A CLASH OF STYLES : Westlake to Show Off Its Showtime Offense; Thousand Oaks Counters With Its Brutish Brand

Two teams with styles as different as the lambada and the waltz will step out at 7:30 tonight at Thousand Oaks High in a football game for the Marmonte League lead.

Westlake, the area’s top-ranked team, is sleek, cerebral and sassy. A creative young coach and a wealth of skill-position players have made the Warriors the nouveau riche of football in the Conejo Valley, headed for the playoffs for the second year in a row after last qualifying in 1982.

Thousand Oaks, the No. 1 team in last season’s final Times Valley poll, is predictable and proud of it. The Lancers are old money, a safe bet to make the playoffs, where they are 8-5 in yearly visits since 1984.

Westlake (8-0, 5-0 in league play) turns a game into a show, employing entertaining sleight of hand and playfully asking, “Guess what’s behind door No. 1?”

Thousand Oaks (6-1-1, 4-0-1) lowers its head and bashes down the door.

Westlake’s offense runs the gamut of gimmicks, including a double forward pass and a formation that places every lineman far to one side of the center. On another play, the kick holder appears to have forgotten the tee. He dashes to the sideline to retrieve it. The ball is snapped and he becomes a pass receiver.

Can something new be expected tonight? “Of course, always,” Jim Benkert, Westlake’s second-year coach, said gleefully.

Thousand Oaks, on the other hand, ran a simple reverse against Royal last week and second-guessers came out of the woodwork. The play resulted in a fumble and enabled Royal to kick a last-second field goal and forge a 26-26 tie.

“Our offensive coaches have been doing a tremendous job for several years and I have the highest respect for their decisions,” Bob Richards, Thousand Oaks’ eighth-year coach, said stoically in response to the criticism.

The teams’ wildly divergent approaches also are apparent in their preparation for this game; Westlake went theatrical while Thousand Oaks tried to conduct business as usual.

WESTLAKE’S AGENDA

Monday: Read gut-wrenching letters from 32 former Westlake players who expressed their deepest regret at having been soundly beaten by Thousand Oaks in 1989 (25-0) and ’88 (24-6). Watching this year’s Warriors gain revenge would enable them to pick up the pieces and go on with their lives, they write.

Tuesday: Cover tackling dummy with Thousand Oaks jersey. Proceed to repeatedly maul said dummy.

Wednesday: Break out limited edition T-shirts emblazoned with a motivational slogan designed for this game. “We are emphasizing Thousand Oaks, that makes this game special,” Benkert said.

Thursday: Light drills, heavy on the gusto.

THOUSAND OAKS’ AGENDA:

Monday: Anything associated with Westlake is conspicuously absent. A banner hanging in the locker room simply states: “A championship: Who wants it?”

Tuesday: No Westlake jerseys in view. In fact, no tackling dummies are in view--all Lancer hitting drills are live. However, a selected quote by a Westlake player from a recent newspaper article is taped to some lockers.

Wednesday: Rob Elliot, the Lancers’ line coach, breaks out a few choice songs, including “Bad to the Bone.” No mention of Westlake or Warriors in the lyrics.

Thursday: Polishing plays with a gleam in their eyes.

“All we are doing is preparing for a championship game in November,” Richards said. “Emotion will carry you part of the first quarter. Then it comes down to the personal confidence of the players. Both teams will have (adversity) during the course of the game. How they respond to that adversity will determine the outcome.”

The closest Westlake came to adversity last week in a 56-6 win over Simi Valley was the holder forgetting to take the field on an extra-point try with Westlake ahead, 36-0.

The Warriors’ reaction? They stood on the sideline and laughed, coaches and players alike. Greater intensity will be required tonight.

“We’ve turned it up a notch,” said Arash Mobayen, a Westlake starter at fullback and linebacker. “We’re working harder than before.”

Westlake might be coming off a laugher, but Thousand Oaks believes its finish last week was a crying shame. The Lancers blew a 26-13 halftime lead.

“We had a little letdown in the second half, we just broke down,” said Bryce Elliot, a two-way lineman and Rob Elliot’s son. “I think it was partly because we were looking forward to Westlake.”

A Lancer actually uttering the “W” word? It was inevitable. In fact, a note plastered on a locker-room soda machine says something to the effect of, “You think Royal’s postgame celebration was something? Wait until you see Westlake’s if they win.”

Familiarity also adds to the intrigue. Many Westlake players live in adjoining Thousand Oaks and the players have had plenty of opportunities to cross paths.

“We all know each other, we just had to go to different schools,” Westlake lineman James Gillespie said.

Some of the acquaintances are friendly, like that of Westlake two-way starter Dave Monheim and Thousand Oaks quarterback Scott Peterson, who starred together on youth basketball teams.

Others are less so. Defensive lineman Dave Acosta, Thousand Oaks’ leading tackler, made a special request of Elliot, his position coach. “Dave wants to line up across from (Jim) McCrossan,” Elliot said. “I told Dave I think we can work that out.”

Acosta and McCrossan belonged to the same gym in the off-season.

“I know Acosta, we’re not friends,” McCrossan said. “At the gym there were verbal confrontations. Just about the schools, nothing personal. Just disagreements.”

About all these teams agree on is that tonight has not come soon enough.