A balanced offensive attack helped Canyon Cowboys football put behind last week’s rough start, taking down the Buena Bulldogs in the home opener on Friday, 38-14.
Canyon (1-1) quarterback Sebastian Martinez threw for three passing touchdowns, two of them going to receiver Carson Soria. The other went to receiver Joshua Wagner.
Also scoring on the night for Canyon were Keyshawn Wooten and Aiden Magno, who both got to the end zone on the ground.
“The kids played hard,” Canyon head coach Ken Holsenbeck said in a phone interview. “We’re trying to get better every week, and we’ve seen that happen three straight weeks.”
The Cowboys didn’t let last week’s loss to Charter Oak affect them on Friday, going up 18-0 over Buena (0-2) after the first half.
Holsenbeck said the offensive line did its job and enabled the run game to flourish. On defense, that same line gave Martinez time to work as he wasn’t sacked all night.
“We had good success in the first half running and throwing, controlling the clock,” Holsenbeck said.
Myles McCrory added a defensive touchdown, recovering a fumble and taking it to the house.
“Myles McCrory is one of those guys that stands out with his speed,” Holsenbeck said. “He’s a football player, without a doubt.”
Evan Watts had a big catch in the first half, Holsenbeck said, but wasn’t able to get to the end zone. He had multiple sacks for the second straight game in his quest to break the program’s single-season sack record.
Holsenbeck credited the entire defense for stepping up throughout the game as Buena only got on the board when the Cowboys had almost sealed the win.
The Cowboys face another road test, their second in three weeks to start the year, next week when they travel to Cathedral (2-0) to take on the Phantoms. Undefeated through two weeks, the Phantoms beat Snow Canyon this week, 39-20, after needing double overtime to beat Loyola last week, 16-13.
Holsenbeck said it’s another challenge for his team to see how good the Cowboys can be.
“We’re just going through the process of getting better,” Holsenbeck said. “Hopefully we’re playing better each week.”
