Westlake quarterbacks Nick Isham & Justin Moore share emotional experience

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The two Westlake quarterbacks hugged each other, embracing a moment only the two could truly understand.

Junior Nick Isham expected to experience the Northern Division championship game Friday against Moorpark in its totality. Instead, he left early in the third quarter because of a broken collarbone, standing on the sidelines with an ice pack and a sling over his left shoulder.

Freshman Justin Moore wasn’t sure he’d have a chance play in this game. Instead, he inherited a responsibility to lead the Warriors on the biggest stage under the glaring lights of pressure.

Isham watched and advised his successor, while Moore listened and executed. The result was a 14-10 victory over Moorpark after Moore ran in for a four-yard touchdown run with 41.3 seconds remaining.

“I told him, ‘Thank you for leading us this far and thank you for supporting me and helping me out during the game and helping me settle down,’” said Moore, sobbing as tears streamed down his cheeks. “I can’t thank him enough.”

That bond strengthened once Isham left the game after he was sacked on a third-and-three on Westlake’s 24-yard line on the team’s first drive of the second half. He had thrown nine of 12 for 141 yards with one touchdown and one interception, but the Warriors trailed, 10-7, because of the Musketeers’ defensive presence.

Moorpark stopped Westlake on a goal-line stand at fourth-and-one on the Musketeers’ one-yard line in the first quarter, and the Musketeers prevented the Warriors from scoring on its last drive to end the first half.

Now, it was up to Moore to take a crack at the Musketeer defense. And Isham was confident his teammate could.

“He had great composure,” Isham said of Moore. “He was able to stay focused on the goal at hand and get in the end zone and do a great job.”

What ensued was something that led Coach Jim Benkert to say, “I don’t think you can write a better script.”

That included Moore leading the Warriors on their last drive in the final 6:48 to victory. Benkert appropriately remarked, “He’s done this all year in practice, but he finally had the chance to come in and do his stuff.”

And after he did, Moore knew who to thank.

“He showed so much faith in me,” Moore said of Isham. “He came up to me and told me he believed in me and to just do what I need to do and I did it.”

-- Mark Medina