Conejo – Las Virgenes Sports Beat

Chargers end skid with big win


 

 

Conejo –

Las Virgenes

Sports

Beat



Agoura’s football team (2-3 overall) scored 55 points, looked fearsome offensively, and shrugged off several injuries to end a three-game losing streak and even their Marmonte League last Friday night record at 1-1.


Especially pleasing for head coach Charlie Wegher and his troops are that numerous players have stepped up and taken over for the wounded Chargers and that a few will be back in action tomorrow at Simi Valley (7 p.m.).


Agoura has been playing without Brian Baldino, a senior running back/linebacker, who’s out for the season. But other problems have affected players for a shorter term. They include Blair Berg (illness) who missed last Friday’s meeting with Newbury Park, but who should be back vs. the Pioneers; senior leaders Geo Martin (questionable) and Nick Capretta (not playing) are still fighting to come back from a torn calf muscle and a bone contusion, respectively. Both Martin and Capretta are wide receiver/defensive backs.


"It’ll be nice to have Geo back on defense," Wegher said, noting that Martin planned on trying to test his leg at practice this week before the Simi Valley matchup.



"I think our offense has started to click a little bit," Wegher understated. "If he (Martin) got in and provided us with a guy who can bust one at any given time, okay. But we set a school record for offense in that game, so I’m not concerned about that (offense)."


Against the Panthers, Agoura’s senior quarterback Joel Arias set a Charger record by passing for 424 yards, eclipsing the one-year old record of Chris Denove, who threw for 418 yards in a game as a senior last year. Agoura’s total yards of 607 yards broke last year’s record of 587 set vs. San Luis Obispo.


"Joel had the game he was waiting for, and that we were all waiting for," Wegher said of Arias’ breakout performance in Newbury Park.


Wegher said a big difference between Agoura in Week 5 was eliminating mistakes and adapting to a new offense, and the addition of go-to players including Bryan Huston, a junior receiver, and Jeremy Daniels-Stock, another surprise at receiver, as a junior.


Wegher assessed other improvements the Chargers made to get back in the ‘W’ column. "We’ve shored up a couple of things in the offensive line, we shifted some kids around to where that’s now pretty solid. And that’s why it’s clicking on offense— we’ve simplified things and we’ve had some guys that have really matured and stepped up. And we’re going to get some of those guys back (from injuries) and that’s only going to help us."


Next time: Wegher reveals the origins of his potent four-spread offense.

Coyotes improve


despite record


The Calabasas football team is 1-4 after a 50-29 loss to a tough El Camino team in a game played at Calabasas last Friday night, but head coach Larry Edwards sees the cup as half-full, not half-empty, for his Coyotes.


"We’ve improved a lot," Edwards said. "But one of our problems is that defensively we haven’t been able to line up the same 11 guys two weeks in a row, due to injuries. We’ve been rotating guys getting hurt, so we haven’t had our starting defense intact all season."


Barry Dadon (a hairline fracture of his hip) has been out since the opening game vs. Agoura. Dadon, a junior linebacker (6-2, 210) is expected back for the Coyotes first league game against Malibu on Fri., Oct. 26 at home. Among others who have been hurt for Calabasas are senior linebacker Brandon Gerson and Chad Corcoran, a junior defensive lineman.


Edwards praised his Coyote offense, led by senior quarterback Justin Fenchel and bolstered by wide receivers Nick Berard (senior) and Alex Rosenblum (junior). "The offense has been outstanding," Edwards said. "We’ve been putting a lot of points on the board. Fenchel is one of the leaders throwing the ball in the Valley, and in Nick Berard and Alex Rosenblum, we have two really high quality receivers playing very well right now."


Ezra Beaton (6-3, 230) has continued to excel on both the offensive and defensive lines. "We thought he was going to be an impact player for us and he’s definitely doing that," said Edwards.


