Oak Park goes sleepwalking in Santa Paula

The Oak Park players and coaches who served a one month suspension sat out their final game last week, and it showed as the Eagles stumbled to a 12-3 loss at Santa Paula.

The Eagle offense slumbered, but the defense appeared in mid-season form despite the absence of several starters. The Cardinals had just 181 yards of offense in the game, compared to over 300 yards in passing alone for Oak Park.

Linebacker Ryan Lewis and defensive end Nick Skultety led a fired up defense that held Santa Paula to its worst offensive performance of their first four games.

Defensive tackle Brian Custer had five tackles, including two sacks and two tackles behind the line of scrimmage.

For Oak Park it was not a question of intensity, it was a matter of execution. Four interceptions, a critical fumble, three penalties in the red zone, four dropped passes and 14 running plays that had either no gain or negative yardage, were the ingredients in a recipe for defeat.

Three times during the game, Oak Park had a first down inside the Cardinal 10-yard line and all they had to show for it was a Monte McNair field goal.

Trailing 9-3, Oak Park drove to the two-yard line with 56 seconds left in the first half, but a five-yard penalty pushed the Eagles back and three incomplete passes and a missed field goal set the tone for the rest of the evening.

Josh Walker ended the night with 20 completions in 40 attempts for 326 yards, but he lost at least another 50 yards from dropped passes.

Walker’s main target was McNair, who had seven receptions for 108 yards. Eric Testan had five receptions for 87 yards.