Agoura football team snake bitten once again

PATRICK SHELBY/Acorn Newspapers HEROIC CATCH—Agoura wideout J.T. Wright makes a spectacular catch on the Camarillo 1-yard line with under a minute to play in the fourth quarter of last weekend’s playoff game. Two plays later, Eric Wells scored the go-ahead touchdown for the Chargers with 43 seconds remaining in the contest. The lead wouldn’t hold up, however, as Camarillo drove down the field and set up place kicker Jorge Vazquez’s (pictured below) 49-yard kick to win the game and end the Chargers’ season. Disappointment. Heartbreaker. Shock.

Those were the words Agoura senior wide receiver Jerry Henry used to describe his team’s 1614 loss to Camarillo last weekend in the first round of the Division IV playoffs.

The Chargers’ season ended when Camarillo place kicker Jorge Vazquez nailed a 49-yard field goal with no time remaining in the fourth quarter.

Just 43 seconds earlier, Agoura had gone ahead, 14-13, following a one-yard touchdown run by lineman Eric Wells and a converted extra point by wide receiver/place kicker J.T. Wright.

“It felt like it was a dream,” Henry said of the game-winning kick, which could have easily been good from 55 yards or more. “When the ball was in the air, it was like. . . .There’s nothing you could do.”

PATRICK SHELBY/Acorn Newspapers LOOK WHAT I FOUND—Dustin Rhoades comes up big with a clutch fumble recovery for Agoura. It was an all-to-familiar “dream” for the Chargers, a team that was done in by a third, biggame, gut-wrenching defeat in just over a year’s time.

Agoura lost to archrival Westlake on a controversial kickoff return for a touchdown last season. And later in the year, the Chargers were eliminated in the CIF semifinals by Ventura, 109, after fumbling just outside of the Ventura goal line with just over a minute remaining in the fourth quarter.

“This is definitely up there with those games,” Wright said, who had seven receptions for 158 yards. “We played a great season and we all worked as a family. But it happens. That last minute was probably the longest minute of my life. But big ups to that kicker. That was a bomb he kicked.”

In a game that was sluggish and penalty laden throughout, the Charger offense put together its finest drive when the team needed it most.

Trailing 13-7 in the fourth quarter, Agoura got the ball on its own 33 yard line with 3:54 remaining.

Quarterback Dominick Huerta, who completed 24-of-38 passes for 299 yards and one interception, methodically drove his team downfield.

With 1:21 remaining in the contest, Huerta connected with Wright for a 35-yard reception that got the ball down to the Camarillo 1-yard line. Wright split two defenders to make the grab.

“The drive was definitely a statement,” Huerta said. “We have an all-junior offensive line, and as the year went on they got better and better each and every game. And on the last drive, they were a little excited. They were hyped. We truly believed we were going to score. It was all inspiration.”

After coming up short on firstand-goal—rather than let the clock continue to wind down— Agoura took a timeout with just under 50 seconds remaining.

Wells scored on the next play from less than a yard out, but 43 seconds still remained on the game clock. That was just enough time for Camarillo to get the ball back and drive down the field to set up Vazquez’s winning kick.

“It’s too bad I didn’t run more time off the clock when I had the chance,” head coach Charlie Wegher said. “That was a mistake. Probably my biggest mistake was not making sure they didn’t have enough time to come back on us.”

The defeat was difficult to stomach for many of the Agoura players, coaches and fans in attendance. Some were in tears, others in disbelief.

Eventually, the sorrow turned into hugs and handshakes and congratulatory pats on the back for a job well done this season, a year in which the Chargers went 7-4 overall and won their last three regular-season games just to qualify for the playoffs.

“We played as a team, a family,” wide receiver Greg Sharron said. “We grew a lot over the season. We took some tough losses all year and it only made us stronger. In the end, it was another tough loss. But next year’s team’s going to be good. They’re going to have a good year if they can learn from this.”

In addition to Huerta, Wright, Henry and Sharron, Michael Arce, Orel Tagai, Todd Dilando, Jesse McCurdy, Kevin Clifford, Michael Leon, David Nagle, M.J. Caunan, Chris Kershaw, Julian Sweedler, Steve Kenis, Dustin Rhoades, Justin Meade and Ryan Pikulski are all graduating seniors.