Moorpark Shocks St. Monica for First Title

With a pregame vow to shock the world, Moorpark High was shockingly efficient Saturday night.

Nicely precise on offense and dominating on defense, the Musketeers downed St. Monica, 28-6, and won the Southern Section Division X championship at Moorpark.

The first football title in school history came through the same methods the Musketeers (13-1) used throughout the season.

And a pregame talk from Moorpark Coach Ron Wilford, who prodded his players to “Shock the World,” added extra incentive.

A methodical opening drive, which went 72 yards in 12 plays and was capped by a two-yard plunge by Shane Brogdon, turned out to be all the Musketeers needed.

“We felt whoever scored first had this game,” quarterback Chad Willis said.

There were some doubts in the third quarter, when St. Monica (10-4) completed its most impressive drive of the night, closing within 14-6 on a three-yard run by Nate Anderson.

But Art Garcia returned the kickoff 41 yards to the St. Monica 46.

Three plays later, Garcia broke through a hole in the left side, split two tacklers downfield and went the distance for a 38-yard touchdown and a 21-6 lead.

Garcia, who finished with 105 yards and two touchdowns in 13 carries, refused any accolades.

“All the linemen,” the 5-foot-7, 150-pound junior said. “All the linemen.”

Garcia also scored on a 30-yard run midway through the second quarter.

St. Monica Coach Norm Lacy bounced the credit back to Garcia.

“We saw him on film, but he’s quicker than I thought,” said Lacy, whose team was in a championship game for the first time since 1962. “We didn’t tackle real well on him.”

The Moorpark defense had no such problems.

It was its usual feisty self, allowing 111 yards and coming up with several big stops.

An early test came near the end of the first quarter, when Moorpark running back Artie Lopez fumbled to give St. Monica possession at the Musketeer 28-yard line.

But Jaime Villa batted down a pass on fourth down to stop the Mariners at the Moorpark 24.

Moorpark, which allowed an average of 7.7 points going into the game, short-circuited another St. Monica drive with under a minute left in the first half.

This time, with the ball at the Moorpark 13, Jose Montes was ruled out of bounds on a near-reception in the left side of the end zone.

“I can’t say enough about our defense,” Wilford said. “The field kept getting shorter, but they kept stepping up.”