Jim Benkert vs. Tim Lins is great coaching matchup
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More than 20 years ago, Jim Benkert and Tim Lins were the top assistants to Bill Redell at Encino Crespi. Now they are facing off tonight with unbeaten teams, and the winner will be crowned Marmonte League champions.
Benkert’s Westlake team is 9-0. Lins’ Moorpark team is 9-0. Benkert was the offensive coordinator and Lins was the defensive coordinator for Redell’s final season at Crespi in 1988. Lins was promoted to head coach the next season and Benkert took over the program at Westlake. Lins went to Moorpark in 1999, and the two have faced each other every season since.
John Kidder, who spent eight seasons as an assistant under Benkert at Westlake and the last nine as an assistant to Lins, said, ‘They continue to look like they’re 25. I’ll say they hire great assistant coaches so they don’t have to stress.’
Getting a ticket for tonight’s game will be tough. Westlake barely seats 5,000. They were already threatening to tow cars at 3:45 p.m. when two cars were parked in a reserve area.
And if people don’t like their seats, they can always watch the game shown on Westlake’s second-year JumboTron scoreboard. They’re going to use the feed from IBN’s four-camera setup.
For once, the question around here is, ‘Oaks Christian who?’
-- Eric Sondheimer