Moorpark Marches to the Beat of Title, 7-6

It came down to this: Moorpark High won the Frontier League thanks to a drummer in a rock band and another kid whose career almost ended last season.

The Musketeers defeated Nordhoff, 7-6, Friday night at Moorpark, but the real stories may have been those of Jeremy Shoop and Shane Brogdon.

Shoop, the drummer in a local rock band called “Slpy,” returned a punt 85 yards early in the first quarter to provide Moorpark a 7-0 lead and all the scoring it would need.

Brogdon’s time to shine came in the second half.

He did not have a carry in the first half, but finished with 48 yards in 14 carries. More important, three of Brogdon’s carries went for first downs, including a four-yard plunge on fourth-and-one at the Nordhoff 15-yard line with 2:40 left.

Brogdon played one game last season because he was diagnosed with nerve damage in his neck. He felt numbness in his arms and, after extensive testing, nearly called it quits before he was cleared by a doctor to play.

“To take away my career and then get it back and win the [league] championship is the best thing that could ever happen to me,” Brogdon said.

The Musketeers (9-1, 4-0 in league play) failed to get a first down in the first half, going three plays and out on all four of their possessions.

Luckily, they had Shoop.

His punt return was supposed to be to the left, but he took creative license and scooted down the right sideline.

“I just saw daylight,” Shoop said.

Moorpark Coach Ron Wilford was weary of Nordhoff’s ground game and religiously covered the field with a tarp the past few days to prevent it from becoming a bog that would benefit the Rangers’ power game.

The dry field actually seemed to help Nordhoff (6-4, 3-1) in the first half.

Moorpark entered the game allowing only 50.3 yards rushing per game--the best average in the region--but the Rangers passed that mark midway through the second quarter.

They had already rushed for 72 yards when backup quarterback John Hill connected on a 25-yard scoring pass play to Jordan Schreiber.

Hill was in the game for starter Brandon Titus, who left the game in the first quarter with an injured right (throwing) arm.

But the Rangers trailed, 7-6, because Alex Garcia missed the extra point to the left.

“Our kicking game let us down,” Nordhoff Coach Cliff Farrar said. “We had a punt returned against us for the first time in I don’t know how many years and then we missed an extra point.”

Moorpark, which has won league titles in each of the past three odd-numbered years, won the title in 1995 by the same 7-6 score when Calabasas missed an extra point.