The High Schools / John Ortega : Win Over Westchester Points El Camino Real in Different Direction

El Camino Real High co-coach Ralph Stam can laugh about it now, but he admitted that the Conquistadores’ 24-game winless streak had become quite a burden for himself, co-coach Mike Maio and the team.

“There were times when I got tired of answering the same question over and over again,” Stam said Saturday. “ ‘When are you guys going to win a game?’ ”

The answer came Friday night when El Camino Real defeated Westchester, 6-3. It was the Conquistadores’ first win since a 23-7 victory over Cleveland in the sixth game of the 1985 season.

“It’s certainly a huge relief,” Stam said. “Now we don’t have to keep hearing that same question.”

Tailback Leo Matsuda, who gained 91 yards in 28 carries against Westchester, agreed.

“This win takes a lot of pressure off us,” he said. “It means that we don’t have to worry about snapping the streak anymore. It means that we can concentrate on just playing the game.”

Defensive back Pete Pistone, whose interception with 3 1/2 minutes remaining secured ECR’s victory, said the Conquistadores were confident of breaking the streak this season.

El Camino Real was 0-22-2 in its 24 games prior to Friday night’s win, and was outscored 676-192 during that span.

Now there’s something new to consider, something that hasn’t been contemplated on the ECR campus in almost three years.

A winning streak.

Troubled Toreador: Taft quarterback Rich Cosentino expects to feel some aches and pains the day after a game, but on Saturday he was hurting more than usual.

“I’ve got bruises all over the place,” Cosentino said. “I usually have a few of them the day after a game, but I’m covered with them today.”

He completed only 5 of 22 passes for 69 yards and had 2 passes intercepted in the Toreadors’ 35-7 loss to Servite, and was hounded, then pounded, relentlessly by the Servite defense.

“I don’t know what happened,” he added. “I guess they were doing a lot of stunting. But I was basically running for my life. I just needed one or two more seconds from the line and I could have thrown some better passes.”

Cosentino wasn’t sacked, but was constantly on the run, especially in the second half, when Servite turned a scoreless tie into a rout in just minutes.

“They must have got chewed out real good at halftime,” Cosentino said, “because they were just swarming in the second half. It was pretty impressive.”

Soaring Eagles: Before the season, Oak Park was well known for its limited numbers--it has only 17 players on its roster--but after the first three games, the Eagles are the only Valley-area team in the Southern Section that has yet to give up a point.

After defeating Leffingwell Christian, 35-0, Friday night, Oak Park has outscored its opposition, 91-0, and has allowed only 406 yards in total offense.

“It’s been kind of a nice surprise,” Coach Ron Veres said.

Oak Park’s defense is built around six returning starters. Linebackers Mike Wootton and Jess Garner and free safety Jason Stein have provided the spark.

Stein (436 yards rushing) and Garner (363), 2 of the Eagles’ 10 two-way starters, also supply the bulk of Oak Park’s offense.

Despite the impressive beginning, Veres knows that the next four games will determine Oak Park’s success. The Eagles play Calabasas, Paraclete, Fillmore and defending Tri-Valley League champion Carpinteria.

Royal upset: Royal might have won eight consecutive Marmonte League water polo titles, but there is still a cloud that hangs over Steve Snyder’s program. The Highlanders have never advanced past the second round of the Southern Section 3-A Division playoffs.

Snyder hopes that will change with this year’s team, and the Highlanders took a step in that direction when they defeated Capistrano Valley, 8-4, in Thursday’s opening round of the Villa Park Classic. Capistrano Valley went into the match as the 3-A Division’s top-ranked team.

“This is the best a Royal team has done in a long time,” Snyder said. “It was a real feather in our cap.”

Senior Steve Robinson and junior Devin Hurst each scored 3 goals for Royal, and Andy Harding and Todd Hurst added a goal apiece.

Add defense: Village Christian is another Division IX Southern Section school that has racked up some impressive numbers.

After Friday night’s 19-7 victory over Murphy, Village Christian’s third win in three starts, the Crusaders have outscored their opposition, 113-7, and have allowed only 347 yards in total offense. The 113 points is 10 more than Village Christian scored last season.

“Our offensive line has really come through,” Coach Mike Plaisance said. “We’ve only got one starter back from last year’s team, yet we ran for over 300 yards against Murphy last night.”

Judgment time: With tailback Tyler Robuck rushing for 516 yards and 4 touchdowns and quarterback Joey Rosselli throwing for 591 yards and 4 touchdowns, Alemany is undefeated after three games and has outscored its opponents, 90-17.

Now the Indians enter the tough part of their schedule: Their next four games are against Palmdale, Canyon and Crespi on the road and Loyola, currently the No. 2-ranked team in the country by USA Today, at home.

Last year, Alemany surged to a 3-0-1 record, then lost its last six.

Staff writer Tim Brown contributed to this notebook.