Newbury Park Settles for Tie With Westlake

Brad Hanson was willing to give it a shot. And why not?

Newbury Park High’s senior outside linebacker already had two sacks, two blocked passes, two extra points, a touchdown and one mean defensive game in his back pocket Friday night. If anyone was destined to kick the game-winning, rivalry-deciding, Westlake-beating 47-yard field goal, it was Brad Hanson.

So, with 24 seconds left and the score tied, 14-14, Hanson stretched his slightly banged-up left knee. He waited for the snap. And waited. And waited.

It never came.

Before Hanson had a chance to boot himself onto the shoulders of his teammates, Newbury Park was called for illegal procedure. Coach George Hurley decided against a 52-yard attempt, quarterback Jai Johnston’s fourth-down pass was intercepted, and the Marmonte League game at Newbury Park ended in a 14-14 deadlock.

“I’ve done it in practice a few times,” Hanson said of the 52-yard effort that never came, “but it’s everything I’ve got.”

Said Hurley: “It didn’t look like it was in the cards. From 47 yards, it was a 50-50 shot, if it’s not blocked. From 52. . . .”

The Warriors are now 1-1-1 in league play.

The Warrior defense allowed just 209 yards--142 less than it averaged in the first five games.

“We’re getting better,” Westlake Coach Jim Benkert said. “We’re peaking at the right time.”

Just in time to earn a tie, which should be considered something of an upset, given Newbury Park’s 3-1-1 record coming in and the Warriors’ 1-4 mark. The Panthers are 1-0-1 in league play.

“They’re hanging their heads and we’re running around higher than a kite,” Benkert noted. “I don’t know why they’re hanging their heads. We hope we showed we’re a team that demands some respect around here.”

One thing for certain, quarterback Todd Preston had earned plenty. The junior passed for 228 yards on 13 of 33 attempts. That included an 88-yard touchdown pass to David Monheim with 11:14 remaining to tie the score.

Westlake scored first, on a nifty 13-yard run by fullback Luke Crawford.

The dash completed a 79-yard drive by the Warriors, who gained 116 first-half yards--98 via the right arm of Preston.

Newbury Park answered with two touchdowns less than three minutes apart just before halftime. Johnston finished up a seven-play, 48-yard drive with a 12-yard scoring toss to Jeff Buchanan with 3:55 left.

Then, as Westlake was driving for what would have been a go-ahead touchdown, outside linebacker Hanson scooped up a fumble on the Newbury Park 30-yard line and rumbled 70 yards to give the Panthers a 14-7 lead with 1:12 left in the half.