Westlake Mistakes Make Comeback Insufficient

A late rally by Westlake High fell short and Hawthorne held on for a 24-22 victory Friday night in a Southern Section Division III quarterfinal at Thousand Oaks High.

Hawthorne (11-1), the No. 2-seeded team, converted three turnovers into touchdowns and held a 24-7 lead in the third quarter.

Westlake (8-3-1) then scored on a 22-yard pass from Kevin Crook to Mike Leibin later in the quarter to pull within 24-15 after Crook’s conversion pass to Billy Miller.

Crook and Leibin connected again for a four-yard touchdown with 2 minutes 7 seconds to play, which left the Warriors behind, 24-22, after a conversion kick by Scott Morris.

Crook finished 17 of 41 for 304 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions. The senior quarterback set the school’s single-season passing record, breaking the mark of Todd Preston set in 1990.

Westlake grabbed a 7-0 lead on its first possession as Crook completed a 59-yard scoring pass play to Miller. The Cougars tied the score early in the second quarter when Raul Sanchez returned a Crook fumble 35 yards for a touchdown.

Hawthorne took a 10-7 lead on Alex Estrada’s 38-yard field goal with two seconds left in the half. The field goal followed a double personal foul that nullified an interception by Westlake defensive back Ryan Dritz and moved the ball to the Warrior 16-yard line.

In the third quarter, Hawthorne converted an interception by Kelvin Hunter into a four-yard touchdown run by Moala Kalisi, and Eric Chaney ran 51 yards for a touchdown on the first play following a blocked Westlake field-goal attempt.

Westlake amassed 323 total yards to Hawthorne’s 193. Miller had seven catches for 187 yards and Leibin had five for 81 yards. Chaney finished with 105 yards rushing in 21 carries.