Nordhoff’s upset over Oak Park has far-reaching effects
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If you had ask me two weeks ago who’d win the Tri-Valley League, I would have said, ‘Oaks Christian.’ If you asked me last week, I would have said, ‘Oak Park.’
Well, thanks to Nordhoff‘s stunning 24-21 victory over the Eagles on Friday, I’m officially throwing in the towel on anymore Tri-Valley League title predictions. Although, I will say things are looking good at the moment for a three-way tie for the league title if Oaks Christian can manage to beat Nordhoff on Friday.
But looking beyond the title race, I can’t figure out what’s going on at Oak Park. All three of its losses this season are by a TD or less, and the calling-card defense that looked razor sharp against Oaks Christian really didn’t make an appearance Friday until the Eagles were in a 21-0 hole.
If Oak Park is going to make any waves in the upcoming Northwestern Division playoffs, it needs to stop this two-faced performance and find ways to win close games (like it did against OC). Otherwise, there might not be a much-anticipated Oak Park-Oaks Christian rematch in December.
However, losing to Nordhoff is something the Eagles are going to regret because it marked their best chance at bringing home a league title with no one else’s fingerprints on it. They’ve been playing second fiddle to the Lions pretty much since the private school made landfall in Westlake Village seven years ago, and an outright league title definitely would have fanned the rivalry flames.
Unfortunately, I’m not sure when Oak Park will challenge again for another outright league title. It’s going to lose a big batch of players to graduation in June (especially on defense) and it’s never easy getting the upper hand on the talent magnet Oaks Christian has become.
- Austin Knoblauch
