Canadian Team Heads South With Flying Wedge : Prep football: Calgary school will cram games against Moorpark and St. Bonaventure into span of three nights in whirlwind tour.

Anyone up for a chorus of “O Canada?”

Moorpark and St. Bonaventure highs are preparing to sing the Canadian national anthem this week, all because of a visit by St. Mary’s of Canada.

The Saints of Calgary, Alberta, are crossing the border to take on the Ventura County schools in football and revel in Southland hospitality. The trip is a whirlwind tour--two games, two pro sporting events and various social functions squeezed into five days.

The visitors will play at Moorpark High at 5:30 tonight. On Saturday they will play St. Bonaventure at 7:30 p.m. at Ventura High. Both games will be preceded by junior varsity games.

St. Mary’s originally had been scheduled to play only St. Bonaventure. When a scheduling mix-up left Moorpark without an opponent for this week, St. Mary’s agreed to play the Musketeers too. While Southern Section rules prohibit football teams from playing more than two games in an eight-day period, Canadian teams frequently play more than one game a week because of the region’s cold weather and limited stadium availability.

Coach Bill McConkey said the heavy schedule has done nothing to temper his team’s excitement about the excursion.

“It’s almost like Christmas Eve here right now,” McConkey said in a phone interview from the school Wednesday. “The kids are just so excited about getting ready to leave for their ‘American vacation.’ I’m sure a lot of them won’t even sleep tonight.”

The traveling contingent of 102--including 85 players--will arrive today at 9:30 a.m. at LAX and return to Canada on Monday night. McConkey said the trip will cost about $650 per person. A Calgary soccer club helped sponsor the trip, donating money it raised during bingo games.

The Canadian players will have lunch with Moorpark’s teams today at Moorpark, visit classes and then attend a pregame rally. After the games, St. Mary’s will board a bus to Anaheim where it will stay overnight in a hotel.

On Friday, the team will visit Disneyland, then attend the Angels-Texas Rangers game at Anaheim Stadium. After Saturday’s game against St. Bonaventure, coaches from Moorpark, St. Bonaventure and St. Mary’s will get together for a social outing.

On Sunday, the visitors will attend the New York Giants-Raiders game at the Coliseum, then return for a barbecue at St. Bonaventure.

This is St. Mary’s second trip to California. The Saints lost to Village Christian, 26-13, in 1990.

McConkey said that Village Christian Coach Mike Plaisance was instrumental in planning this trip.

“The kids had such a great experience last time that we wanted to do it again, so I called (Plaisance) and he recommended some teams that were about our size who we might like to play,” McConkey said. “We made some calls and were lucky that (Moorpark and St. Bonaventure) had open dates.”

St. Mary’s is 2-0, St. Bonaventure is 2-1 and Moorpark is 1-2. St. Mary’s again must adjust to several differences in the way the game is played here. Teams in Canada use 12 players and compete on longer, wider fields with larger end zones.

St. Bonaventure Coach Jon Mack is not expecting a cakewalk. “We’re going to show them a great time for most of their stay,” Mack said. “But we’re going to try to whip ‘em on the field.”