Oaks Christian stays unbeaten, 8-0, in football

Three Tri-Valley teams will make the playoffs, but in what order?

By Wayne Harrison

Acorn Sports Writer

The Oaks Christian football team improved to 8-0 on the season and has two big Tri-Valley League games remaining (on the road at Nordhoff in Ojai tomorrow, then at home in the local showdown-of-the-season, when Oak Park travels to OCHS next Friday night).

Lions’ head coach Bill Redell talked about the matchups vs. Nordhoff and Oak Park.

"Their (Nordhoff) field is in really bad shape," Redell said. "And if it rains, it will be in worse shape."

Nordhoff, undefeated in league like Oaks Christian, had a surprisingly tough time in beating Santa Paula, 14-13, last Friday. Redell said game-field conditions contributed to that and they could affect things this week, too.

"That game (Nordhoff-Santa Paula) was just a mud bath," Redell said. "If it rains, it could be a problem for both teams (tomorrow)." Earlier this week, the weather forecast was calling for showers on Friday.

Nordhoff will be a strong, physical team, said the Lions coach.

"I would say they’re primarily a running team," said Redell. "Their quarterback is very good. We’re going to have to contain him inside, and they’ve got a couple of good running backs. Their tackles are probably 285 and 290 pounds, so they’re big. And they can throw the ball when they need to."

Redell said that the Oak Park matchup will create an overflow crowd and that about 1,000 temporary seats would be available at Thorson Field, which normally seats about 2,500.

"I think we’ll double that," Redell said, predicting a big crowd for Fri., Nov. 14.

The Lions had anticipated important confrontations the last two weeks of the regular season, when they first saw their schedule, and it has come to pass.

"We thought that these would be the two big games when we started the season," said Redell, "and that’s the way it’s turned out. All three teams–Nordhoff, Oak Park and Oaks Christian–we’re all qualified for the playoffs already. Now it’s just a question of who finishes first, second and third."

Nordhoff, Oak Park and Oaks Christian will all represent the Tri-Valley League in the Southern Section Division XI playoffs. The Lions have been ranked No. 1 all season. Oak Park has one loss (vs. Nordhoff).

Redell is familiar with strong leagues. When he was head coach at Crespi, the Mission League was also loaded.

"There was St. John Bosco, Loyola, St. Francis, Notre Dame and Alemany. It was tough," he said.

Redell praised the defensive work of senior defensive end John Quinn and senior linebacker Mark Cordell for their performances against Bishop Diego.

"I thought those guys played exceptionally well," Redell said. "Mark Cordell has been dominating on defense for eight games."

Freshman running back/safety Marshall Jones had a kickoff return of about 90 yards and was stopped at the Bishop Diego 1-yard line. The return was another highlight of the victory, said Redell.

But overall, Redell wasn’t satisfied with the Lions offense in that win.

"We had about five turnovers, three fumbles and a couple of interceptions, three or four dropped passes and some untimely penalties," he said. "It was an ugly win, but we’ll take it."

The conditions weren’t good last Friday, as it rained steadily throughout the game, but Redell wouldn’t use game conditions as an excuse. He said the Lions played well defensively.

"I really can’t blame the weather," Redell said. "We just didn’t play well considering how well we had been playing in recent weeks. But the kids came back in the second half and our defense played well the whole game. It was the offense that made mistakes."