Revitalized Agoura Thinking Playoffs
Agoura High Coach Charlie Wegher remembers all seven losses.
Some were close--the 48-40 thriller in 1996--and some weren’t so enthralling--the 48-16 blitz in 1996--but the bottom line was the same: Agoura always lost to Newbury Park.
Until Friday.
The Chargers defeated Newbury Park, 23-20, for the first time since 1992, reversing a seven-year losing streak to the Panthers and throwing the Marmonte League standings into a scramble.
Brad Altman rushed for 197 yards, Matt Smooke drilled a last-minute field goal and Agoura (3-2, 1-1 in league play) won a league game for the first time since November 1997, a span of 14 losses.
“We haven’t been in a close game or a big game in a long time,” Wegher said. “It was a real team-unity thing.”
Wegher was particularly impressed by Altman’s effort.
“The yards after contact he had were unbelievable,” Wegher said. “Guys would wrap him up in the backfield and he’d push through, turning a four-yard loss into a 10-yard gain.”
Agoura’s next two games are against Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks, who are a combined 0-10.
“Our goal was to get to the playoffs and I think we can get there,” Wegher said. “We’ve got to keep doing what we’ve been doing.”
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St. Genevieve (2-2) matched its win total of the previous two seasons with a 53-0 victory over Saddleback Valley Christian on Saturday.
Ricky Elias had three interceptions and returned two for touchdowns for the Valiants, who scored the most points since getting 60 against Bell-Jeff in 1996.
“They’re starting to believe,” said first-year Coach Nelson Wong. “They definitely feel that no one can score on them. Offensively, if we can click like we did Saturday, we’re going to keep going.”
The Valiants are 1-3 on the field, but were awarded a forfeit over Vasquez because the Mustangs used an ineligible player Sept. 16.
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Westlake (4-1, 2-0 in Marmonte League play) was ruthlessly efficient on offense in a 56-2 victory over Simi Valley, scoring touchdowns on its first four possessions in drives that lasted 17, 51, 25 and five seconds.
Other scoring drives lasted 45 and 15 seconds as the Warriors racked up a 375-88 advantage in total yards.
