The Canyon High Cowboys were hoping for a better result with their rematch against Charter Oak, after a tough 38-point loss last year in Covina.
After the first half, it became clear that Corin Berry and company were determined to give Canyon more of the same in Round 2, jumping out to a 35-point lead at halftime before handing the Cowboys a 49-7 loss in Canyon Country on Friday.
Berry, Charter Oak’s starting quarterback who changed his commitment from Boston College to Purdue in April, shook off a slow start to finish the first half with 165 yards and four passing touchdowns, going 10-for-12 on his passing attempts.
Canyon High head coach Ken Holsenbeck, who went for it on fourth down three times in the first half — including with 2 seconds left — said he was really trying to build momentum.
“We’re trying to get some momentum going, trying to make something positive happen here,” he said of the risk-taking, adding that also was part of his team’s philosophy. “Any time that we have an opportunity, we’re going to continue to try to keep pushing.”
Despite its ballyhooed quarterback, Charter Oak started its attack on the ground, pounding it down the field in 5- and 8-yard chunks until Torry Huff ran in Charter’s first score.
A pass from Berry to Antonio Reasby made it 14-0 before Canyon High’s special teams got the Cowboys on the board.
Myles McCrory raced down the sideline for a 70-yard return to give the Cowboys their only points of the game about midway through the first quarter.
“We’ve got to talk about McCrory and his kickoff return, right? I mean that was fantastic,” Holsenbeck said, crediting his blocking and special teams with making the big plays.
McCrory and Eli De Leon were a couple of the bright spots for Canyon on the defensive side of the ball, which kept them in the game until the Chargers’ offense simply overpowered Canyon’s defense.
Canyon struggled to stop the run and the pass, failing to force a fourth down for Charter Oak until more than halfway through the fourth quarter, when Berry was no longer in the game.
Berry also threw a second touchdown to Reasby, as well as scoring strikes to Christian Alarcon and Joel Sanchez, to finish the first half up 42-7.
Holsenbeck said he didn’t want to celebrate holding the team to 7 points in the second half because they gave up way too many in the first.
As highly touted as the Chargers’ quarterback was, the Cowboys came into Friday without much experience under center. The departures of Sebastian Martinez and Jayce Johnson prompted Holsenbeck to move Soria over from the slot during the summer.
Soria managed several big runs with his speed, but the offense struggled to connect early.
Soria was given a rest in the third quarter to give junior Julian Carlin snaps under center as well, with Holsenbeck saying after the game that rotating the two was in the gameplan all along.
Keyshawn Wooten, who played both sides, was one of the Cowboys to end with positive yardage despite a stifling defensive performance from Charter Oak, garnering 15 yards on four carries.
While frustrated with the outcome, he said he knew the team didn’t play its best game Friday.
“Special teams can also help us win games,” he said, “but at the same time, we need to come together as a team to play ball.”
And the Cowboys also had trouble avoiding costly mistakes, even when they were able to force them from their opponents.
After Canyon was able to keep a late scoring drive alive thanks to two penalties from Charter Oak, a Canyon fumble deep in Chargers’ territory gave them the ball back with 10 minutes left in the game. The Chargers continued to eat up the clock on the ground.
Next Friday, Canyon heads to Buena in Ventura County for a chance at redemption.
