Big First-Half Plays Beat Santa Ana

SANTA ANA — The worst, most trying season in Coach Harry Welch’s tenure at Canyon Country Canyon High got a little stranger Friday night when the Cowboys won one game and lost two others.

The victory was a decisive, 35-13 wipeout of Santa Ana in the opening round of the Division I playoffs at Santa Ana Stadium. The losses--two apparent forfeits of games earlier this season--were still unofficial as best as Welch knew late Friday.

He said he learned the Cowboys would be forced to forfeit two games only hours before leaving for Santa Ana, but did not know further details.

Whether Canyon is 7-3-1, or 5-5-1 after the forfeits, the Cowboys will still face Eisenhower, No. 1 ranked nationally by USA Today, in the second round next week. Santa Ana, a surprise Sunset League champion, ends its season 5-6.

Three touchdown passes and a five-yard scoring run by Canyon quarterback Chad Engbrecht helped the Cowboys put the game away early. They led, 28-7, by halftime.

Engbrecht completed six consecutive passes at one point in the half and was eight of 11 for 151 yards in the first 24 minutes. He misfired on all six second-half passes, but by then it didn’t matter.

“Certainly, in the first half we were able to run and pass and we picked up big gains on second- and third-and-long,” said Welch, who was suspended from coaching for 5 1/2 months by the Southern Section for holding an illegal practice last spring. In the summer, he won reinstatement in the courts, although the battle is still unresolved.

“We had a big letdown in intensity in the second half,” he said. “We didn’t play well in the second half.”

Santa Ana’s only highlight came on a 65-yard touchdown run by running back Kevin Pola on the Saints’ first drive. Pola had a game-high 133 yards and added a six-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.

“With the exception of that one play, our defense was solid,” Welch said.

Santa Ana’s defense was sieve-like in the first half, allowing Canyon four touchdowns on five possessions. The fifth was stopped at the Santa Ana 31-yard line by the end of the half.