The Acorn’s High School Football Game of the Week

Thousand Oaks Lancers (3-2) at Oaks Christian Lions (4-1) Friday, 7 p.m. Oaks Christian High



TWIST AND SHOUT—Alex Bachman and the Oaks Christian High football team battle Thousand Oaks for the homecoming game.

TWIST AND SHOUT—Alex Bachman and the Oaks Christian High football team battle Thousand Oaks for the homecoming game.

Welcome to homecoming week for the Oaks Christian High football team.

There’s a hullabaloo on the Lions’ campus. A powder puff football game Monday night pitted senior girls against junior girls. Students dressed up for different themes each day this week. Today, there’s a rally in the gym. The festivities culminate at 7 on Friday night when Oaks Christian and visiting Thousand Oaks kick off on Blosser Field at Thorson Stadium in a Marmonte League West opener for both teams.

“Homecoming has a lot of distractions,” said Jeremy Vincent, a junior strong safety and wide receiver for Oaks Christian.

“We have to stay focused.”

The Lancers, reeling from a 28-10 setback to Nordhoff last weekend, hope to catch the Lions napping.

“I don’t know if they’re taking it as serious or not with this homecoming insult to us,” Thousand Oaks wide receiver and free safety Nick Julier said. “It seems as though they’re not taking it as serious as we are.

“Knowing it’s their homecoming gives us big motivation to beat them and work harder to get that ‘W.’”

Vincent is doing his best to balance fun, schoolwork and football. The honors student spent time coaching the junior girls for powder puff, and he’s working hard to keep his grades up—Yale has shown interest in the dynamic playmaker.

“It’s about balancing it out,” the Lion said. “The school day is fun. Once it hits 3:15 p.m., it’s all football.”

Vincent, a track and field standout in the 100-meter, 200 and 400 sprints, is also being recruited to play football at Washington, California-Berkeley and Oregon.

The Lancers will keep eyes on Chris Davis at all times. The Oaks Christian wide receiver and kick and punt returner snagged 11 catches for 218 yards and four touchdowns in the Lions’ 45-35 win at Crenshaw.

If Davis lines up one-on-one with a cornerback and no safety, Oaks Christian quarterback Brandon Dawkins can’t help but smile.

“It’s like taking candy from a baby,” said Dawkins, who will play at the University of Arizona next fall.

“It’s hard to call him a go-to guy, but that’s who he is. We’re clicking and we’re on the same page. But I try to spread the ball out to him, Theo Howard, Jeremy Vincent, Zack Bornstein and Michael Pittman. They’re all sure-handed guys.”

Davis said turnovers hurt Oaks Christian in its lone loss, 21-14, to Chaminade. Once the Oaks Christian offense gets going, it’s hard to stop, he said.

“Its’ definitely a big game,” Davis said of the Lancers. “They’re our crosstown rivals. They’ve added (assistant coach Todd) Therrien. They have some good athletes. It’s not a walk in the park. We have to prepare like any other game.”

Davis, who helped Oaks Christian win its first CIF-Southern Section baseball championship in the spring, is still contemplating which sport to play in college.

Oaks Christian head coach Jeff Woodruff stresses consistency with his charges.

“From day one, I’ve been trying to teach the kids that every game is the biggest game in the country that week,” Woodruff said. “If you can get a team to play like that, you don’t really peak and valley much. Every week’s game has the same amount of importance.”

This game features an intriguing quarterback battle between Dawkins and Case Cookus of Thousand Oaks.

Dawkins has completed 60 percent of his passes for 1,791 yards, 20 touchdowns and six interceptions. Cookus, who led TOHS in receptions as a junior wide receiver, has completed 67 percent of his passes for 1,190 yards in the air with eight touchdowns and one interception.

“It’s a good challenge for us,” Cookus said. “I want everyone to believe in us. I know everyone says that just because they’re a private school they’ll stomp all over us. We might surprise some people this week.”


 

 

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