Agoura beats Moorpark as defense shines again

MORRIS COHEN/The Acorn PENALTY PLAY-Daniel Wolverton, left, of Moorpark and Braden Lepisto of Agoura both go for each other's face mask during Friday night's game at Agoura High School. The Chargers won, 17-0.

The Agoura football team shut out Moorpark in a battle that could decide who will own second place outright in the Marmonte League this season.

The 17-0 win improved the Chargers to 8-1 overall and 5-1 in league while the Musketeers fell to 7-2 overall and 5-1 in league. But Moorpark plays Westlake (9-0, 6-0) Friday while Agoura takes on a struggling Calabasas (0-9, 0-6) squad.

"I thought it was a possibility—honestly," said Agoura head coach, Charlie Wegher, when asked if he could have foreseen his team getting a shutout against relatively high-scoring Moorpark. "After looking at them on film—I thought if we played our game—we could shut them out."

Wegher said his team is very different from the squad that lost its only game of the season, 24-0, against Westlake back on Oct. 10.

"We’re a different team now and we’d like to have another shot at the best (Westlake)," said Wegher. "We got one of the league’s top teams (Moorpark) and now we’d like another chance at the other one, and they’re (Westlake) the best right now."

Agoura and Westlake, along with Moorpark, will be in the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Southern Section Division IV playoffs beginning Fri., Nov. 21.

Defense was the key to Agoura’s win over Moorpark and Musketeer head coach Tim Lins praised the Charger defense.

"Their defense, we knew would be very good going in," Lins said. "We played hard, but we didn’t get it done tonight. Hats off to Agoura."

Clay Mathews is in his fourth season at Agoura. He’s the defensive coordinator.

"We just have a bunch of real good kids who work real hard," said Mathews. "They can do so much. We had an ambitious schedule about what we wanted to put in. We’re doing some things that a lot of teams don’t do and our guys just keep picking it up."

Mathews starred in the NFL for 19 years. He said the Charger players are using a blue-collar approach and learning some things that he didn’t see until his eight or ninth year in the NFL.

"Individually, none of them stand out like your big D-I (Division I) player," said Mathews, "but collectively they’ve learned how to play defense and work together. They work hard and we’ve had good results. They keep learning and they want more and more."

Wegher agreed that his team is employing some complex defensive schemes.

"We’re running a lot of things that you’ll see at the Division I level and the NFL back in the early 80s," said Wegher. "It’s sophisticated, but not too sophisticated."

The reason his team is improved from this time last year—Agoura went 8-4 overall in 2002—is simple, said the head coach.

"Most of these kids were juniors and they’re back this year as seniors, and they’re bigger, faster, stronger and smarter," said Wegher. "And we’ve got a great scheme and you see the results."

The shutout of Moorpark was Agoura’s third straight.

"I actually did think we were going to shut them out," said senior running back/linebacker Joey LaRocque. "Our defense is playing so well right now. It’s the first time we’ve beaten Moorpark in two years. We knew we could come out here and win."

Senior quarterback Bryan Walker praised the Chargers for their defensive effort.

"Our defense expects to play well every week, but this is probably better than you could ever hope for," Walker said regarding the shutout over Moorpark. "For four quarters, we never gave up for an instant. It’s a war and we’ve got to keep winning the mini-battles."

Braden Lepisto, a senior wide receiver, cornerback, kicker and kick returner, agreed with his head coach that the Chargers would give Westlake a different look if the teams meet again in the playoffs.

"Beating a team (Moorpark) that is supposed to be right up there with Westlake shows that we can have a great chance against them (Westlake) if we meet again," said Lepisto. "But what we really have to do is focus on this next game and make sure we keep improving."