Fiery Willis Provides Moorpark With Spark

The transformation of Chad Willis from liability to asset didn’t happen overnight, but the defining moment in his growth as a leader may have occurred in Moorpark High’s second game this season.

That’s when Coach Ron Wilford looked up in astonishment to find his 5-foot-11, 160-pound quarterback engaged in a spirited discussion with Chad Troxler, Simi Valley’s 6-1, 280-pound defensive lineman.

“All of a sudden there’s [Willis] talking smack to someone who [weighs] 280,” Wilford said. “It put him in a different perspective. After that, I knew we had a leader.”

Said Willis: “I kind of like to talk.”

The difference now is he can back up his words.

A 28-14 victory over Simi Valley on Sept. 19 started a 12-game winning streak that has carried Moorpark to its first Southern Section championship game. The Musketeers (12-1) play St. Monica (10-3) for the Division X title tonight at 7:30 at Moorpark.

Willis has played impressively during the march, running the offense with efficiency and providing big plays when needed on a team that doesn’t expect huge numbers from its quarterback because of a productive ground game.

In 13 games, he has completed 124 of 214 passes for 1,520 yards and 20 touchdowns, with nine passes intercepted.

Modest statistics, however, didn’t stop coaches from selecting Willis the Frontier League offensive player of the year, an award that would have seemed unlikely for a player who struggled through a forgettable junior season.

Willis’ confidence progressively sagged last season, when his passes ended up in opponents’ hands--13 interceptions--more often than in the other team’s end zone--two touchdowns--during a 4-7 campaign that ended with a 35-0 loss to Orange Lutheran in the first round of the playoffs.

“He had nowhere to go but up,” said Ryan Huisenga, Moorpark’s first-year quarterbacks coach.

Huisenga, a former Moorpark and Cal Lutheran quarterback, made Willis his personal project last summer. After watching all of Moorpark’s game film from last season, Huisenga set out to perform a make-over.

“In the films, [Willis] didn’t look real comfortable,” he said. “He was tentative. He needed to work on his footwork and the mental aspect of playing quarterback.”

So, coach and player went to work. Everything from the way Willis held the ball while setting up, to learning to trust his blockers was covered in the workouts.

Last season, Willis suffered from what offensive coordinator Jeff Dewey called “happy feet,” a tendency to run out of the pocket.

“I was on him every day,” Huisenga said.

For Willis, the lessons had a strong impact.

“All during summer my confidence started building,” he said. “The way things were going, I knew it would carry over to [this] season.”

Huisenga said he noticed midway through the Simi Valley game that Willis appeared more assertive than ever before.

“He was taking shots but hanging in there,” Huisenga said. “That’s when I finally realized, hey, he’s going to be a player this year.”

And, Huisenga insists, Willis deserves most of the credit.

“He made himself a complete player,” Huisenga said. “A coach can only do so much. It’s up to the player to decide how good he wants to be. It was his choice.”

Flushed with success, Willis said he has applied to Cal State Northridge, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Cal Lutheran with the intent of playing football somewhere. His 3.65 grade-point average won’t hurt his chances.

But Willis acknowledges that he wasn’t too smart when he sliced his right (throwing) thumb opening a can of ravioli while baby-sitting the neighbors’ kids in October. For a moment, his season flashed before his eyes.

“It was pretty deep,” he said of the cut. “It bled a lot.”

Willis received seven stitches in the thumb and was held out of practice all week before the league opener Oct. 17 at Calabasas.

After sitting out the first offensive series, a frustrated Willis had seen enough. He approached Huisenga with an urgent request.

“I’m fine,” he said. “Just put me in.”

Willis passed for a quick touchdown to spark Moorpark to a 16-7 victory.

“You could tell there was an emotional pick-up in our team,” Wilford said.”

Two weeks later, on Nov. 1, Willis gave Moorpark another lift by hitting Jeremy Shoup on a 65-yard scoring pass play with 2:30 to play to pull out a 19-18 victory over Bishop Diego.

“Chad knows how to get the job done now,” said Erris Green, Moorpark’s leading receiver. “He has come a long way since last year.”

Willis, a starting guard on the basketball team, turned in another reliable performance last week in the biggest victory in school history. He passed for 78 yards and a touchdown as Moorpark beat Carpinteria, 33-0, to end a 51-game losing streak against the Warriors.

Willis, though, says the Musketeers aren’t satisfied yet.

“The Carpinteria game was a big game for the whole community and past [Moorpark] players, but winning the championship would be the best for our team,” he said. “You can’t beat that.”