Westlake Advance Slowed by Buena

Rick Scott has a pretty good idea of what Jim Benkert has been going through the past few months.

A year ago, it was Scott, the offensive whiz at Hart High, who left to become head football coach at lowly Buena. He transformed the Bulldogs into instant winners by taking them to the Southern Section Division II semifinals.

Benkert, too, walked away from a successful program--as offensive coordinator at Crespi--to take on a chore at Westlake, which has not been to the playoffs in six years.

Friday night at Thousand Oaks High, Buena defeated Westlake, 35-30, in a penalty-strewn nonleague game.

Before the game, Scott spoke of patience, afterward, of disappointment.

“I think (Benkert) has got to be disappointed,” Scott said. “They outplayed us. He’s got to at least look at it from that positive standpoint.

“It’s because I go to church on Sundays,” the always jovial Scott added with a laugh.

No need to worry about Benkert, however.

“I hope this sends a message that Westlake football is back,” he said. “I’m happy with the whole team. We’re back. Even with all the penalties, we still scored 30 points.”

The Warriors were penalized 12 times for 124 yards. Buena, 12 for 113 yards. The Bulldogs, however, got 141 yards and a touchdown from tailback Tony Williams and 77 yards and two touchdowns from fullback Richard Harris.

Jason Isaacs, a senior who passed for 2,281 yards last season, accounted for 177 yards and two touchdowns.

The success of the Buena rushing attack was particularly intriguing given Scott’s penchant and flair for the passing game.

“They were either blitzing or dropping off a lot of people,” Scott explained. “We worked pretty hard on our running game because everybody tries to stop our passing. Somehow, we got famous for that.”

The eventual game-winning play, then, was true to form--a pass from Isaacs to Williams that went for 35 yards with 6:35 remaining. It left the score, 35-24, and made Westlake tailback Luke Crawford’s 28-yard option scoring pass to Erik Holcomb one minute later academic.

Holcomb, a sophomore, caught three touchdown passes.

Todd Preston, the Westlake junior in his second season as starting quarterback, completed just seven of 22 passes for 95 yards. He threw two interceptions. Westlake’s rushing game helped only a little, gaining 144 yards.

Westlake was able to stay close in the first half on the strength of two short drives. The first, a 53-yard march, took four plays. The final one was a 29-yard pass from Preston to Holcomb with 4:27 left in the first quarter that gave the Warriors a 10-7 lead.

The second came one play after Buena punter Bill Kirkland took a fourth-down snap off his chest, bobbled, and shanked a six-yard punt. Preston then hit Holcomb again, this time for 17 yards and a brief 16-14 advantage with 7:38 left in the first half.

Buena, on its next possession, needed 14 plays to go 70 yards. The key gain was a pass interference call on Westlake cornerback Demetrius Wynn on a third-and-nine play that gave Buena a first down at Westlake’s 37.

Seven plays later, Richard Harris banged into the end zone from one yard. Buena led, 21-16, at the half. The touchdown was Harris’ second of the half, the first coming on a four-yard run that gave the Bulldogs a 14-10 lead.