VALLEY / VENTURA COUNTY SPORTS : Reluctant Favorites Prefer Low Profiles : Division IV: Marmonte rivals Westlake and Newbury Park aren’t eager to take place among elite.

Who wants to be No. 1 in Division IV?

No one, for now.

It’s a mind-set that surely will change as the season unfolds, with contenders pushing their way to the front of the pack, pretenders falling further behind.

In the meantime, Westlake and Newbury Park, the pride of the Marmonte League and two of the top three teams in the Southern Section Division IV preseason poll, are happy being No. 2.

The teams’ Oct. 14 meeting likely will determine the Marmonte champion, though neither coach wants to be the favorite yet.

“If I was you, I’d rank [Newbury Park] ahead of us,” Westlake Coach Jim Benkert said. “They’ve got the same type of team this year that they usually have, but they have a better line. They’re every bit as talented as they’ve been in the past.”

Newbury Park has two beefy linemen in Matt Amundson and Elliot Elkins. And the Panthers have added transfer quarterback Chris Lombardo, who passed for 4,114 yards and 38 touchdowns in two years at St. Bonaventure.

But don’t order the championship trophies just yet, cautioned Newbury Park Coach George Hurley.

Westlake, after all, has Penn State-bound Zac Wasserman at quarterback. All he’s done the past two years is pass for 5,192 yards and 53 touchdowns. Speedy receiver Chris Catalano returns, as does running back Julian Lambert, who averaged 7.5 yards per carry last season.

“[Westlake] definitely has the best talent in the league; I don’t think that’s far-fetched,” Hurley said. “If you’re putting money down, put it there. But injuries happen, people have bad games.”

Westlake has been the league favorite before, but hasn’t won a title since 1994. A Southern Section championship still eludes the program, which made semifinal appearances in 1995 and ’96.

“I can understand why people say we have some people on our team,” Benkert said. “But there’s a lot of things that go into a high school football season. We had three guys [Billy Miller, Craig Walendy, Eric Guenther] a few years ago who could all ultimately be in the NFL, but we lost two games that year [1994]. We didn’t have great people around them. It takes a team, not individuals.”

Newbury Park won a section title in 1993 and has won three of the last four Marmonte titles, in no small part because it has defeated Westlake the past four years.

A final-minute touchdown pass gave Newbury Park a 32-25 victory over the Warriors last season.

“We’ve had some great games where whoever gets the ball last wins,” Hurley said. “It’ll probably be a 49-42 game.”

Buena might have the talent to bump off Westlake and Newbury Park in the playoffs.

Quarterback Kyle Loughman, who has thrown for 3,734 yards and 29 touchdowns in two seasons, returns to lead the Bulldogs in their quest for a third consecutive Channel League title.

Buena, ranked No. 4 in Division IV, will be tested early in games against Westlake, Rio Mesa, Newbury Park and Camarillo, four of the top nine teams in the division poll.

“We could have a losing record going into game five,” Buena Coach Rick Scott said. “We need to be a little patient and hope we don’t get beat up.”

Camarillo appears to have its strongest team since winning a section championship in 1996.

Thousand Oaks, which tied Westlake and beat Newbury Park last season, should not be dismissed.

There is one obstacle that stands in the way of an All-VenturaCounty championship game: Arroyo Grande.

Arroyo Grande downed Notre Dame and Justin Fargas in the Division III final in 1997. Last year, the Eagles beat Buena, 14-12, in a Division IV quarterfinal on the way to winning the title.

It’s not surprising that Arroyo Grande, a school with 3,000 students, is ranked No. 1 in Division IV. By comparison, Newbury Park has 1,620 students, Westlake’s enrollment is just over 2,000, and Buena has about 2,300 students.

Arroyo Grande has a new offensive line, but quarterback Sean Shields and a stellar defense led by linebacker Ricky Perkins are back.

“They just don’t fit in,” Scott said. “They’ve just got more kids to pick from. They’ve kind of got a monopoly up there.”

A monopoly that every school in Division IV is looking to break.