What’s the goal for Edwards and his team during tomorrow’s game vs. Valley Christian (home) and next week’s game at home against Aliso Niguel, and heading into the Frontier League opener the following week vs. Malibu?


"Just trying to find the right combination of players that are going to perform well defensively and just trying to improve, because we’re by and large a young team," Edwards said. "We have a lot of juniors starting. So that takes a little time to get going."


Edwards said his players haven’t reached a comfort level with each other yet because of the smattering of injuries but he’s optimistic that playing strong opponents will pay off in the end.


"We have played a very tough schedule which is going to, hopefully, translate into some better play when we get to league," said Edwards.


Calabasas has lost to Agoura, Oak Park, Channel Islands and El Camino, most recently. The sole victory was against Verdugo Hills.


"El Camino was very good. They had a lot of weapons that they were able to exploit," said Edwards. "We’ve played some good teams and we’ve played well. We haven’t given up in any game, we’ve played hard right til the end, so I find that to be real encouraging for the weeks to come."

Lions stay


undefeated


The Oaks Christian (OCHS) football team improved to 5-0-1 last Friday, defeating Sherman Indian, 49-0, in a game played on the road.


Freshman running back Aaron Ware ran for 183 yards in only six carries and scored three touchdowns, while sophomore running back Johnny Giangregorio ran the ball 16 times for 104 yards (and defensively made two interceptions from his cornerback position). Junior Adam Richter had six carries for 108 yards.


"The three running backs again all had big games," said OCHS head coach Bill Redell, whose team amassed 562 yards total offense to Sherman Indian’s 106 yards. And about Giangregorio, in particular, the Lions’ coach added, "He’s playing extremely well on both sides of the ball."


Redell said he has been impressed with how his squad of underclassmen (no seniors this year) has held up playing bigger, heavier opponents. "We’re a lot more physical team now, having played six games," Redell said. "Our kids are understanding what it’s like to play on a varsity level."


Last year’s inaugural Lion team was 7-3 but seven of the 10 games were against lower level (junior varsity or sophomore-freshmen) foes rather than varsity because OCHS only had freshmen and sophomores enrolled last year.


"By now, I thought that either we’d have fallen apart (physically) or risen to the occasion," Redell said. "And our kids have risen to the occasion."


In addition to holding up well with the physicality of varsity-level competition, Redell praised his defense for complementing the fiery Lions’ offense. "The defense has improved," he said, "especially the last couple of games. They’ve had two shutouts, 47-0 (vs. Malibu) and 49-0."


Against Sherman Indian, sophomore quarterback Joey Halzle passed for 101 yards on 3 for 4 attempts, including an 80-yard touchdown strike to junior tight end Kyle Salter.


The Lions play at Santa Clara in Oxnard Saturday at 2 p.m.


The OCHS sophomore-freshmen team is 4-0 and hasn’t given up a point, having won four one-sided shutouts, the most recent 63-0. With wins of 67-0, 51-0, and 43-0 previously, the young Lions have scored 224 points in four games.

Eagles learn


from tough loss


The Oak Park Eagles were defeated by Nordhoff last Friday night in Ojai, in a game that pitted the Southern Section’s fourth and fifth-ranked teams respectively (in their division).


Oak Park head coach Dick Billingsley said the 28-14 defeat was decided at the line of scrimmage—that Nordhoff’s offense was able to sustain drives that consumed time, keeping the Eagles’ offense off the field.


"They won the battle at the line of scrimmage offensively against our defensive line," Billingsley said. "We did, basically, move the ball at will, but we just didn’t have the ball enough. They controlled the ball and the time."


Oak Park managed to put together some drives of its own that would have made the contest closer, but one was stopped by an Eagle fumble inside the Ranger 30, and another inside the 20 of Nordhoff was waylaid by a bad snap from a shotgun formation.


Oak Park was down only 21-14 until Nordhoff’s final touchdown with 4:23 remaining in the fourth quarter.


