It’s been a tough, emotional week for Varner and Canyon

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You could tell Friday’s 18-14 loss to Saugus wasn’t easy to swallow for Canyon Coach Chris Varner.

It’s been an emotional and crazy week for the first-year head coach, who is trying to live up to expectations that are just part of the territory with a team coming off a Division I state bowl title. In the past week, he’s seen at least two players quit the team and, on Monday, he had to make the extremely difficult decision to fire his friend and defensive coordinator, John DiLuigi, with only two games left in the regular season.

However, Varner isn’t making excuses about how his boys played Friday night.

‘I think we just couldn’t keep up with their high-octane offense,’ Varner said. ‘We battle every time, but we still haven’t put together that one complete game. I know that if we make the playoffs, we can make some damage.’

And the idea of Canyon missing the playoffs is probably the hardest thing Varner has had to endure. In almost any other league, the Cowboys would be making the postseason as league champions. But in the Foothill League, not even a 14-0 lead late in the third quarter means you’re safe.

Canyon must now beat Valencia next Friday if it wants to make the playoffs. I like the Cowboys’ chances and I can only see things getting a little easier for Varner and his team after the kind of week they’ve just endured.

-- Austin Knoblauch