The new four horsemen?
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We’ve all heard football coaches talk about going with a running-back-by-committee approach when they can’t decide on a featured back or injuries become an issue. The concept works sometimes, depending on the personnel, of course. (Editor Bob: See U of Notre Dame, right, a long, long, loooooong time ago)
It certainly helps having unselfish players around, players willing to buy into the time-sharing situation, players like Oxnard’s Sam McCowan, Henry Fernandez and Montague Fuentes, as well as quarterback Dasmen Stewart. An all for one, one for all mentality has been adopted.
Not so coincidently, the Yellowjackets (7-2) are one of the hotter teams in Ventura County, winners of seven consecutive games heading into Friday’s regular-season finale against Oxnard Pacifica (5-4). The Pacific View League title will be at stake in this game and you better believe the fleet-footed foursome will be busy gaining yards on the ground throughout. The passing game could end up being an afterthought.
Funny thing is, I saw Oxnard in its first game of the season, a 9-6 loss at home to Santa Barbara, and while the offense moved the ball effectively at times, the unit couldn’t cash in on several scoring opportunities. A 17-9 setback to San Luis Obispo followed, and at that point, I thought it was going to be a long season for the Yellowjackets. Apparently, I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Oxnard went out and rushed for more than 300 yards in six consecutive games, including more than 400 against San Marcos and Ventura during the stretch. That’s some smash-mouth football. Fuentes leads the team with 89 carries, Stewart is a close second with 85 and McCowan and Fernandez have toted the ball 82 times each. Bottom line is, the opponent never knows which guy to prepare for. One member of the ball-carrying quartet is coming though, straight towards the line of scrimmage, that much is certain.
-- Sean Ceglinsky, guest blogger
-- Image from cache.viewimages.com