NOTEBOOK : Moorpark to Take Another Crack at Carp

In 1934, a leather-helmeted Moorpark High football team whipped Carpinteria, 13-6.

In the years that followed--54 of them, to be exact--the United States withstood a crippling economic depression, survived three major wars, inaugurated nine presidents and put 12 men on the moon.

Yet more than a half-century later, Moorpark has yet to repeat its triumph of 1934. In 48 consecutive tries, Moorpark has failed to beat Carpinteria.

Oh, there have been some close ones. In 1984, the year of Moorpark’s most recent playoff appearance and first in 17 years, Moorpark lost, 14-10. In 1977, the score was 20-14.

Then there were the ugly ones. There have been 29 shutouts and several blowouts, including last season’s 55-7 fiasco.

Carpinteria and Moorpark will meet again at 7:30 tonight at Moorpark. Carpinteria (7-1) is 3-0 and tied for first in the Tri-Valley League. Moorpark (6-2) is a game behind at 2-1.

“We’re going to line up and go toe to toe with them and play our kind of football,” Moorpark Coach Rob Dearborn said. “And if we lose, we lose.”

This might be the best Moorpark team ever. Not since 1966 have the Musketeers won six games. Never have they scored as many points (221) and not since 1967 have they yielded so few (76).

Tailback Tony Upshaw has been a big part of the Musketeers’ success, gaining 926 yards in 100 carries and scoring 13 touchdowns.

“Carp has always been a big issue on this team,” Upshaw said. “This is going to mean the whole season. It will always mean the whole season. The majority of the team is thinking we can probably kick their butts.”

Added Dearborn: “We’ve won six games. People tend to forget that.”

That’s because Moorpark has yet to whip Carp. Until then . . .

“I think about it. You can’t ignore it,” Dearborn said. “There’s always talk about it. I kind of daydream about it. It would be kind of extraordinary.”

You can’t please everyone: How sporting of Coach Mike Herrington to hold the score to a friendly 55-0 in Hart’s Foothill League rout of Burbank last week.

“It was over in the first quarter,” Burbank Coach Randy Stage said. “It could have been a lot worse. They were nice about it.”

Hart ran only 15 offensive plays in the first half and only 12 before second-stringers were inserted. The score at halftime was 49-0. The second half featured only one Hart pass and a running clock.

“We were showered and on the bus by 9:45,” Herrington said.

Recent routs, however, have caused Hart’s starters to grumble. The Indians have walloped their past five opponents by the combined score of 239-39. Consequently, quarterback Rob Westervelt, tailback Howard Blackwell, et al, have been warming the bench a lot sooner than they would like.

“It kills us,” Herrington said, “because we want to get Westervelt atop the stat leaders in the Valley. We were counting on him to do some catching up last week, but things got out of hand so quickly that he had to come out of the game. Now, he’ll have to throw for 350 yards in the next game.”

Goal-line sham?: In last Friday’s tightly contested Alpha League battle between Montclair Prep and L.A. Baptist, a crucial goal-line stand by Montclair Prep in the third quarter gave the Mounties the break they needed to pull away and defeat the Knights, 34-19.

The catch is, it might not have been so heroic.

After Colyn Van Buren made a 19-yard run from the Montclair Prep 20-yard line, Montclair Prep was penalized for lining up offsides, putting the ball inches from the goal line.

Quarterback Chris Robinson tried a sneak and appeared to have pushed the ball over the goal line with a surge of his body. No touchdown, said the officials.

After another Montclair Prep penalty, Robinson kept the ball on a sneak again and again appeared to have put the ball into the end zone. Again, no touchdown, said the officials.

As the Knights lined up on the next play, an illegal-motion penalty was called, killing all momentum and setting up a sack on the following play. The ball was turned over on downs. After watching the films, L. A. Baptist Coach Mark Bates was none too pleased.

“We got the ball in the end zone three times,” he said. “Our replays show that Van Buren got the ball in on his run, too,” he said.

Much to Bates’ dismay, instant-replay is yet to be featured in Alpha League football. Barring further review, the plays stand.

Staff writers Tim Brown, Vince Kowalick and Brian Murphy contributed to this notebook.