Canyon’s Welch Not Enjoying Spotlight Now

Should he stay or should he go?

That was the burning question in the Santa Clarita Valley last week regarding Harry Welch, veteran football coach at Canyon High of Canyon Country.

Welch, one of that valley’s most widely known residents, is also one of its most controversial.

The latest incident occurred on Oct. 1, when the Cowboys lost their first game of the season to Quartz Hill, 25-14. Welch, upset over the defeat, chided his team on the field moments after the game, refused to talk with local newspaper reporters and then got into a scuffle with a Canyon booster club member.

Welch, 48, said he was assaulted by Tim McKeon, treasurer of the booster club and the father of Canyon player Jared McKeon. Although he filed a report with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Dept., Welch decided not to file assault charges.

Tim McKeon has since apologized.

The incident, however, prompted an editorial in a local paper asking for Welch’s resignation.

“I read the papers and it bothers me when ill-informed reporters write things without knowing all of the facts,” Welch said. “After a very tough loss, I was assaulted by a parent and received physical damage. A few days later, someone is asking for me to step down. The reporter never even called me to talk about the matter.”

When Canyon was upset by Mission Hills Alemany last Friday, Welch reached the boiling point. He told his team after the game that he was not giving them his best effort and might have to step down. He changed his mind Monday and decided to stay.

But it will not be easy. The Cowboys are 3-2 with Foothill League play beginning Friday and will have a difficult time improving on last season’s disappointing 7-4 finish.

Although Welch admits that he enjoys the media coverage Canyon receives, he said it is tough coaching in such a high-profile program.

In June, he settled a two-year legal battle with the CIF over alleged rules violations. The Southern Section sought to impose a one-year suspension on Welch for allegedly holding an illegal practice in May of 1991. Welch took the CIF to court, and finally settled for an undisclosed sum. He did not miss any games.

The legal fight took a toll, however, on a coach who has won 80% of his games in 12 seasons. And it seemed to smudge Welch’s once-shiny reputation.

“Similar situations probably occur all over Southern California,” Welch said. “But up here in Canyon Country, they are reported and scrutinized much more. It makes it tough on a coach.”

Tough enough to step down? Not so far. But Harry Welch’s, winning program may be proving to be his worst enemy.

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Being a highly recruited quarterback has not been all glamour for Mike Darr of Corona. In fact, it has caused him considerable grief.

The talented football and baseball player has been getting as many as 10 phone calls a night from college coaches who want him to go to their schools. Darr also is trying to lead the football team back to the Southern Section playoffs, where it lost to Indio in the Division V semifinals last season.

Darr had to miss a week of school last month because of high blood pressure. He sat out a 23-6 victory over Ontario on Sept. 17 and returned the following week only after receiving medication and clearance from his doctor.

“Mike’s blood pressure has always been a little high,” said Debbie Darr, his mother. “And with all that is going on this fall, it really just shot up. When his headaches worsened, I finally took him to the doctor, and there was definitely a problem. He’s doing better now. But there are a lot of pressures on teen-agers these days, and Mike is no different.”

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A feud apparently is brewing between football coaches Joel Schaeffer of Reseda and Troy Starr of Woodland Hills Taft in the wake of Taft’s 39-13 victory over the Regents last Friday.

Schaeffer accused Starr of running up the score when the Toreadors completed a 70-yard double-pass play and two-point conversion with 39 seconds remaining and Taft ahead, 31-13.

Starr apologized on Monday, faxing a statement to Reseda in which he said he made “inappropriate decisions” at the end of the game.

The fax did not mollify Schaeffer.

“At the very least, they should suspend, if not terminate him,” he said of Starr.

Prep Notes

Receiver Leodes Van Buren of Newbury Park set Southern Section records last Friday for receptions, 211, and yardage, 3,472, breaking the marks of 207 receptions for 3,389 yards set by John McKay of La Puente Bishop Amat from 1968-70. Van Buren, a senior, had nine receptions for 111 yards and three touchdowns in a 36-0 victory over Oxnard Channel Islands. . . . San Pedro’s 13-game winning streak was snapped last Friday by Wilmington Banning, 17-0. The Pirates never advanced the ball beyond the Banning 36-yard line.

Kevin Crawley was fired as football coach at Gardena Serra last Thursday and replaced by Charles Nash. Serra (1-4) responded by losing to Montebello Cantwell-Sacred Heart on Friday, 23-6. . . . Running back James Durroh of Palos Verdes Peninsula gained 256 in 17 carries and scored three touchdowns in the team’s 41-13 victory over Beverly Hills. Durroh has rushed for more than 200 yards in his last three games.

omm’A Givens, a 6-foot-10 center from Aberdeen, Wash., has told UCLA he will accept a basketball scholarship to the school. Givens is the fourth player to commit to the Bruins for next season. . . . Tommie Davis, a 5-9 guard who recently transferred from Fremont to Crenshaw, has committed to Houston.

Times’ Top 20 Football Poll

The Times’ top 20 high school football poll, with teams from the City and Southern Sections.

School Sect. Div. Rec. LW 1. Bishop Amat SS I 5-0 1 2. Eisenhower SS I 5-0 2 3. Newbury Park SS III 5-0 3 4. Los Alamitos SS II 5-0 5 5. Antelope Valley SS I 4-1 7 6. Hart SS II 4-1 4 7. Loyola SS I 4-1 8 8. LB Poly SS I 4-1 10 9. Hawthorne SS III 4-1 9 10. Fountain Valley SS II 5-0 13 11. Norco SS V 5-0 12 12. Hunt. Beach SS II 5-0 14 13. Quartz Hill SS I 5-0 16 14. Taft City 4-A 5-0 15 15. Irvine SS IV 4-1 17 16. Dominguez SS II 5-0 18 17. Esperanza SS II 3-2 11 18. Mater Dei SS I 4-1 19 19. Rowland SS III 5-0 NR 20. Muir SS II 3-2 6