Warriors overpower T.O. in football, 49-7

Warriors overpower T.O. in football, 49-7

MORRIS COHEN/The Acorn FIRST DOWN-Westlake tight end Jimmy Miller caries the ball for a first down as defensive back Joe LaPorta of Thousand Oaks closes in during Friday night's game at Westlake. The Warriors dominated. A league showdown is tomorrow night when Agoura travels to Westlake. Both are undefeated.

By Ryan Smith

Special to The Acorn

Every football team should have a Rudy. For Notre Dame University, the diminutive Rudy Reuttiger led the practice squad against the starting Irish before finally playing 27 seconds in his final game. His heart, determination and commitment inspired his teammates and added to the mystique of Notre Dame football. Westlake quarterback Rudy Carpenter rifled the Warriors to a 49-7 victory and a 4-0 overall, 1-0 league record last Friday night in their Marmonte League opener against Thousand Oaks (1-3, 0-1).

Behind an offensive line that averages 294 pounds, Carpenter scorched the Lancer defense for 315 yards and five touchdowns. Standout receivers Michael Stuart and Jimmy Miller proved too large for the Lancer secondary. Stuart had seven receptions for 151 yards and a touchdown, while Miller caught five balls for 88 yards and three scores.

"I don’t think it gets much better than that," said Carpenter about his first half. "It’s pretty easy to have that kind of numbers when the receivers are so big (both Stuart and Miller are 6-5), and I just throw it up to them and they just go after it."

Westlake scored first on a play action pass from Carpenter to senior Jason Wick. Carpenter faked a handoff, rolled out right and completed a short pass to Wick, who broke a tackle and took it 78 yards to the end zone.

Stuart broke a tackle and scored a 23-yard touchdown on Westlake’s next possession in a meeting that resembled a bug bouncing off the grill of an SUV. Both Stuart and Miller are listed at 220 and 245 respectively. Thousand Oaks’ secondary doesn’t have a man over 190.

With the score 14-0 after the first 5:18 of play, Westlake was performing as expected. In the next three drives, Westlake tried a more balanced offense with a mix of runs, play actions and short passes. The Lancer defense stifled Westlake’s ground game and senior Jason Soporito picked off Carpenter at the end of the first quarter.

The lull in scoring induced Warrior head coach Jim Benkert to once again call upon his quarterback and talented receivers. "We just decided that we got to go to the big guns," said Benkert. "We just got them isolated one-on-one and just put the ball in the air, and they just did the rest."

Westlake scored on its next three possessions to take a 35-0 lead at the half.

T.O. started the game with a no-huddle, shotgun offense to give senior quarterback Chris Owens more time. It was an offensive scheme that was unexpected by the Warriors, but not unfamiliar. "We played that (a no-huddle offense) with Hart last week, so it wasn’t something that concerned us when they started doing it," said Benkert.

"We really didn’t feel like we matched up inside and we could run the football inside," said T.O. head coach Mike Sanders about his team’s offensive game plan.

"We felt like our best chance was to try to get on the perimeter and try to exploit the perimeter," Sanders said. But Westlake’s athletic ability was too much, he added.

The Westlake secondary covered like plastic wrap, flushing Owens toward the sideline and away from the Warrior pass rush. On two occasions in the first half, Owens’ helmet was knocked off. He was taken to the hospital with a possible concussion at halftime.

T.O. junior tailback Jack Boger gained 106 yards and scored the lone Lancer touchdown. Westlake’s Tahj Mowery ran for 107 yards on 17 carries.

Westlake hosts Agoura in a battle of Marmonte League unbeatens tomorrow night.

Thousand Oaks hosts Simi Valley. Both games are at 7 p.m.