Westlake Follows Plan to Perfection : High school football: Warriors put game against Channel Islands out of reach early, 29-6, in tuneup for Marmonte League title showdown with undefeated Newbury Park.

This was Westlake High’s game plan Saturday night at Channel Islands:

“Just blow them out in the first half and get our second-stringers some playing time,” senior quarterback Kevin Crook said.

The Warriors followed this path perfectly while hammering out a 29-6 victory over the Raiders.

This was a tuneup for Westlake’s game next week at undefeated Newbury Park to determine the Marmonte League title.

Coach Jim Benkert said he was concerned his players would look past Channel Islands (0-9, 0-6 in league play).

“You always run the risk of overlooking your opponent when you have a big game the next week,” Benkert said. ‘We just wanted to survive. Now, the coaches are going to try and figure a way out to beat Newbury Park.”

Figuring out the Raiders was easy for Crook, especially in the first half when the Warriors took a 22-0 lead by the intermission.

“In the first part of the game we put three guys on one side of the field and they only had two guys on them,” Crook said. “Coach wanted us to throw the ball and we capitalized.”

Crook completed 13 of 22 passes for 270 yards and four touchdowns before being replaced with seven minutes to play.

Starting on their 26, the Warriors (7-1-1, 5-0-1) used three plays, capping the march with a 25-yard pass from Crook to senior tight end Trevor Gillespie for a 15-0 lead with 3:25 left in the first quarter. The drive took just more than a minute.

On Westlake’s next possession, Crook fired a pass just over a defender’s reach to Billy Miller, who ran untouched to complete the 50-yard touchdown play for a 22-0 lead with 10 minutes 27 seconds left before the half. Miller finished with seven catches for 191 yards.

“That happens a lot where the defender turns to look for the ball and it goes over his head,” Crook said.

Channel Islands was held to 197 yards, including 33 by quarterback Chris Heffernan on four completions in eight attempts.

“They pursued the ball and they knew where the ball was going to go,” Heffernan said. “Their guys were penetrating well off the line and our line couldn’t stop them.”

Crook and Miller connected again in the third quarter on a 49-yard slant pass to make it 29-0. The Raiders’ only score came with 7:11 left on a 12-yard pass from Heffernan to Nhan Nguyen.