Billingsley said the misfortune with the snap won’t keep his Eagles from running the shotgun as the season progresses. "Our quarterback’s excellent," Billingsley said of senior Brendon Anderson, "and everybody knows we’re going to throw the ball, so we might as well give him a little bit more protection."


The Eagle coach praised Anderson, senior running back Steel Weniger and senior wide receiver Monte McNair for their effort against the Rangers. Weniger had 114 yards rushing, with a 46-yard TD-run, and McNair had four receptions including a 52-yard TD pass from Anderson that closed a second quarter gap from 14-0 to 14-7. Anderson threw for 133 yards on 11 of 16 passing.


The Oak Park coach said his players will build and learn from the loss. "That’s the first thing we talked about at the end of the game," Billingsley said, "was taking what we did here, learn from it, and apply it to the next five games so that it doesn’t happen again."


Oak Park is at Carpinteria in its first Tri-Valley League game tomorrow night at 7 p.m. The Eagles then travel to Ventura to play perennial powerhouse St. Bonaventure (33 straight wins) a week from Saturday at Larrabee Stadium.


The Eagles have an intense non-league schedule that also includes Montclair Prep, Fri., Oct. 26, at home. "We’re not playing any slouches," Billingsley said, and about Nordhoff’s Rangers, "We just hope we can meet again in the playoffs. That would be fun."

Unsung players


praised by Westlake coach


Westlake head football coach Jim Benkert whose Warriors defeated Simi Valley, 49-7, last Friday in Simi Valley, improving to 4-2 overall and 1-1 in Marmonte League play, praised some of his unsung athletes in an interview that took place before the game against Simi’s Pioneers.


Benkert noted that injuries, like that to two-way standout Chad Spears, a senior who plays wide receiver and defensive back—but was injured in Westlake’s second game of the season vs. Buena—and to Sean Crenshaw, a senior linebacker who had surgery on his hand, have made it necessary for others to come to the fore.


"There’s been guys that have had to step up whether it be because of Chad’s injury or other situations," Benkert said. "Ryan Castro has filled in for Sean Crenshaw and played inside linebacker, and against Hart (a 42-35 loss Sept. 21) he became a defensive lineman."


Benkert mentioned Castro, as well as Merrill Mullaly, a junior running back/strong safety and Kevin Hames, a senior linebacker, as players who have excelled while getting little recognition.


"Merrill Mullaly, who is really our blocking back—is one of the guys opening the holes for (Jon) Contos and (Kasey) O’Brien," Benkert said. "And he has a lot of talent. He’s done a great job as our fullback and has also played some defense."


The Warrior coach added, "I think, probably, the physical leader of our defense is Kevin Hames. He gets overshadowed by some of the skill guys, but he’s the guy that has to make all the formation calls and adjustments. We really look to him to be a big-time run-stopper."


Westlake is at Moorpark, which gave Thousand Oaks all they could handle last Friday, tomorrow at 7 p.m.

T.O beats Moorpark, now 2-0 in league


The Thousand Oaks Lancer football team defeated Moorpark, 29-23, last Friday night, maintaining its lead (along with Royal) atop the Marmonte League. Both the Lancers and Highlanders are 2-0. Agoura, Westlake and Moorpark are 1-1, Simi Valley is 0-1 and Newbury Park is 0-2.


The close battle between T.O. and Moorpark last week spoke to the relative parity in the Marmonte League vs. past years.


"I was very pleased," said Lancer head coach Mike Sanders, speaking about the win over the Musketeers. "We started a little slow. But the defense again, I thought, played well against a really well-coached offense and against another great running back."


Brandon Williams, a senior running back for Moorpark, ran for 233 yards and one touchdown in 38 carries vs. Thousand Oaks.


If Moorpark’s offensive line played well vs. T.O., so too did the Lancer offensive line vs. the Musketeers, and now T.O. has given up only one sack in each of the wins against Westlake and Moorpark the last two weeks.


