Newbury Park Wins 1st League Title in 11 Years

Fahali Campbell streaked across the football field for touchdowns on the first and last plays of Friday night’s Marmonte League championship game against Newbury Park.

But in between, Campbell strained for almost every gain.

Newbury Park, which boasts the state’s most potent passing attack, turned to its defense to stop Campbell, the area’s leading rusher, and defeat host Camarillo, 38-23, before an overflow crowd of about 6,000.

With the victory came the Panthers’ first league title in 11 years. Newbury Park (8-2, 6-1 in league play) last won an outright league championship in 1970.

“Hey, Panthers . . . black cats out on Friday the 13th!” an elated Newbury Park Coach George Hurley said. “We told ‘em, Campbell’s gonna get the ball every play, so go get him.”

Newbury Park’s defense pounced on Campbell, holding him to 126 yards in 26 carries, including only 27 in the second half. Campbell, who raised his area-high rushing total to 1,847, scored on an 18-yard touchdown run midway through the first quarter to give Camarillo (7-3, 5-2) a 14-6 lead.

Aside from Campbell’s 82-yard return for a touchdown on the game’s opening kickoff and Campbell’s 80-yard kickoff return for a touchdown on the game’s last play, Camarillo claimed few highlights.

“We had five or six guys play Campbell in practice this week,” Hurley said. “And they had the hell knocked out of them.”

Camarillo built a 17-12 lead late in the second quarter before Newbury Park went ahead to stay, 20-17, on a 23-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Keith Smith to wide receiver Jason Toohey.

From there, it was all Newbury Park. In the game, Smith, the state’s leading passer, completed 18 of 35 passes for 318 yards and two touchdowns, including a 25-yard pass to wide receiver Leodes Van Buren in the first quarter.

Fullback Richard Adams had scoring runs of one and two yards in the first and third quarters. He also kicked a 37-yard field goal in the third quarter.

The Panthers held Camarillo to zero yards in the second half.

Newbury Park needed only four plays--all passes by Smith--to counter Campbell’s opening kickoff return. Smith’s 25-yard touchdown pass to Van Buren pulled the Panthers to within 7-6, but a two-point conversion pass failed.

Campbell’s 18-yard touchdown run midway through the second quarter gave the Scorpions a 14-6 lead, but again Newbury Park battled back, driving 58 yards in six plays to score on a one-yard plunge by Adams. Another conversion pass failed and Camarillo maintained a 14-12 lead.

Newbury Park drove into Camarillo territory early in the second quarter, but Scott Tucker’s interception of a Smith pass at the seven-yard line snuffed the threat.

Camarillo countered with a lengthy drive that sputtered at the Newbury Park 16. Lee Ciuffitelli booted a 34-yard field goal to give Camarillo a 17-12 lead.

In the final four minutes of the half, Newbury Park drove from its 23 to inside the Camarillo 3. A holding penalty pushed the Panthers back to the 23, but Smith hit Toohey over the middle for a 23-yard touchdown pass.