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The Acorn Camarillo Acorn Moorpark Acorn Simi Valley Acorn Thousand Oaks Acorn |
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The Acorn’s High School Football Game of the Week
Agoura Chargers (4-3) at Thousand Oaks Lancers (6-1) Friday, 7 p.m.
The team that makes the most of them during a football game generally comes away victorious. Thousand Oaks made several big plays last weekend and won. Agoura didn’t and lost. The Lancers, fueled by a pair of Ryan Cloney touchdowns passes with less than six minutes remaining in their game against Simi Valley—a 90-yard connection to Taylor Malm and an 80yard strike to Matt Luft with 45 seconds left in the fourth quarter—stunned the Pioneers, 38-34. “Craziness. It was craziness from the start,” T.O. head coach Mike Sanders said. “Both offenses came out and just were clicking. . . . “The second half we had two huge plays,” Sanders said. “We had a 90-yard pass play and an 80-yard pass play. That was the difference in the game for us.” Agoura, on the other hand, struggled to make anything happen offensively against a Westlake squad that’s finally healthy and playing the way many thought they would before the year started. The Chargers were shut out in the first half of their 44-14 loss to Westlake, and allowed 30 second-quarter points in defeat. “We just did not come to play,” Agoura head coach Charlie Wegher said. “We made a lot of mental errors, and once that got going, we weren’t able to rebound.” This matchup is a must-win game for Agoura which, at 1-3 in the league, would find itself in danger of not qualifying for the postseason with a loss. “It’s a playoff game,” Wegher said. “If you have four league losses, you’re turning your stuff in. We need to play well.” But Thousand Oaks has a lot to play for, too. At 3-1 in the Marmonte, the Lancers currently sit in a secondplace tie with Moorpark. But Moorpark, which plays Simi Valley tonight in a game that will be televised on Fox Sports West 2, beat T.O. earlier in the season, giving the Musketeers the tiebreaker. Simi Valley and Royal are tied for third in the Marmonte at 2-2, with Westlake (1-3), Agoura (13) and Calabasas (0-4) rounding out the group. Only the top four finishers will qualify for the postseason. “There’s plenty of motivation for both teams,” Sanders said. To stop Thousand Oaks, the Agoura defense is going to have to defend the pass, something that’s been easier said than done against Cloney. Cloney currently ranks third in California with 2,030 yards passing. His favorite target has been Luft, a 6-foot-5 receiver who ranks second in the state with 997 receiving yards (142.4 yards per game), and has scored 11 touchdowns. Agoura defensive backs Todd Dilando, Austin Jesse and Greg Sharron can expect to see the bulk of the assignments trying to cover T.O.’s Luft, Malm and Mark Brown. Lancer running back Spencer Scotti will also be a threat to catch short passes out of the backfield. The Chargers’ offensive attack features quarterback Dominick Huerta (1,873 yards, 14 TDs and 11 INTs), wideouts J.T. Wright (43 receptions, 784 yards and six TDs) and Orel Tagai (36 receptions, 462 yards and one TD), as well as running back Josh Irvin (264 rushing yards and three TDs). Lancers Tony D’ascenzo, Robert Fielding, Brett Parker, Billy Dilucchio and Courtney Robinson will be in charge of slowing down the Agoura offensive attack. Players to Watch Agoura Thousand Oaks QB Dominick Huerta WR J.T. Wright QB Ryan Cloney WR Matt Luft DL Eric Wells DE Courtney Robinson DL Steve Kenis Outlook The Chargers laid an egg last week against Westlake and can ill afford to suffer another setback in league play if they hope to make the playoffs. With a game against Calabasas on tap for next week, it’s unlikely that the Lancers will overlook Agoura. Expect a shootout. DL Tony D’ascenzo |
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