Canyon Cowboys football got off to a slow start Friday night and couldn’t get out of a hole as the Charter Oak Chargers won the season opener at home, 44-6.
Cowboys head coach Ken Holsenbeck said it’s the type of competition he wants his team to be facing, but the Cowboys didn’t execute when needed.
“Yeah, that’s definitely a pretty good team, but that’s the kind of competition we want to be able to play with,” Holsenbeck said in a phone interview. “We just have to do a better job of executing and doing the things that we can control to keep us in those games.”
Holsenbeck said the Charter Oak quarterback, Corin Berry, kept the Cowboys on their toes, while the skill guys were effective on both sides of the ball.
The Chargers led at the half, 37-6.
Canyon got its lone score of the game in the first half from running back Keston Banos.
Looking to expand the offense more this year, Holsenbeck said he was pleased with quarterback Sebastian Martinez but is looking for more consistency after a rough first half.
“He had a rough first half but came back in the second half and played well,” he said.
Senior Evan Watts did pretty much what was expected of him on defense, Holsenbeck said. The defensive end racked up a number of tackles, two sacks and blocked a PAT.
“We’re always a better team when he lines up for us at defensive end,” Holsenbeck said.
Also finding a way to stand out on what was a disappointing night for Canyon was Keyshawn Wooten. He had a kick return for 77 yards, but the Cowboys were unable to get any points to come from it.
Holsenbeck said there were multiple opportunities for the Cowboys to put the ball in the end zone, but they came up empty each time.
“We definitely had some struggles on both sides of the ball,” Holsenbeck said. “We actually should have had three different scores, to be honest. We had some success driving the ball, but then couldn’t convert. You have to execute.”
Canyon has its home opener scheduled for next Friday against the Buena Bulldogs (0-1), who lost to Saugus at home to open the season on Friday, 38-34.
