Westlake Defense Holds When It Counts, 31-28

When it counted most Friday night, with the game on the line, Westlake High finally played some “bloody mouth football,” as one Warrior player called it.

With the clock running down inside a minute to play, the Warriors, who until then had been playing bloody little defensive football, stopped Camarillo fullback Kevin Ochs on a fourth-and-one at the Westlake 18-yard line to preserve an important 31-28 come-from-behind victory at Thousand Oaks High.

“It was a great moment for our kids,” said Westlake Coach George Contreras, who saw his club score two fourth-quarter touchdowns to pull out the win. “They just kept coming back and coming back.”

The win improved the Warriors (5-3) to 3-1 in the Marmonte League, virtually assuring them at least a wild-card berth in the Coastal Conference playoffs.

Camarillo dropped to 4-4, 2-2 in league.

For a while in the second half, it didn’t appear Westlake had a chance to win the game. The Warriors had blown a 10-0 second-period lead and trailed the Scorpions, 28-17, with less than a quarter to play.

Worse, they hadn’t been able to stop Camarillo, which scored two touchdowns in the third period to assume control of the game.

But that all changed in the fourth period. The Warrior offense came alive behind backup fullback Rob Mandel, who rushed for 74 secondhalf yards and scored a 31-yard touchdown to pull Westlake within five at 28-23.

Quarterback Chris Lemieux passed 43 yards to Chris Mann for the game-winner with 3:10 to play, then ran for the conversion to give the Warriors a three-point cushion.

Lemieux passed for 229 yards and 2 touchdowns, completing 9 of 20 tosses.

Mann caught both touchdowns, the first one measuring 21 yards in the third period. He finished with 6 catches for 165 yards.

Camarillo rushed for 306 yards. Tailback Bill Bell had 136 yards on 23 carries, while Ochs gained 107 on 16 rushes.

The Scorpions finished with 390 yards to Westlake’s 404.