Westlake Defeats Newbury Park for 7th Win in a Row

Jim Benkert might be a good actor. He certainly is able to motivate his Westlake High football team.

As he stood at midfield, after his top-rated Warriors had slugged out a 23-7 Marmonte League victory over Newbury Park Friday night, he wasn’t so convincing.

“You know, it’s really tough when you come in ranked No. 1 in (the area) in both papers and you’re playing a 1-5 team,” Benkert said in his best Lou Holtz poor-mouth imitation.

Poor Westlake. Poor 7-0 Westlake.

While motivation was a concern for Benkert, Newbury Park spent the week trying to figure out how not to be ripped to shreds by quarterback Todd Preston and his stable of quick and sticky-fingered receivers.

The Panthers entered with the best all-time record (8-2-1) against Westlake among Marmonte League schools. But this is a new year and times are tough.

Still, the Panthers accomplished their objective, limiting Preston, the area’s top passer, to 12-of-21 passing for 149 yards and no touchdowns. The Panthers’ reward was a respectable loss.

“Our kids played better than they have in a month,” Newbury Park Coach George Hurley said. “With the athletes we have and the athletes they have, we were very pleased.”

The Panthers (1-6, 0-4 in league play) allowed a 56-yard pass from Preston to Dave Monheim late in the first half but yielded little else.

That is, unless possession counts.

While Newbury Park outgained host Westlake, 304 to 274, the Panthers also turned the ball over five times--three on fumbles and twice on Zack Sutton’s interceptions.

“We had to create turnovers and force things to happen,” Hurley said. “Instead, it turned the other way around on us.”

Two of those turnovers led directly to Westlake touchdowns.

Behind the passing of Sutton, the Panthers cut a 16-0 halftime deficit to 16-7, when Sean Pence scored on a three-yard run early in the third quarter.

Sutton finished 12 of 30 for 200 yards.

However, Jeff Buchanan’s first of two fumbles eventually led to a one-yard sneak by Preston, a 23-7 lead and the Warriors apparently solidified their No. 1 ranking.

Newbury Park won the coin toss, but deferred to Westlake, figuring the Panthers would get their rugged defense on the field first.

Not such a great decision.

It took the Warriors (4-0 in league play) less than four minutes to plug it into the end zone. Reuben Allen did the honors, carrying from 13 yards for the score. Seamus Gibbons caught the two-point conversion pass from Preston and it was 8-0.

So much for coin-toss strategy.

Allen added a four-yard scoring run and Erik Holcomb connected with Gibbons for another two-point conversion and the 16-0 halftime lead. Allen finished with 79 yards in 20 carries.