A Stingy Simi Valley Blanks Agoura, 20-0
As far as the Agoura High football team is concerned, bring on Harvard High. The Chargers have seen enough of the Marmonte League this season.
On Friday night, it was Simi Valley High that did in Agoura, dumping the Chargers, 20-0, behind a stifling defense and a ball-control offense.
All three of Agoura’s preseason games have been against Marmonte League clubs. The Chargers are 1-2 and have been outscored, 73-31.
Simi Valley limited Agoura to 3 yards rushing, 59 yards total. The aggressive Pioneers sacked Charger quarterbacks five times for minus-34 yards.
In three games this season, Simi Valley (3-0) has given up just 11 points.
On the offensive side, the Pioneers maintained control of the ball, running 62 plays from scrimmage compared to the Chargers 35.
Simi Valley built a 14-0 halftime lead, while holding Agoura to minus 26 yards rushing and minus-4 yards overall. Agoura managed just two first downs in the first half and five for the game.
Pete Primavera booted first-period field goals of 28 and 33 yards to put the Pioneers ahead, 6-0. Simi Valley added the only touchdown of the first half on a 14-yard run by Tony Kerr.
The Pioneer tailback was the game’s offensive standout, scoring again on a 53-yard run four plays into the third quarter. Kerr finished with 146 yards on 13 carries.
Simi Valley quarterback Todd Studer struggled through an off night, completing just 7 of 24 passes for 91 yards. He was intercepted once.
Wide receiver Jeff Blank didn’t help Studer’s statistics any, dropping a pair of passes in the first period.
Blank led all receivers, however, with 4 catches for 46 yards.
The Pioneers finished with 338 total yards, 247 on the ground.
The Chargers tried two different quarterbacks, with equal lack of success.
Starter Rick Dobrowski completed 2 of 7 passes for 22 yards, with one interception. He was sacked four times. Backup Scott Heflin entered the game late in the third period and completed 2 of 6 passes for 34 yards. He was sacked once.
Simi Valley nearly added another touchdown late in the second period when a Pioneer punt hit an Agoura player, and Simi Valley’s Ray Pacheco recovered the ball at the Charger 41 with seven seconds to play.
On the next play, Kerr broke loose for 34 yards and would have scored if not for an Agoura face mask penalty. The infraction moved the ball to the three, but Studer’s shovel pass with time running out fell short of Pacheco in the end zone.
The Pioneers rushed for 118 yards in the first half, Kerr leading the way with 50 yards on 3 carries.