Westlake hits on all cylinders in 35-7 win over Dominguez

It’s still a feeling-out process for first-year Westlake Village Westlake Coach Tony Henney and his players, to hear him tell it.

The transition looked seamless, though, in the first half of a 35-7 win Friday night against Compton Dominguez.

The Warriors improved to 4-1 under Henney, who replaced longtime coach Jim Benkert.

“It kind of clicked, all of us together, pretty fast, and we love him,” quarterback Grant Bunker said of Henney. “He’s an awesome guy. We’ve bought into his system.”

Henney previously coached teams to three straight CIF Southern Sections titles, at Mission Viejo Trabuco Hills last season and at Nordhoff in 2012 and ’13. He inherited Bunker, who completed 18 of 25 passes for 278 yards and two touchdowns Friday.

Receiver Theo Howard, who is getting attention from USC and UCLA, had seven catches for 131 yards, including a short pass that he turned into a 61-yard touchdown.

Henney called it a “roller coaster” with his new team but likes what he sees.

“The kids are adjusting to us as coaches, and we’re adjusting to them,” Henney said. “But the kids have really accepted us and we’ve accepted them. We’re just getting better and better. I think we’re going to be a team that can be very good by the end of the football season.”

First-year Dominguez Coach Jason Miller is also leading his team into a new era. He previously coached at Inglewood and Los Angeles Verbum Dei and uses the double-wing offense with eye-popping results. The Dons outscored their previous three opponents, 177-7.

But they fell into a 28-0 deficit in the first half Friday and couldn’t get back in it.

Royce Anson ran for 101 yards and Ioane Niupulusu had 81 for Dominguez, much of that yardage hard-earned on two methodical second-half drives. The Dons have fewer than 30 players, but Miller said depth isn’t an issue so much as mental mistakes.

“He’s a top-flight coach,” Miller said of Henney. “Today they outplayed us. They outcoached us, and they pretty much beat us at every aspect of the game.”

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