The Acorn's High School Football Game of the Week
Webb Gauls (1-7) vs. Viewpoint Patriots (4-4) Friday, 7 p.m. at Calabasas
By Thomas Gase tgase@theacorn.com

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers MUST-WIN GAME- Quarterback Harrison Bernsen and the Viewpoint football team still have an outside shot at the playoffs.

When former Chicago Cubs shortstop Ernie Banks coined the phrase "Let's play two," the last thing he was talking about was football. Still, the Viewpoint School football team is thinking just that this week.

With a Prep League record of 1-3, the Patriots need a win over Webb High on Friday coupled with losses by league rivals Poly High and Chadwick School. If this scenario takes place, there would be a three-way tie for third place in the Prep League. The league only gets three teams into the playoffs.

Most leagues have coin tosses or point systems to decipher multiple-team tiebreakers. Not the Prep League. Not by a long shot.

In the event of a three-way tie, instead of calling heads or tails, the Patriots would play a game of football- the next morning.

According to Prep League rules, the three teams would play against each other using rules similar to how overtime works in college football. For instance, one team would line up at the 25-yard line and try to score. If that team scored a touchdown, the opposing team would have to match them or go home- for the season.

As if the weekend wasn't busy enough, Viewpoint has its homecoming dance Saturday night.

"I've never been through this before," Viewpoint head coach Patrick Marquez said. "I thought it would be a coin toss, but then I found out this week that we would play each other on Saturday. Obviously, it has its advantages with us having more control of the situation than with a coin flip.

"On the other hand, I don't like playing on such a short time span. We are going to have players tired from playing a full game the night before, and there could possibly be a couple of them banged up. Poly probably has a slight advantage in that situation because they play Thursday night as opposed to Friday."

Although a lot could happen if the season extends into Saturday, Marquez was quick to point out that the Patriots first have to take care of business against Webb.

"I'll tell you, they are the best 1-7 team that I've seen in a while," Marquez said.

"They're a very physical team- like us- and to a fan it will probably be a boring game because both teams will be trying to pound the ball and eat the clock. We need to be consistent on offense and not allow any big plays on defense. If we can score a touchdown per quarter, I'll be very happy."

This season marks the fourth year for the football program at Viewpoint. For seniors like running back Jamie WheelerSilverman, making the playoffs would be the perfect way to end his career in high school.

Wheeler-Silverman, the team's rushing and receiving leader, said he was impressed with how the Patriots responded last week when they were facing postseason elimination but defeated Chadwick, 35-14.

"Our coach got us real fired up before the game against Chadwick," Wheeler-Silverman said. "He told us we should be 6-1 with how close we had lost some games. I just want to make the playoffs because I just can't see myself never playing football again."

If a tiebreaker playoff does occur Saturday, the venue still must be determined.

Players to Watch

Webb QB/LB Brent Waldo
RB/LB Aaron Holder
OL/DL Nick Nolan OL/LB John McNamara

VHS
QB Harrison Bernsen
RB J. Wheeler-Silverman
OL/LB Ben Salzman
C/DL Blake Rasmussen

Outlook

It's been an outstanding year for VHS, one that can

get even better if they receive a few breaks during

other Prep League games. Of Viewpoint's four

losses, three have come by a combined seven points. Postseason or not, the players can hold their

heads high for helping turn the program around.