Newbury Park Cashes In, 46-8

The Gardena High football team took a 90-minute bus ride to get to Newbury Park for its season opener Saturday night.

Call it a 90-minute ride to self-destruction aided by the Panthers, who won, 46-8, after building a 32-8 lead in the first half.

Newbury Park, which manhandled the Mohicans on both sides of the line, forced four fumbles to turn the game into a laugher midway through the first half. Gardena finished with six turnovers, all fumbles.

The Panthers turned the ball over three times in the first half, including two interceptions thrown by standout quarterback Chris Czernek. But Czernek and his teammates atoned for their mistakes, scoring six of their seven touchdowns after Mohican turnovers.

Czernek, a senior who passed for 4,362 yards and 45 touchdowns last year, completed 13 of 27 attempts for 260 yards, including five completions each to Chris Garty (82 yards) and Jake Farrell (90 yards).

Receiver Patrick Reddick, who caught 61 passes for 1,122 yards last year, was sidelined with a sprained right knee. He is expected to play next week.

Czernek threw scoring passes of 16 yards to Garty and 15 to Paul Sanford. Garrett Hobba, Ryan Sullivan and Nate McArthur scored on six-, eight- and one-yard runs as the Panthers built a 32-0 lead.