You won’t find Canyon seventh-year coach Rich Gutierrez and his team peeping down the schedule, even with Foothills League play looming and the Cowboys coming off a 35-0 win over Highland.
Before the Cowboys enter the grueling Foothill stretch, they’ll host Simi Valley on Friday night looking to enter league play with a winning record.
“I’ve tried to keep it consistent my time here,” Gutierrez said. “It’s easy to look ahead with league right there, but we’ve been burned in the past for doing that. We have a big game in front of us.”
Canyon (2-2) found consistency last week with a potent rushing attack, which totaled 232 yards in the victory and helped keep the defense fresh amid its shutout. Junior running back Ryan Valdes and junior quarterback Shawn Gallagher each tallied rushing scores.
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“Every week it’s been a dominant challenge,” Gutierrez said. “You want to look fluid when you go into league and our run game gave us that look last week.”
Canyon soundly defeated Simi Valley (0-3) last season, 48-13, but the Pioneers will feature a new coach in Dameon Porter, who came over from Leuzinger.
“They run a similar offense to what we’ll see in league, so that’s great preparation,” Gutierrez said. “I respect (Porter’s) style of coaching. I know he’s bringing over a competitive squad.”
