Westlake Turns 6 Ventura Turnovers Into 28-21 Win

As the coaching staffs at Westlake and Ventura highs watched their players come up with more big plays than Shakespeare on Thursday, one common thought staggered to the forefront.

“We felt whoever had the ball last would win,” Ventura Coach Harvey Kochel said.

On the other sideline, Westlake Coach Jim Benkert said he felt the same; the teams would combine for 856 yards in offense.

But he felt a little better in the end, after Westlake had erased a six-point second-half deficit and capitalized on six turnovers to escape Larrabee Stadium with a 28-21 nonleague football victory.

Ventura fumbled the ball away four times and quarterback Jeff Dietz threw two interceptions.

“If we hold onto the damned ball, we win the game,” Kochel said. “They never stopped us. We didn’t punt once, we just dropped the damned ball.”

Ventura (2-1), which amassed 450 yards, had taken a 21-15 lead early in the third quarter on a one-yard run by sophomore Derek Swafford (13 carries for 114 yards) and a conversion pass from Dietz to Matt Garrett.

But Westlake answered on its ensuing drive with a two-yard run by Reuben Allen, who gained 96 of his game-high 135 rushing yards in the second half.

Todd Preston’s conversion gave Westlake a 22-21 lead that it would not relinquish, thanks to three consecutive Ventura turnovers during the Cougars’ next three drives.

Trevor Rumsey fumbled and James Gillespie recovered at Ventura’s 40-yard line with 2 minutes 53 seconds left in the third quarter.

Westlake (3-0) turned the miscue into a touchdown when Preston, who completed 17 of 25 passes for 210 yards, hit tight end Dave Monheim (six catches for 86 yards) from six yards with 11:14 remaining to give Westlake a 28-21 lead.

Ventura drove to Westlake’s 16, but Dietz bobbled a handoff that Monheim recovered at the 21 with 7:51 left. Westlake, behind Allen’s running, ran off four minutes but turned the ball over when Preston’s pass was deflected and intercepted by Elan Walshe and returned to Ventura’s 47.

On the first play of the drive, Dietz hit a streaking Tito Holquin for a 25-yard gain to Westlake’s 28, but a jarring blow by Joe Maashoff and Erik Holcomb knocked the ball loose and Holcomb pounced on it with 3:28 left. Westlake drove to Ventura’s 10 and ran out the clock.

On the game’s opening drive, Preston completed each of his three passes, the last a 16-yard completion to Monheim that gave Westlake a first down at Ventura’s seven. Allen scored on the next play and Preston hit Seamus Gibbons for the conversion and an 8-0 Westlake lead.

Ventura, which drove to Westlake’s 34 before Arash Mobayen intercepted Dietz’s pass, discovered the end zone on the Cougars’ next drive.

Swafford scored from 25 yards and Rumsey’s conversion pulled Ventura within 8-7 with 40 seconds left in the first quarter.