Moorpark Has Reason to Celebrate

The scene on the sidelines and in the stands resembled Mardi Gras in The Big Easy. Players hooted and tumbled, coaches ran around like kids and the large home crowd danced and danced.

This was going on 20 minutes after Moorpark High rallied from a 14-point deficit to upset two-time defending Frontier League champion Nordhoff, 26-21.

Moorpark (6-1-1, 2-0 in league play) had waited 50 years for such a celebration. The Musketeers haven’t won a league championship since 1943.

They took one giant step toward the Frontier title, but Nordhoff (5-3, 2-1) and Josh Hawkins, who had 162 yards and two touchdowns, had Moorpark backpedaling in the first half.

Another junior running back--Moorpark’s Bryan Wilkins--took over in the second half, however. Hawkins carried the ball only four more times to finish with 190 yards in 15 carries, and Wilkins led a ball-control Moorpark attack that scored 20 points in the third quarter.

Wilkins scored on runs of 27, nine and four yards. His final plunge to the end zone was his 33rd and final carry. He finished with a career-high 223 yards. He had only 35 at halftime.

“I’m just glad to be a part of this,” said Wilkins, who transferred to Moorpark four weeks ago. “I know all about the tough years here. But now we’re going to the playoffs.

“After this win, it’s going to be hard to bring us down.”

Moorpark bounced back after a blocked field goal on its first drive and Hawkins’ potentially crushing 84-yard run, which came on third down. A 27-yard sweep by Wilkins cut Nordhoff’s lead to 14-7 early in the third quarter, but an 87-yard kickoff return by Archie Jackson put Nordhoff back up by two touchdowns.

Moorpark came right back with a 22-yard scoring pass from Tyler Dritz (nine of 12 for 128 yards) to Art Hoffman and Wilkins’ nine-yard run that followed Hoffman’s interception of a Blake Coleman pass.

Wilkins was tackled on the two-point conversion run, but he wasn’t stopped at the end of Moorpark’s 13-play, 82-yard drive that lasted 7 minutes 25 seconds and ended with Wilkins sailing over cornerback Jerrick Mayers.

Wilkins then ripped off his helmet, sprinted to the sidelines, did a hook slide and pumped his fists in front of the crowd.

The party was on.