The
Oaks Christian (Westlake Village, Calif.) versus
Westlake (Westlake Village) rivalry is turning into one of the best in the West.
Junior quarterback Justin Moore rushed
for 222 yards and a TD for Westlake.
File photo by Gary Jones
The two highly successful schools, both athletically and academically, are not more than a Tiger Woods tee shot apart in affluent Westlake Village.
The football teams avoided each other for years until forced to play each other last season when thrown together in the same league.
Last year, Westlake soundly defeated Oaks Christian in a much-anticipated regular season game, but Oaks Christian returned the favor 29-28 in the more important contest, in a CIF Section Section title game.
On Thursday, host Westlake gained a measure of revenge with a decisive 43-21 triumph before a standing-room only crowd of 5,500 and a national television audience.
According to Los Angeles Times reporter Eric Sondheimer, junior quarterback
Justin Moore led the way with 14 rushes for 222 yards and a touchdown. He also added a passing touchdown as Westlake piled up 429 yards on the ground.
Westlake improved to 5-0 overall, 4-0 in Marmonte League, which features two other teams considered in national rankings - St. Bonaventure-Ventura (4-1, 3-1) and Oaks Christian (3-2, 3-1).
Westlake kicker Alex Ball booted five
field goals on Thursday.
File photo by Gary Jones
Westlake kicker
Alex Ball, a Division I talent who missed a potential game-winning field goal in last year's title game, drilled a school-record five field goals on Thursday, from 47, 44, 40, 33 and 28 yards.
Besides Moore, running backs
Jarrius Bishop,
Dashon Hunt and
Matt Baynard also ran at will for Westlake. A scrambling 8-yard touchdown pass from Moore to
Alex Egurbide vaulted Westlake to a 27-14 halftime lead. A Westlake interception in the end zone, followed by 66-yard scoring drive that was capped by a Bishop 1-yard TD run gave the home team all the momentum heading into the second half.
Oaks Christian sophomore quarterback
Brandon Dawkins passed for 206 yards and a touchdown. He entered with 450 passing yards and seven touchdowns since replacing Luke Falk, who transferred back to Utah.
HAMILTON (Chandler, Ariz.) 35, DESERT VISTA (Phoenix, Ariz.) 10Visiting Hamilton was expected to be challenged but instead rolled to its 47th straight win behind 249 yards passing and three touchdowns from senior quarterback
Blake Kemp.
According to the Arizona Republic, Kemp fired two of those TD passes to senior receiver
Kendyl Taylor. He also added a 4-yard TD keeper making it 35-3 late in the fourth quarter. His 70-yard touchdown strike to
Just'n Thymes was also key.
Hamilton improved to 7-0 while Desert Vista dropped to 6-1. The win streak is the second longest current streak in the country.
"He did a fantastic job," Hamilton coach Steve Belles told the Arizona Republic of Kemp. "He's stepping up as a leader and as a quarterback."
Hamilton's defense also forced four turnovers - all in the fourth quarter - in a 28-21 win over rival Chandler last week. Desert Vista also had to fight hard last week to stay unbeaten with a last-second 31-28 win over previously win over Saguaro (Scottsdale).
NO. 4 ALLEN (Texas) 42, PLANO EAST 38Jonathan Williams rushed for 110 yards and three touchdowns, the third a 1-yard run late in the fourth quarter as Allen survived a serious scare in front of a national-television audience at Kimbrough Stadium in Murphy.
The Missouri-bound running back helped offset a huge effort from Plano East quarterback
Corey Wesley, who threw for 365 yards and three touchdowns.
Allen improved to 6-0 while Plano East dropped to 2-4.
Allen quarterback
Alec Morris fired touchdown passes of 69 and 45 yards to
Andrew Rodriguez and he ran for another score.
