ERIC SONDHEIMER
Life doesn't seem fair when a teenage boy loses his father at the precise moment he needs him most, but senior quarterback Ben Longshore of Canyon Country Canyon and junior running back Delano Howell of Newhall Hart each is shouldering the burden the best he can. It's a big week in the Santa Clarita Valley, with Canyon playing Hart on Friday night at College of the Canyons in a Foothill League game that figures to determine the league championship. But no matter which team wins, prayers and good wishes will be directed toward Longshore and Howell. Longshore's father died April 24 of a blood clot. He was 49. Howell's father died Sept. 10 of complications from heart surgery. He was 57. Both were much-respected in their community, churches and schools.
Todd Longshore, the father of three sons and one daughter, was such a prominent youth coach and scout leader that the Santa Clarita City Council voted last month to name a new 32-acre park in his name. Groundbreaking is set for Nov. 3.
Keith Howell, the father of three sons, taught Sunday Bible classes. There has been an outpouring of community support as the two youngest sons mourn their fathers' passings, but complicating everything has been football. It's both a blessing and a distraction. The week Longshore lost his father, he left for a football camp in San Diego, a trip on which his father was to have accompanied him. Instead, older brother Nate, the starting quarterback at California, took the trip, along with Canyon Coach Harry Welch and several teammates.
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