DREAM GAME: CANYON VS. OAKS CHRISTIAN IT WOULD BE QUITE A MATCHUP OF POWERHOUSES.

Byline: GERRY GITTELSON

So imagine what might happen if CIF State Championship Bowl titlists Canyon and Oaks Christian of Westlake Village played one more high school football game this weekend -- against each other.

We thought last Saturday at Home Depot Center in Carson was a big event when Canyon defeated national power Concord De La Salle 27-13 in the Div. I final, and Oaks Christian won its 46th in a row with a 27-20 overtime victory over Cardinal Newman of Santa Rosa in the Div. III final.

If the local powerhouses now squared off against each other, it would be a showdown for the ages.

Or at least an interesting matchup.

Oaks Christian (15-0), led by All-American quarterback Jimmy Clausen, is incredibly talented. And while Clausen didn't play particularly well against Cardinal Newman, the odds are he would not have two subpar performances in a row -- which would be bad news for Canyon.

Then again, by defeating De La Salle, Canyon (12-2) just knocked off the nation's top-ranked team, according the USA Today, so it's easy to believe Canyon could play with anybody. The Cowboys execute too well, prepare too thoroughly and perform too crisply as a team to be counted out of any game.

So that would be the backdrop for this dream match. The best against the best to prove who truly reigns supreme not only in the area but all of California.

The first thing Canyon probably would do is copy Cardinal Newman of Santa Rosa's defense -- three pass rushers, eight backing into coverage -- and force Oaks Christian to do what it couldn't do Saturday: score touchdowns one after another, as the Lions have been doing for the past four seasons or so.

And if Oaks Christian thought Cardinal Newman had an effective pass rush, you can imagine the Lions' reaction when Canyon's elite defensive linemen Mike Spagnola, Ben Armbruster and Dillon Schelske set their sights on Clausen.

How would Canyon's offense, led by quarterback Ben Longshore and star tailback J.J. DiLuigi, do against Oaks Christian? Nobody did much offensively against the Lions, not even Cardinal Newman, but the Cowboys are nearly as terrific moving the ball as they are trying to stop it. No one is going to bottle up DiLuigi, a 2,000-yard rusher who has scored 81touchdowns over two seasons. And Longshore, who started for the first time this season, is a different quarterback than the onewho lost early games against Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks and St. Bonaventure of Ventura. He's much more confident with better feel in the pocket, and it's likely he would find some open receivers against Oaks Christian.

This proposed brawl for it all probably would come down to twothings: preparation and which team wanted it more. They're both well-coached, as Canyon's Harry Welch and Oaks Christian's Bill Redell and his coterie of elite assistants rarely leave anything to chance, so the preparation factor would be a toss-up.

As for who would want it more, I'd probably pick Canyon because no team ever has been more hyped than Oaks Christian -- perhaps rightfully so -- and the Cowboys would have more momentum because they beat a much bigger opponent last week.

So it's Canyon over Oaks Christian, by virtue of one last intangible: Oaks Christian last week tied Canyon's Southern Section-record 46-game winning streak (1983-1986), so what more motivation would the Cowboys need than to preserve such a sacred personal achievement?

Oaks Christian has won an awful lot of games. But not this one. Canyon wins by a point.

Hmm. While we're fantasizing, what if Marc Tyler would make a miraculous recovery? In that case, if I'm Canyon, I'm worried.

Obviously, we'll never really know. But it sure is fun to wonder about it.

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2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Oaks Christian quarterback Jimmy Clausen (7) led the Lions to a 15-0 record this season.

Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer

(2 -- color) Canyon, led by running back J.J. DiLuigi, upset De La Salle, ranked No. 1 in the nation by USA Today.

Alex Collins/Special to the Daily News