Eagles stay unbeaten, travel to Nordhoff

Eagles stay unbeaten, travel to Nordhoff

The Oak Park football team defeated Bishop Diego, 22-7, in a game played at Oak Park High School last Friday night, and with the win, the Eagles improved to 6-0 on the season and 2-0 in the Tri-Valley League.

Oak Park kept pace with Oaks Christian (6-0, 2-0) and Nordhoff (5-1, 2-0), both currently unbeaten in league games thus far. The Eagles travel to Ojai to face Nordhoff tomorrow, so one of those teams will suffer its first league loss.

Oak Park co-head coach Dick Billingsley (Brian Crum is also co-head coach) has spoken earlier about his team’s penchant for creating turnovers, particularly fumbles. It’s something the Eagles practice.

"It paid off because I think we caused four or five fumbles and recovered three," said Billingsley. "Our defense really rose to the occasion again, they’re doing a really nice job."

Offensively, senior QB Nolan McNair suffered a mild concussion, and as a precautionary measure, he was taken out of the game. As of Sunday, Billingsley was uncertain if McNair would play vs. Nordhoff.

Without McNair, Oak Park relied more heavily on its ground game in the win over Bishop Diego. Three seniors, Anthony Monteleone (105 yards and one TD on 12 carries), Mike Christensen (85 yards on 16 carries) and Ryan Edwardsen (35 yards) led the Eagles to 232 yards.

Billingsley was asked if its tough to keep his players minds focused on the old sports cliché, "one game at a time," knowing that both the Eagles and Lions of Oaks Christian are 6-0 and slated to play each other the final game of the regular season.

"Actually for the kids it’s not that bad," Billingsley said. "It’s the parents that are the ones that are always talking about it."

Last week, Oak Park shutout Carpinteria, 31-0, as McNair completed 15 of 17 passes. "We dominated both lines, offensive and defensive," Billingsley said.

Brandon Koller, a senior wide receiver, has been an unsung hero so far, according to Billingsley.

Nordhoff has huge linemen and presents a huge challenge, he said.

Panthers lose

heartbreaker

The Newbury Park football team fell to 2-4 overall and 0-3 in league when it lost a heartbreaker, 43-35, vs. Royal last Friday night in a game played at Royal in Simi Valley.

Panther head coach George Hurley said his team played well, except for a 33-second stretch in the second quarter when Newbury Park gave up three touchdowns. "Other than that, we played very well," Hurley said. "Well enough to win certainly."

The Panthers fought back from a 26-7 deficit, tied the score at 29, scored the potential go-ahead TD to make the score 36-35, but missed on a two-point conversion and then gave up the final TD.

Newbury Park gained 410 yards in total offense compared with 235 for Royal, but the Highlanders scored 26 points off of six Panther turnovers. A bruised thigh hampered Jordan LaSecla, a sophomore QB, and backup QB Nick Crandall, a senior, tried to rally Newbury Park late in the game.

About LaSecla, Hurley said, "He’s our quarterback of the future. He’s in a learning process. So we’re working with him and bringing him along slowly. Our offense takes a long time to learn. You just can’t get thrown in the middle of it."

One advantage the youthful LaSecla has is that offensive coordinator Gary Fabricius is back full-time after taking time off the past two years. "It’s real helpful to have (Fabricius) working with the quarterbacks. It’s made a lot of difference," said Hurley.

Against Royal, Luis Sanoja, a senior wide receiver, had eight receptions for 168 yards, and Michael Toepfer, a junior wide receiver, had six receptions for 127 yards.

"We’re seeing improvement in some areas," Hurley said, noting that that the Panthers still need to work on tackling, but that the pass rush has improved the past two weeks.

"It’s the last game in the dirt pile," Hurley said of this Friday’s home game—the last to be played on the current turf at Newbury Park vs. high-powered Westlake.

"I’m sure everybody’s thinking about it," Hurley said about facing former Panther QB Rudy Carpenter, "but that’s not the main impetus. It certainly would be nice to knock off a team with that much talent, but we just want to get better."

Coyotes still looking

for first win

The Calabasas football team was shut out by Westlake, 59-0, in a game played at Westlake last Friday night. The Coyotes fell to 0-6 overall and 0-3 in league play.

Ken Papotta, the Calabasas first-year coach, who replaced longtime head coach Larry Edwards, is still optimistic.

"We’re still working hard, trying to get better at what we need to do," said Papotta. "The kids are still motivated and still trying to do the right things, and we’re getting there, one step at a time."

The Coyotes have a young team, starting five sophomores on defense. "Some of them are first-year players. So we’re kind of building. This week we’re doing some good things—the kids are excited about T.O.," said Papotta.

