THE BELL TOLLS FOR CANYON BEATS HART, CLAIMS ITS FIRST FOOTHILL TITLE CANYON 16, HART 14.

Byline: Erik Boal Special to the Daily News

SANTA CLARITA - In the Wild West, cowboys ring bells to indicate that it's dinner time.

For the Canyon High football team, the ringing of the victory bell following Thursday night's 16-14 Foothill League victory over Hart of Newhall officially began the Cowboys' reign as league champion.

After ending a 13-game losing streak to the Indians last season, Canyon relied on a Tyler Hawkins fumble recovery with less than two minutes remaining to capture its first title during its 14-year existence in the league after being the dominant team in the Golden League during the 1980s.

After a 23-yard scramble by Hart quarterback Tyler Lyon and a 22-yard run by Robbie Casselberry gave Hart a first-and-goal at the 6, the Indians' ensuing play resulted in a collision between Lyon and fullback Griffin Cannon on the handoff and a fumble, which was recovered at the line of scrimmage by Hawkins.

``(When I saw it hit the ground), it was mine, all mine. No one else was getting that ball,'' said Hawkins, who set up Canyon's first score with a blocked punt late in the first quarter. ''(When they got the 6) we just talked about staying together because something good would come our way. We've had plenty of goal-line stands, so it wasn't anything new to us.''

After forcing Canyon to punt with 11 seconds left, Hart's James Wheeler fielded Phillip Malinoski's kick at the Cowboys' 49-yard line. Although Wheeler was able to get inside the 40-yard line to set up a possible winning field-goal attempt by Paul Weinstein, time ran out, setting off pandemonium on the Canyon sideline.

``I was on the ground, so I didn't see anything,'' Hawkins said. ``All of the sudden I saw all of these people on the field, and I was still wondering if there was time for one more play.

``Give those guys over there a ton of credit. They played a (heck) of a game on offense and defense. It's the nature of these two teams when they play. You knew neither one was going to quit. Listening to that bell ring is so sweet. It's bliss.''

Canyon (9-1, 5-0), ranked No. 5 by the Daily News, extended its winning streak to seven games, snapping No. 4 Hart's seven-game run in the process. The victory likely secured the second seed - behind defending-champion Mission Viejo - in the upcoming Southern Section Div. II playoffs for the Cowboys, who entered the game ranked third in the division behind Hart (8-2, 4-1).

J.J. DiLuigi, who entered Thursday's contest tied for the state lead with 35 touchdowns, played a large role in the victory, adding two more touchdowns to his total. DiLuigi scored on a 12-yard reception and a 3-yard run, finishing with 143 rushing yards and catching five passes for 66 yards.

Being tackled on the final play was an unfortunate ending for Wheeler, who gave Hart a chance to win with several acrobatic plays on offense, in addition to intercepting two passes and recovering a fumble on defense.

Wheeler finished with five catches for 113 yards, including two on third-down plays to keep Hart's final drive alive. He also ran for 27 yards and a returned a kickoff 96 yards to give the Indians a 7-3 lead early in the second quarter.

After Canyon grabbed the early advantage on a 25-yard field goal by Christopher Chapman, Wheeler took the ensuing kickoff and ran untouched up the middle of Canyon's return unit for a touchdown.

Following his second interception of the opening half, four plays later, Wheeler took a short screen pass from Tyler Lyon, found a seam in the Canyon defense and sprinted 60 yards for a 14-3 Hart advantage.

Erik Boal, [phone]

erik.boal(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- color) Canyon running back J.J. DiLuigi, left, tries to avoid Hart of Newhall's Griffin Cannon during Thursday night's Foothill League game.

(2) Hart's Robbie Casselberry tries to slip past Andrew Suarez.

David Crane/Staff Photographer

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