COLLEGE REVIVES FOOTBALL PROGRAM; PRACTICE FOR COMING GRIDIRON SEASON UNDER WAY AS COACH RESTARTS PROGRAM THAT HASN'T SCORED TOUCHDOWN SINCE 1981.

Byline: Mary Schubert Daily News Staff Writer

At Cougar Stadium this summer, local college students are doing something unheard of around these parts since 1981 - scrimmaging on the turf in preparation for the coming football season.

Seventeen years ago, College of the Canyons played its final gridiron contest before the program was disbanded in the spring of 1982.

The last time the college had a football team, the population of the Santa Clarita Valley was half of what it is today, the future site of City Hall was an onion field, Roaring Rapids was the newest ride at Magic Mountain, what would become Stevenson Ranch was still rolling hills dotted with oak trees and not tract homes - and most of head coach Chuck Lyon's current players were still in diapers.

Lyon, himself an alumnus and former quarterback for the Cougars, was hired in January to resurrect a football program that has been dormant for 17 seasons.

In the months since he got the job, Lyon has assembled a staff of assistant coaches, recruited athletes from the Santa Clarita Valley's four high schools and instituted weeknight workouts packed with weight training, playmaking and drills for running, throwing, catching, blocking and tackling.

The Cougars play their first game Sept. 12, a road contest in Palm Desert that will usher in a new era of College of the Canyons football. The squad's home debut is set for Sept. 26 vs. Compton College.

The 10-game season culminates Nov. 14 against Ventura College, Lyon said. College of the Canyons is part of the Western State Conference.

As Lyon puts his players through the paces of summer practice, the roster numbers about 45. Now that high school seniors have graduated - and, in July and August, when players from out of state move to the area and others trickle in from summer vacations - the ranks will swell to 60 or 70, he said.

Aug. 17 is the deadline to try out for the team - the fall semester begins Aug. 20 - and Lyon said the Cougars will not accept walk-ons.

``We really don't take guys off the street,'' he noted. ``They have to be recruited by us or recommended by high school coaches.

``You want to make sure you're getting quality people, and I don't mean (just) quality football players. You want people who can attend college and can pass and have a desire to be here.''

Lyon, who as a player from 1973-74 holds the distinction of scoring the very first touchdown at Cougar Stadium, added, ``We do a little bit of a background check before we let anybody come out (for the team), because we want to protect the quality.''

Lyon described his summer squad as an enthusiastic and hard-working group who have been impressed by the campus administration's commitment to reviving and sustaining the football program, which was dropped in 1982 in a budget-cutting move.

``We've got a new weight room, a new fitness center, new football offices and they're putting in a new practice field,'' Lyon said. The team also has a fledgling booster club.

``When I get a kid to visit here, they usually commit to go to school here,'' he said.

Many on the new team hail from San Fernando Valley high schools, including Sylmar, Alemany, Kennedy and Monroe. Others are coming from the San Gabriel Valley, athletes who know of Lyon from his 12 seasons coaching football at Pasadena City College.

Other players have been drawn to the new program from the Antelope Valley and, naturally, a sizable number are hometown residents already attending College of the Canyons or recently graduated from Valencia, Saugus, Hart or Canyon high schools, Lyon said.

Assistant coach Garett Tujague, who doubles as an academic counselor for all athletes at the college, said many players have committed to the Cougar football team because ``they want to be part of a brand-new tradition.''

``They see that the potential here is unbelievable. They want to be associated with a winner,'' Tujague added. ``Everybody's pretty hyped, and football is definitely in the air.''

Since 1982, a steady stream of Santa Clarita Valley athletes have enrolled at Glendale Community College and Valley College in North Hollywood to play on their football teams. But Lyon said the revival of the Cougars has lured some of those young men back to town.

``From (Cal State) Northridge, Valley and Glendale, we got four or five kids, I think,'' Lyon said. He predicted the longstanding exodus of Santa Clarita Valley players to other community colleges will end ``very quickly'' now that Saturday night football is returning to their back yard.

``Would anybody want to leave this valley, drive past this college, to go to another community college?'' Lyon asked, confident that the question is a rhetorical one.

College of the Canyons football fans from way back will recognize the cougar-head logo of old that will adorn the brand-new helmets, pants and jerseys, Lyon said. The team will wear home and road uniforms in shades of navy blue, white and gold.

``It's a pretty sweet look, really,'' Lyon said.

Another tradition - from his playing days and then as an assistant coach in the 1970s and '80s - that Lyon wants to maintain is a team tenacity.

``When you were done playing College of the Canyons, you knew that you had been in a war,'' he said. ``We were tough kids who played with discipline, and we will again.

``Any year that I go into a football season, my expectations are the same - play hard, play with discipline. The wins and losses will take care of themselves.

``You don't talk about winning. You talk about doing things right. We're going to do things right, and let the chips fall where they may.''

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos

PHOTO (1--Color) College of the Canyons football players run through a passing drill under the watchful eye of head coach Chuck Lyon, wearing black cap.

(2) Chuck Lyon, second from left, puts his players through their paces as he revives the Cougars' long-dormant football program.

Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News