"Our offensive line has played very well," Sanders said. "And Ryan Sandlin ran for well over 100 yards."


Sandlin, a junior running back, has helped balance the T.O. offense headed by senior quarterback Ben Olson and wide receiver Dave Anderson, also a senior.


Against Moorpark, Corey Mazza, a 6-foot-4 junior wide receiver, had four receptions for 125 yards, in a rare game in which Anderson wasn’t the Lancers leading pass receiver in yardage (31 on five catches).


Sanders assessed the upcoming 7 p.m. matchup for sole possession of first place with Royal at Royal tomorrow. "It’s another big challenge," he said. "Royal is a good football team, they have a very good quarterback and a good running back."


Sanders said T.O. and Royal have similarities. "(James) Cox is a very good quarterback—and they’re a lot like us. They have a good quarterback, they have a quality receiver—(Robert) Davis—who’s catching a lot of balls. Iin (Greg) Morris, they have a real good running back."


The Lancer coach added, "Their offensive line is big and strong, and their defense, week in and week out, has been playing well. It’s a very big game."


Sanders said his players are thriving on the big-game nature of each week’s game.


"Being 2-0 in league, I think that’s a good place for us, we’re pleased with that," he said. "And I think that’s what we’ve worked for, and it’s what the kids have worked for. Right now, it’s more of a positive stress, that’s why you play the game, hopefully, to put yourself in these situations."

Panther offense


solid, defense struggles


After his team’s offensive shootout with Agoura, a 55-40 loss last Friday night in Newbury Park, Panther head football coach George Hurley said he and his assistants and all his players have been fighting "to develop a winning attitude—and it’s coming slowly."


In addition to trying to instill a winning attitude, Hurley and particularly defensive coordinator Doug Dagan, have fought to find players who can play up to their potential on the defensive side of the ball.


As has been the case with the Panthers, even in their best year (the CIF championship in 1993, when team finished 14-0), it’s been necessary for Hurley and Dagan to play many athletes both ways, offensively and defensively. This season, it’s hurt the Panthers, according to Hurley.


"Sometimes if you’re bad, you’re just bad," Hurley said. "But you can see from the offense that there’s some talent there, and they can play, but defensively we haven’t been able to teach them what we need them to do, yet."


That’s been frustrating for Hurley and his coaching staff, who have six sophomores playing a lot—and not because they’re playing for next year or the year after.


"We’re trying to win today and if those six sophomores weren’t the best kids, they wouldn’t be on the field," said Hurley, "so they’re playing because they’re the best, not because we’re trying to win two years from now."


Hurley said there are limitations in terms of expectations when sophomores play as much as his six have played.


"The sophomores are actually playing well—some of them are playing over their heads," said Hurley. "But you just can’t count on sophomores to be two-way players and expect to get much out of them. After all, they’re 15 years old."


Newbury Park’s six sophomore contributors this year are: lineman Ryan Sorensen, defensive lineman Kevin Koenig, defensive back Rodney Hawkins, defensive back David Sanford, wide receiver Rudy Carpenter and lineman Chris Barrett.


Earlier in the year (before he hurt his knee), Carpenter was starting on offense and defense, returning kickoffs and punting. Hurley admits it was too much for such a young player, despite Carpenter’s abundant ability.


"From a kid who played freshmen football last year to be put in that situation is really putting a lot of stress and strain on people," Hurley said. "It really wasn’t fair that we should ask sophomores to do that much."




GETTING UP--Andrew Wilson (54) and Jason Somer (2) of Calabasas High School take down Jeremy Boyle (86) of El Camino High School but their efforts go in vain during a 50-29 loss. PAUL  TABLADILLO/The Acorn

GETTING UP–Andrew Wilson (54) and Jason Somer (2) of Calabasas High School take down Jeremy Boyle (86) of El Camino High School but their efforts go in vain during a 50-29 loss. PAUL TABLADILLO/The Acorn

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