La Salle De La Salle is the name of several educational institutions affiliated with the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, also known as the Lasallian Brothers, a Roman Catholic religious teaching order founded by French priest Saint Jean-Baptiste de la Salle: Former athletic director Athletic director (commonly, "athletics director") is a position at many American colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, which oversees the work of the coaches and related staff involved in intercollegiate or interscholastic athletic Gary Lindberg, who was at Canyon for 25 years and is among head coach Harry Welch's best friends, arrived from Eugene, Ore., to help with special teams. ``Why am I here? You've got to be kidding me. Canyon is in the state championship for the first time in 79 years,'' Lindberg said. Former Canyon players Chuck Osborne and Karl Zierhut also joined as volunteers. Osborne played in the NFL NFL abbr. National Football League NFL (US) n abbr (= National Football League) → Fußball-Nationalliga , and Zierhut, now a head coach at Capital Christian of Sacramento, is a former Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. head coach and Valencia offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator typically refers to the coach on a football team in the National Football League or College football who is in charge of the offense. This position aids the head coach by designing and scripting plays, delegating work to offensive position coaches during . Zierhut was a finalist for the head job at Canyon seven years ago but was beaten out by Welch. ``It's just an honor to be here,'' Zierhut said. Another Canyon assistant, Ric Bailey, who also works as a Starbucks manager, has taken on the unofficial job of staff motivator, providing caffeine dosages for the staff members. ``Coach (John) DiLuigi had two mocha Mocha (mō`kə), town (1990 est. pop. 2,000), S Yemen, a port on the Red Sea. It was noted for the export of the coffee to which it gave its name but declined as a trading port in the late 19th cent. with the rise of Hodeida and Aden. frappuccinos with two extra shots of espresso with caramel and white mocha,'' Bailey said. ``I told him I was going to get his engine running, and he looked at me during our team dinner and said, `Oh baby, you did a good job.''' Prior to Saturday's game, Canyon had been fortunate enough to avoid rain over the past couple of seasons. De La Salle played in a steady downpour during its section title game last week. Canyon's fans didn't seem to mind the weather. ``We're just like the mailman. We come in rain, sleet sleet, precipitation of small, partially melted grains of ice. As raindrops fall from clouds, they pass through layers of air at different temperatures. If they pass through a layer with a temperature below the freezing point, they turn into sleet. or snow,'' said Lisa McMartin, mother of linebacker Blake McMartin. ``We'll go through anything to watch our boys play.'' It rained briefly in the first half of the Oaks Christian-Cardinal Newman Div. III game, then stopped. A downpour opened up during Orange Lutheran's Div. II victory over Palo Alto Palo Alto, city, California Palo Alto (păl`ō ăl`tō), city (1990 pop. 55,900), Santa Clara co., W Calif.; inc. 1894. Although primarily residential, Palo Alto has aerospace, electronics, and advanced research industries. . The rain came back during warmups preceding the Canyon game, but Mother Nature smiled on Canyon and DeLa Salle. About a half-hour before kickoff, things dried up for good. Among Oaks Christian's sideline supporters was renowned private coach Steve Clarkson, a former Denver Bronco bronco: see mustang. quarterback who runs Air 7 Sports and has tutored Oaks Christian's Jimmy Clausen James Richard "Jimmy" Clausen (born September 21, 1987, in Thousand Oaks, California[3]) is an American football player. He is a quarterback at the University of Notre Dame. and Orange Lutheran's Aaron Corp. Clarkson was a bit torn during the Oaks Christian-Cardinal Newman game because he's also close friends with the Cardinal Newman coaching staff Jim Clausen Sr., patriarch of the Clausen quarterbacking family, seemed even more happy than his sons -- Jimmy, of course, and Casey, an Oaks assistant -- following the Lions' closer-than-expected 27-20 victory. ``It was ugly, but everyone wanted a tough game, and that's what they got,'' the elder Clausen said. ``This was one tough game.'' In the wake of my Daily News ``best prep football teams ever'' cover story Saturday, we received lots of calls from San Fernando loyalists insisting the '74 Tigers should have been No. 1, not No. 2 behind this year's Oaks Christian team. And that was before Oaks barely held on to defeat the Cardinals. Sounds like a special retrospective just about the old San Fernando teams is in order, and that should be a lot of fun. Oaks Christian coach Bill Redell, dispelling rumors of retirement, put things this way: ``Instead of going out on top, the plan is to stay on top.'' Give Canyon credit for getting its key players who began the week hurting back onto the field. Among those who were questionable but appeared at full strength Saturday were safety Kenny Shanahan, receivers Michael Loucks and Mark Urbina, offensive lineman Nick Peterson and defensive lineman Mike Spagnola. Two-way starter Chris Kingsbury, a receiver/defensive back, was most doubtful among the group because of a severely sprained ankle but played sparingly and performed his duties as the placekick holder. We've been saving the All-Foothill League news until the season ended, so here it is: Canyon's Peterson is the Lineman of the Year, McMartin is the Defensive Player of the Year, Hart of Newhall running back Delano Howell is the Offensive Player of the Year, and Canyon running back J.J. DiLuigi is the league MVP (Multimedia Video Processor) A high-speed DSP chip from Texas Instruments, introduced in 1994. Officially introduced as the TMS320C80, it combines RISC technology with the functionality of four DSPs on one chip. . No more high school football, you say? Well, spring practice begins in early May. gerry.gittelson@dailynews.com (661) 257-5218 |
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