Westlake Uses Confusion to Win, 34-26

Westlake High Coach George Contreras likes to play heads-up football against opponents.

But Saturday night, the Warriors faced Channel Islands--a bigger, faster and stronger team.

So Contreras reached deep into his bag of coaching tricks and came up with a no-huddle offense that wore out the Raiders, 34-26, at Port Hueneme High.

The victory by the Warriors (6-2 overall) gives them a 3-1 record in the Marmonte League. Westlake is tied for first in the league with Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley. Channel Islands is 3-2 in league.

“Our coaching staff got together and decided that since they are a much bigger team, we would have to do something that would disrupt their rhythm,” Contreras said of the Raiders, who have 11 players weighing more than 200 pounds. “We sat down and decided that we weren’t going to let them beat up on us all night.

“We had to confuse them.”

The no-huddle offense produced 12 points for the Warriors on their first two possessions.

Westlake quarterback Brad Gossen completed 12 of 16 passes for 171 yards and one touchdown.

The first score came on a four-yard run by Gary Wellman, capping a nine-play drive.

Westlake’s next touchdown came on a 33-yard run by fullback Steve Sidler, who collected 188 yards on 21 carries. Sidler had three touchdowns in the game.

“Their defense is designed to stop our sweep,” Contreras said of the Raiders, who held Wellman to 66 yards on 12 carries. “So we ran our fullback.