OUTLOOK UNCERTAIN HEADING INTO LEAGUE PLAY.

Byline: GERRY GITTELSON Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA -- Here we are, halfway through the high school football season, and there are a lot more questions than answers heading into Foothill League competition beginning Friday.

For one, it's still tough to gauge just how good most of these teams are. One week, Hart (3-3) looks pitifully bad, and the next the Indians are dominant. One week, Canyon (3-2) looks unbeatable, then the Cowboys lose two in a row. One week, Saugus (2-3) is defeating perennial power Chino, and the next week the Centurions look like their old selves.

Perhaps the biggest puzzle of all is Valencia (1-5). A feared program that has advanced to the section semifinals or better five times since 1998, the Vikings have never looked worse during some losses -- particularly the defense.

But then, Valencia nearly pulls off a monumental upset in a late 24-21 loss to powerful Notre Dame.

Not to kick a team when it's down, but winless Golden Valley (0-5) is about the only predictable outfit in these parts -- and unless Golden Valley figures out a way to tackle, it's going to be another long year.

West Ranch (3-2), a seniorless freelance program, won't join the league until next season. It looks like West Ranch might be competitive, too, based on several impressive victories so far. Running back Joe Spell is on pace to gain 1,000 yards.

At any rate, here's a midseason report:

BEST OF THE BEST

Delano Howell, RB, Hart

All the preseason hype centered around running backs Shane Vereen from Valencia and J.J. DiLuigi from Canyon, both of whom have committed to Division I college programs (Vereen to Cal and DiLuigi to BYU).

But neither can compare to Howell, a junior who's a year younger than Vereen and DiLuigi but has proved exceedingly more productive.

Vereen and DiLuigi have been steady but Howell has been spectacular.

Howell had another incredible performance in a 49-21 victory Friday over Loyola of Los Angeles, rushing for 225 yards on 26 carries with two receptions and four touchdowns.

He has rushed for 717 yards with 22 receptions and 19 touchdowns, including 17 over the past four games. He's also a dangerous kick returner who has scored on a 95-yard return.

Following in the footsteps of his brothers, former Hart standouts Keith Howell (receiver) and Dan Howell (running back/linebacker), Delano might be the best Howell of all.

Howell is a running back who has everything you want in a top prospect: a 6-foot-1, 200-pounder with blazing speed and terrific open-field moves, impressive power, good hands and 4.0 grade-point average.

Eventually, every major program in the country, including USC and UCLA, is going to want this kid.

Vereen has rushed for just 439 yards (an average of 73.1 yards per game) with 22 receptions and 16 touchdowns -- way below the standard Vereen set during his first two seasons.

As a junior, Vereen rushed for 1,650 yards -- an average of 127 per game -- with 52 receptions and 35 touchdowns. As a sophomore, he rushed for 1,389 yards -- 99 per game -- with 52 receptions and 32 touchdowns.

Then again, Vereen made two of the most amazing plays of his career Friday, a 71-yard reception that featured an awe-inspiring cutback move in traffic, and an interception that saw Vereen accelerate at the last instant to make up ground on a long pass.

DiLuigi, who rushed for 1,865 yards and scored 43 touchdowns last year to carry Canyon to the Southern Section Div. II title, has 658 yards and eight touchdowns.

Then again, DiLuigi rushed for 279 yards against respectable Chaminade of West Hills two weeks ago, so perhaps DiLuigi is better than ever.

The league's other impressive running back has been sophomore Ryan Zirbel of Saugus. He's come through with two consecutive 100-yard performances -- including a career-best 136 in a loss Friday to St. Francis of La Canada -- to boost his season total to 445 with five touchdowns.

He could become Saugus' first 1,000-yard rusher in coach Jason Bornn's four-year career.

And you might want to keep an eye on Spell. He's just 5-1, 150 but extremely fast and deceptively strong.

HEADING 'EM OFF AT THE PASS

As for the league's quarterbacks, there are some good numbers being posted but no one has brought back memories of Kyle Boller.

Most of the early attention was focused on Valencia's Graham Wilbert, who has been saddled with the task of replacing legendary Michael Herrick, California's all-time leading passer.

Wilbert has had his moments, good and bad, and is among the state leaders with 1,496 yards and 16 touchdowns. Except for an unexplainable 2-for-13 performance in a loss to Orange Lutheran last week, he's passed for a minimum of 198 yards every week.

But it's only fair to put some of the blame on the quarterback when a team is 1-5, and the only way for Wilbert to truly prove himself is to win.

Hart's Alex Pettee, Canyon's Ben Longshore and Saugus' Nick Gauthier have all proved relatively productive, though only Longshore has a record better than .500 -- so, like Wilbert, the onus is on them to put their team in a position to win.

Pettee appears to be improving steadily, as are his receivers, who have dropped a lot of passes this season.

Longshore still needs to develop a better feel for the pocket and he also needs to cut down on interceptions, but like most Canyon quarterbacks his best days probably will come in the stretch run.

Gauthier is the league's surprise success, but doesn't have a big-play receiver.

IN THEIR DEFENSE

A year ago, much of Canyon's success was due to its defense, which allowed just 13 points a game and always seemed to hang tough in key situations.

The Cowboys are again strong defensively. Among the top performers have been linemen Dillon Schelske and Ben Armbruster, linebackers Blake McMartin and Nick Jurado, and defensive backs Chris Kingsbury, Michael Loucks and Anthony King.

Hart's linebacking crew, headed by Patrick Larimore and Chris Hickox, has proved especially dominant, and Saugus also has an impressive corps that includes Ryan and Justin McKillop and Richard Koval. Hart defensive back Adam Reyes and Saugus defensive back Mario Wright have also been solid.

LOOKING FORWARD

Hart and Canyon don't tiptoe into league competition. The arch rivals meet Friday at College of the Canyons in a rematch of last year's Div. II championship won by Canyon, which has a three-game-series winning steak.

Maybe then we'll have a clearer picture on which way each program is going.

Valencia has lost four in a row heading into Friday's matchup against Golden Valley, which is hoping only to survive after losing by an average margin of 36.4 points.

Saugus, hoping finally to prove it belongs among the elite, plays a nonleague game against Quartz Hill before beginning league competition at Valencia on Oct. 20.

Are we really looking at a four-team race? Such a notion could prove especially exciting because only three teams make the playoffs. We shall see.

gerry.gittelson(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

The Canyon High defense, which gave up an average of 13 points a game last year, is strong again. It stopped Crespi's E.J. Woods from scoring a touchdown on this play Friday night.

Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News