Westlake Passes With Flying Colors, 35-0

School was in session Friday night in Thousand Oaks.

Todd Preston, Westlake High’s quarterback, took Channel Islands’ defensive backfield and crammed it with a secondary education that won’t soon be forgotten.

The 6-foot-3 senior riddled the Raiders, completing 22 of 27 passes for a school-record 327 yards and two touchdowns.

The final grade was a 35-0 Marmonte League victory for Westlake.

After studying Preston’s performance up close, Channel Islands Coach Joel Gershon had no answers.

“We have a very young secondary and (Westlake) plays catch as good as anyone around,” he said. “Even when we were there, he was right on the mark.”

Preston, the third-rated passer in the Southern Section, was removed midway through the third quarter but still improved his season totals to 88 of 135 for 1,335 yards and 12 touchdowns. He eclipsed Brad Gossen’s single-game mark of 311 set in 1985.

Preston also helped the Warriors climb to 6-0 overall and 3-0 in league play. The Raiders (2-4, 0-3) dropped their fourth consecutive game.

Preston had the luxury of taking his pick from a corps of receivers who consistently roamed free in the Channel Islands secondary.

His favorite target was Seamus Gibbons, who caught eight passes for a school-record 169 yards, eclipsing the mark set by Chris Mann in 1986.

He also hit Erik Holcomb for an 18-yard touchdown pass and connected with Arash Mobayen for a three-yard touchdown.

One had to look pretty hard to find a bright spot for Channel Islands in the first half, but it was possible.

The Raiders limited the Warriors to zero yards on the ground in seven carries.

Westlake’s all-out aerial attack was pretty impressive, but it probably didn’t go over very well with Westlake running back Reuben Allen, who had gained 698 yards in his first five games.

Allen, however, picked up 53 yards in the second half, and scored on runs of one and eight yards.

Not much went right for Channel Islands, which lost, 35-0, to Thousand Oaks last week.

Quarterback Stan Espinoza completed only two of 13 for 39 yards and had three interceptions.

Espinoza’s second interception was returned 34 yards for a touchdown by Westlake’s Vince Bruno.

Espinoza’s other two interceptions cost the Raiders dearly, ending their only two scoring threats.

Each time, he threw an interception in the end zone.