Westlake Puts Agoura in Its Place
Receiver Joey Cuppari was hobbling with a sprained ankle. Quarterback Zac Wasserman was en route to the hospital with a possible concussion.
Lacking its top weapons, Westlake High found a few more and held off Agoura, 27-22, Friday night to secure second place in the Marmonte League.
Adam LaLiberte rushed for 158 yards in 29 carries and scored the winning touchdown with eight minutes to play.
LaLiberte, a 5-foot-10, 175-pound senior, had gained only 125 yards all season.
B.J. Brannan, a junior who had thrown only 29 passes to Wasserman’s 258, completed six of seven in the second half.
He hit Cuppari for an eight-yard gain after a wild scramble to make a key first down with four minutes to play.
Cuppari, the region’s leading receiver, had only two catches for 10 yards. But the diving catch of Brannan’s pass enabled Westlake (7-3, 6-1 in league play) to whittle the clock down to two minutes before giving Agoura a final possession.
The Chargers (7-3, 5-2), with Ryan McCann at quarterback after a four-game absence because of an injured shoulder, moved from their 12-yard line to the Westlake 10 on four pass completions and an 11-yard run by McCann.
But time expired when Dylan Hull was tackled after catching a short pass.
McCann completed 11 of 27 passes for 122 yards, and his nine-yard touchdown pass to Aaron Pruter gave Agoura a 22-21 lead with 51 seconds left in the third quarter.
Westlake led, 21-10, at halftime, but a 24-yard interception return by Jonathan Ellsworth set up a five-yard scoring run by Chris Poling of Agoura in the first 15 seconds of the second half.
Poling gained 131 yards in 21 carries and has 1,507 yards and 20 touchdowns for the season.
“The momentum changed in their favor early in the second half and we had a tough time turning it around,” Westlake Coach Jim Benkert said.
The Warriors appeared as if they might challenge their point total of last year’s 54-51 victory over Agoura, scoring two touchdowns in the first four minutes.
Wasserman hit Travis Campbell on an 84-yard touchdown pass play on Westlake’s second offensive play.
An interception by lineman David Mansell three plays later gave the Warriors the ball and J.R. Ross scored from the three.
Agoura cut the margin to 14-3 on a 29-yard field goal by Dan Brockdorf, but Westlake came back midway through the second quarter on a four-yard touchdown reception by Campbell.
Agoura scored in the final minute of the half on a 27-yard pass from McCann to Garrett Lepisto.
