Face to Face

Chris Mykleby is a mountainous kid, 6 feet 5, 320 pounds topped by short hair and a scruff of a goatee. He is not particularly quick and this is his first year at offensive tackle for Camarillo High.

Softly, he says that he never expected to square off agianst a player like Bobby DeMars.

DeMars looks the part of the football hero. Two hundred and thirty pounds stretched over a 6-foot-4 frame. Blond and square-jawed. Born to be a linebacker. Except that when DeMars and his Westlake team played Camarillo earlier this season, he reached into his bag of tricks and switched to defensive end.

Face-to-face with Mykleby.

The all-leaguer versus the rookie.

“It was kind of a shock,” Mykleby says.

Memories of that game remain vivid for both players, especially as they prepare to meet again. Tonight, Camarillo returns to Westlake, just down Highway 101, for perhaps the biggest game of the year in Ventura County.

The Southern Section Division III semifinal features two potent offenses from the pass-happy Marmonte League. Westlake quarterback Casey Preston has passed for 3,383 yards and 37 touchdowns, nearly half of those scores to receiver Joey Cuppari. Camarillo answers with the prolific combination of Joe Borchard and Mike Anger.

But while the aerial warfare rages overhead, a less-conspicuous battle--a rematch of sorts--will likely be fought in the trenches.

*

Game film plays over a giant-screen television in the Westlake coaches’ office. Camarillo vs. Westlake, Oct. 25, 1996.

Here comes DeMars, bulling his way into the backfield, forcing Borchard to hurry a throw. There he goes, blowing past Mykleby for two quick sacks as Westlake races to a 21-12 lead.

“When you’re a linebacker, you have got to be aware of a lot of things, the defensive line and the formation,” DeMars says. “When I’m going after the quarterback, I’ve got just one thing on my mind.

“It’s kind of fun.”

But Camarillo assigns a running back to help with pass blocking in the third quarter. Borchard drives the Scorpions to the one-yard line, where he calls an off-tackle run.

Mykleby hits DeMars head-on, stands him up and plants him on his back in the end zone. Joe Hollowell crashes into the end zone for a touchdown that sparks Camarillo’s 33-29 comeback victory.

“That’s one play in particular that sticks in my mind,” Mykleby says.

*

The loss to Camarillo was a low point in Westlake’s season. The week before, the Warriors had dropped a heartbreaking game to Thousand Oaks. They made key mistakes against the Scorpions that made them vulnerable to the pass.

So as cool winds push shadows across the practice field, DeMars works on dropping back into coverage, assisting his teammates as they prepare to face a Camarillo offense that has racked up 2,526 yards and 27 touchdowns through the air.

The senior linebacker, committed to play for USC next year, also works on reading the run because Camarillo surprised St. Francis last week by moving the ball on the ground in a 35-18 victory.

And then there is the pass rush. DeMars will go after Borchard, whether it’s from defensive end or blitzing from the linebacker position. As practice closes with a not-so-friendly scrimmage, he bulls his way through two blockers and jars Warrior quarterback Preston, whose throw lands in the arms of a defender downfield.

“You pull out all your tricks and see which ones work,” DeMars says. “Swim, rip . . . maybe you just try to knock the lineman over.”

Against Mykleby, who was unsure in his footwork earlier this year, DeMars found the most success with his outside move, pure speed around the corner. He remembers what it feels like to be inexperienced, having taken his lumps during a tough sophomore season.

“I felt like I knew where I wanted to go but I just couldn’t get there,” he recalls. “I’d get run over by a guy and he’d get his foot caught in my face mask and go down. That was half my tackles that year.”

That was before he grew bigger and faster and wiser, before he became the kind of player that a school like USC would want.

*

Despite his size, no major colleges have recruited Mykleby, who teammates call “Boomer.” The senior tackle has talked to coaches at UC Davis and Augustana, hoping to catch on with a Division II school.

“He’s a horse,” says Camarillo assistant Terry McGrath. “Quiet. Big smile.”

Mykleby also is still relatively inexperienced. Like guard Matt Klinger and center Mike McGrath, the assistant coach’s son, he had played mostly defense in previous seasons.

“This was a brand-new experience for them,” Terry McGrath says. “We worked them for three hours a day on the fundamentals.”

With each game like the one at Westlake, each upset victory on the way to an unexpected league championship, the offensive linemen grew more competent, more confident.

Even so, they are still attending to basic skills some three months into the season. At practice, they work on keeping their feet moving, keeping their shoulders square and their arms extended.

Just as DeMars hones his swims and rips on the Westlake field, Mykleby practices countering these moves. “I’ll picture what he’s probably going to do,” the tackle says. “However, I won’t always be right. It keeps me on my toes.”

Hand-to-hand combat is only part of the equation, though. Offensive linemen must learn to recognize and adapt to defensive shifts and shades. They must learn to pick up blitzes.

“I’m very impressed with [Mykleby] and their entire offensive line,” says Kyle Borland, the defensive coordinator at Westlake. “We felt that earlier in the year, they had a little bit of a problem with their protection scheme. Part of the problem was that the kids hadn’t figured it out yet. They have obviously improved or they wouldn’t be where they are.”

*

A half-hour north of Los Angeles, in the heart of Ventura County, high school football thrives. There are a half-dozen good teams within a 15-mile radius. It is not uncommon for games to draw crowds of 8,000 to 10,000.

“I think a lot of people are excited about this one,” says Tom West, who broadcasts games on a local radio station. “We get calls. I hear comments. I’m sure it’s going to be packed.”

The players sense the anticipation.

“It’s crazy because you’ll see the whole stands fill up,” DeMars says. “There are some hard-core Westlake fans out there. You get a big rush.”

Mykleby adds: “I get fired up by the chance to play against a player like DeMars, knowing that he’s going to USC, seeing the type of talent that’s out there and how I fare against that talent.”

The game figures to be a shoot-out. The outcome could hinge on which defense blinks first, or which offense comes up with the big play. DeMars will surely reach into his bag of tricks once more, looking to make an interception or force a fumble, maybe sack the quarterback at a crucial moment.

Mykleby knows that he has to play consistently. If he can move his feet and lock onto the pass rusher for three seconds--just three short seconds--Borchard can get rid of the ball.

And if Westlake’s star linebacker comes on a blitz, expect the big, quiet kid from Camarillo to be looking for him.