Coaches Throwing Caution to the Wind : Football: Westlake’s Preston and Royal’s Fien lead league trend toward a passing fancy.

When Westlake High’s Todd Preston and Royal’s Ryan Fien drop into the pocket and scan the field for receivers this season, they will exemplify the Marmonte League’s more liberal approach toward gaining yardage in 1990.

Preston and Fien are among the league’s group of strong-armed quarterbacks that has forced defensive coordinators to prepare for passing attacks more this season than in any other.

“It’s not like college football, where you can go out and recruit a kid to fit your offense,” Royal Coach Gene Uebelhardt said.

“In high school, you do what your talent allows you to do. If you took any real strong running team and put Preston or Fien behind center, they’d become a passing team.”

In essence, Preston and Fien are leaders of a talented group that is changing the look of Marmonte League football.

Preston, a 6-foot-3, 180-pound senior, has thrown for 3,152 yards and 25 touchdowns as a two-year starter and is being heavily recruited by Division I colleges. Fien (6-4, 185), a junior, threw for 1,176 yards last season.

Last year, Royal and Westlake were the only Marmonte teams that gained more yardage passing than rushing. But they might have started a trend that will attract quarterbacks at Agoura and Simi Valley, and might even transform the stubborn ground hogs at Thousand Oaks.

Agoura’s Sean Fitzgerald (6-4, 190) was a backup last season to Josh Smaler, who threw for 1,400 yards as a senior, but is expected to prosper with an established passing offense.

Simi Valley, which threw for a mere 343 yards last season, might throw more than any team. Tim Kirksey (6-0, 170), a junior transfer from Camarillo, has the confidence of first-year Coach Stan Quina and offensive coordinator Ken Lutz, who threw for more than 2,500 yards at Royal from 1981-83.

Thousand Oaks, which traditionally rumbles downfield behind its large and fundamentally sound offensive line, hints that it will alter its attack behind senior Scott Peterson (6-0, 170), a returning starter who threw for 811 yards last season.

“You definitely have to have a kid with talent in order to throw,” Uebelhardt said. “If you’re running the run-and-shoot and your quarterback can’t throw, it’s like running an option with a quarterback who can’t run.”

Last season, Westlake’s potent passing attack troubled numerous coaches who have been fed a steady diet of running attacks over the years.

“I think anybody who does something a little bit different has an advantage,” Newbury Park Coach George Hurley said. “When you have only one week to prepare for a passing team, you’re not as prepared as you are when you see something week after week after week.”

Thus coaches are focusing more on developing passing defenses this season, without abandoning their traditional defenses.

The most popular strategy among league coaches is a defense that pressures the quarterback out of the pocket.

“We like to be physical, not only up front but with our linebackers,” Channel Islands Coach Joel Gershon said.

Thousand Oaks, the league’s best defensive unit the past two years, has set the precedent with its aggressive style.

“We like to be like a Thousand Oaks, real physical,” said Hurley, who credits defensive coordinator Doug Dagan with developing last year’s second-best defense in league play.

“When the receivers catch the ball, they have to pay. We also like to deliver a couple of blind-side hits to the quarterback and get him looking over his shoulder, thinking of other things.”

Many league coaches shun a nickel defense, which leaves five linebackers covering various zones of the field but only two or three players rushing the quarterback.

“A good quarterback eats up those nickels,” Hurley said.

In his first year at Westlake last season, Coach Jim Benkert scrapped former Coach George Contreras’ Delaware Wing T in favor of a controlled passing game. The result was the Warriors’ first playoff berth since 1982.

Westlake used as many receivers as possible. Back Luke Crawford (37 receptions), receivers Seamus Gibbons (36) and Erik Holcomb (34), and tight end Dave Monheim (31) finished behind only Royal’s Jeff Creed (41) in receptions.

Benkert says the most common defense the Warriors see is one that attempts to blitz Preston out of the pocket.

“But it really depends on what kind of personnel each team has,” Benkert said. “Some drop eight guys, others bring eight, and some have a combination.”

Although there is added character to the league’s once-stale offensive schemes, it might just be a passing fancy.

“Two years from now, when Ryan has graduated, we’ll sit down and look at what we have,” Uebelhardt said. “Heck, we could be in the wishbone.”

MARMONTE LEAGUE

FINAL 1989 STANDINGS PROJECTED FINISH Thousand Oaks 11-1-1, 6-0 Westlake Newbury Park 7-3-2, 4-1-1 Thousand Oaks Westlake 5-6-1, 3-2-1 Royal Camarillo 4-5, 3-3 Channel Islands Channel Islands 4-5, 2-4 Camarillo Royal 3-7, 1-5 Newbury Park Simi Valley 1-9, 1-5 Agoura Agoura (in Frontier League) 9-4, 3-2 Simi Valley

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Player School Pos. Ht Wt Class Renard Carn Channel Islands RB 6-2 190 Sr. Jeff Creed Royal WR 6-2 175 Sr. Bryce Elliott Thousand Oaks OL 6-2 200 Sr. Ryan Fien Royal QB 6-4 185 Jr. Anthony Hess Quartz Hill OL 6-7 285 Sr. Seamus Gibbons Westlake WR 5-10 170 Sr. Arturo Hernandez Channel Islands DE 6-2 165 Sr. Eric Jensen Camarillo OL 6-3 220 Sr. Dave Monheim Westlake TE 6-3 210 Sr. Todd Preston Westlake QB 6-3 180 Sr. Tim Ross Royal DB 6-4 205 Sr. Eric Swindemen Camarillo TE 6-4 225 Sr. Walter Thomas Newbury Park RB 5-6 150 Sr.