Calabasas plays Thousand Oaks, which is also struggling and is 1-5, 0-3 on the season, at Thousand Oaks tomorrow.

"The kids are still upbeat," said Papotta, who added that a positive from the Westlake loss was, "Our defense—even though the score didn’t reflect it—played 10 times better. Our kids were just outsized. They (the Warriors) were bigger and taller athletes."

Depth is also a challenge. "We have a lot of kids going both ways, too, and that’s always a problem," said Papotta.

One of the bright spots for Calabasas this season has been senior running back Obi Ikemefuna. But even Ikemefuna was hampered vs. Westlake, as a hip pointer kept him from playing in the second half. He gained 32 yards on eight carries.

"I’m sure he’ll be back this week," Papotta said about Ikemefuna’s availability vs. the Lancers. "He’s one of the mainstays that the kids look to."

Papotta also praised the play of senior defensive end Rick Harrison. "He’s probably the cornerstone of our defense. He did really well against Westlake."

Despite its improvement on defense, Papotta added that the offense didn’t execute as well as it needs to.

Warriors shut out Calabasas

The Westlake football team defeated Calabasas, 59-0, last Friday night to stay unbeaten at 6-0 on the regular season and 3-0 in Marmonte League play. The Warriors are tied for first place with Moorpark in league.

After the victory over Calabasas at Westlake, Warrior head coach Jim Benkert spoke about his team’s progress through week six, about the next opponent—Newbury Park—and about the scrambling of quarterback Rudy Carpenter.

"Not only did guys get a chance to play, but they played well," Benkert said about getting his substitutes into the game vs. Calabasas. "It was nice to get the guys some game experience, that’s No. 1. But it’s also nice that when they got in there they played well."

Most of the Westlake starters only played one half vs. Calabasas.

"Anytime you sub your whole roster and everybody gets a chance to play, and you can still get a shutout, you have to be pleased with that," said Benkert.

Earlier in the season, Benkert said that he’d like Carpenter to stay in the pocket longer. But the coach seems to be adjusting.

"When Carpenter runs, he makes things happen," Benkert said. "He feels comfortable running and he’s averaging seven yards a carry, so that’s pretty darn good. It’s not something that I planned on happening. It’s just something that he does and he always seems to make good things happen.

"He has a lot of speed," Benkert added. "And he has a lot of confidence. When he runs, he makes positive yardage."

Newbury Park is 2-4 overall and 0-3 in league, but Benkert expects an emotional game and said he has respect for Panther head coach George Hurley and his relatively young Panthers.

"I think Newbury Park has plenty of athletes," Benkert said. "And I think they’re going to obviously play their best game of the year this week because there’s just a lot of things at stake for them. They’re a very capable football team."

Last year at this time, Carpenter started at QB for Newbury Park.

Musketeers stay

tied for first

The Moorpark football team improved to 5-1 overall and 3-0 in league, maintaining a first-place tie with Westlake, when it easily defeated Simi Valley, 57-27, in a game played at Moorpark last Friday night.

Tim Lins, Musketeer head coach, said his team got off to a fast start against the Pioneers (who fell to 4-2 overall and 2-1 in league). Moorpark has begun to define itself, Lins said, and his defense played well.

Four or five guys continued to make big plays, he said.

"They’re a different team," Lins said, implying it’s a new team from last year’s 11-2 playoff semifinalist and second-place league finisher. "They’re willing to do what is necessary to do to get prepared."

Simi Valley fumbled the opening kickoff vs. Moorpark and the Musketeers quickly capitalized.

"We got going early and we had a couple of breaks," said Lins. "Things were clicking after that. We played good defense and we were able to get a couple of more scores. Our offensive line also played well."

Moorpark led 37-7 at halftime.

Senior quarterback Cody Holland, senior running back Anthony Lopez, junior wide receiver Chastin West, senior defensive back JR Jeffrey and senior defensive back Greg Davis have performed well, said Lins.

Of Lopez, Lins said, "He’s been a quiet leader." And about Davis, Lins said, "He’s come on. Instead of just being a guy, he’s been pretty stellar on defense and he’s had some nice plays offensively. He’s done well on both sides of the ball."

Tomorrow, Moorpark hosts Royal (4-2, 2-1). "They’re a strong running team," said Lins.

"They’re very quick on defense. They’ve had a couple of injuries, but I think they’re ready to go. They beat Newbury Park last week." The Musketeers are trying to get better every week, said Lins.

"We still have to continue to improve and try to continue to play our best game," he said.