Moorpark Finally Pours It On

Gilbert Gonzales didn’t want to talk about it afterward.

He didn’t have to.

The Play had put an exclamation point on the ending of The Streak.

Gonzales, a junior defensive end whose family roots in Moorpark football run deep, provided a dramatic conclusion as the Musketeers ended 62 years and 51 games of frustration Friday night against Carpinteria.

In the final seconds, Gonzales scooped up a fumble and sprinted 59 yards through the muck for a touchdown that capped a 33-0 Moorpark victory before a soggy crowd estimated at 5,500.

A victory for the ages. All ages.

Gonzales’ father, Joe, was on hand to watch, part of a large and boisterous contingent of former Moorpark players who attended the game.

Joe, who played for Moorpark in the mid-1960s, said he resisted the temptation to pressure his son during the days leading up to what might well have been Moorpark’s last chance to beat Carpinteria in football.

“I just said, ‘Kick butt,’ ” Joe Gonzales said as he prepared to join other alumni in a receiving line welcoming the Musketeers back onto the field after halftime. “If I couldn’t do it, he has a chance to do it and finally get that monkey off our back.”

Moorpark’s last victory over Carpinteria in football came in 1934 by a score of 13-6.

Twenty-seven of the losses during that span were by shutout.

But history didn’t seem to matter to the current Moorpark team, which overwhelmed Carpinteria on its way to qualifying for a Southern Section football final for the first time in school history.

“The [end of the] streak is great for Moorpark, but this team wasn’t involved in that,” Moorpark quarterback Chad Willis said. “We wanted to go to the final.”

Willis, one of many relatively newcomers to what used to be a sleepy farm community, is among several Moorpark seniors who can say they never lost to Carpinteria.

But the old-timers who shook his hand and patted him on the shoulder pads? They remember the bad old days.

Gary Cabriales, a Moorpark school board member, carried a sign Friday that read, “Hey Carp, Not This Year.”

The wording carried significance.

Cabriales recalled playing quarterback for Moorpark’s 1974 team. In the closing moments of a 47-0 loss against Carpinteria, Cabriales was picking himself off the turf after throwing an interception when up walked an opposing player.

“Not this year,” the kid said.

“This is very rewarding,” Cabriales said as the Musketeers extracted sweet revenge. “They’ve got the talent. We never did.”

Sometimes in the past, Moorpark barely had enough players to compete.

Andrew Vega, who came to watch, played on a 1979 team that had 16 players and lost to Carpinteria by a record margin, 69-0.

Rudy Garica played on a 1980 team which also suited up 16.

Dick Bedo, who played guard and linebacker for the Musketeers from 1960-64, came back Friday night hoping to exorcise some old demons.

“I always hoped,” Bedo said. “Every year.”

Manuel Rodriguez, who played guard for Moorpark in 1956, left town after he graduated. He came back “to see Carp get beat.”

Rob Dearborn, Moorpark’s athletic director and a former football coach, soaked in the atmosphere.

“I spent a lot of time dreaming about this,” he said. “And whether I was involved as a coach, or now as the athletic director and a teacher, this is just awesome.”

“For the school, going to the championship is more significant,” he said. “But for the community, it’s more significant to end The Streak.”