Moorpark Lights Up St. Monica for Title, 28-6

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

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

The first football title in school history came with the same concepts the Musketeers (13-1) trade-marked throughout the season.

And talk before the game from Moorpark Coach Ron Wilford 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 to 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, on a play called “Lace 43,” Garcia broke through a hole in the left side, split two tacklers downfield and went the distance for a 38-yard touchdown and 21-6 lead.

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

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

St. Monica Coach Norm Lacy, who also witnessed Garcia score on a 30-yard run midway through the second quarter, 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.”

The Moorpark defense allowed 111 yards and came up with several big stops.

An early test came late in the first quarter when Moorpark running back Artie Lopez fumbled the ball and gave 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 short-circuited another St. Monica drive with under a minute left in the half. 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.”

Moorpark outscored its four playoff opponents, 125-15.

The Musketeers opened the season with a 14-6 loss to Burroughs, then went the rest of the way without losing.