Westlake Warriors

Last season's results: (Tied for 6th in Marmonte, 3-7 overall). After entering 2005 with so much talent and heavy expectations, Westlake's season came to a crashing halt thanks to a rash of injuries to key players such as Jeff Rapoport, Jeff Miller and Erik Schneider. A 40-0 shutout victory in the season opener was followed by five consecutive losses. The highlight of the Warriors' year was a 44-14 shellacking of Agoura at home.

Notable returnees: Ryan Campbell, sr., QB; Byron Sells, sr., RB/CB; David Ruelas, sr., OG; Patrick Erhart, sr., WR; Chase Calderon, sr., LB; Matt Kennedy, sr., DB; Evan Christiansen, sr., TE; Pat Barraza, sr., S Impact newcomer: Brent Moore, jr., WR Who they play: Amazingly, Westlake won't play its first road game until they travel to Thousand Oaks on Oct. 20. With six consecutive home contests to start the year, including tomorrow night's preseason opener vs. Basic, WHS should be able to find a nice groove early on. After the T.O. game, Westlake travels to Agoura (Oct. 27) and Calabasas (Nov. 3) in consecutive weeks before wrapping up the regular season at home against Moorpark (Nov. 10).

Overview: If the Warriors want to return to Marmonte prominence-WHS won league titles in 1994, '99, '00, '02 and '03-they'll have to get big-time production from quarterback Campbell and Sells, a starter at running back and cornerback. Campbell will have a pair of new weapons on the outside in wideouts Moore and Curtis Peterson. Moore was the offensive MVP of the Warrior junior varsity team last year.

Because Ruelas is the only returning offensive lineman, WHS has some major work to do on the interior before they can be considered a top-flight program once again.

Westlake's defense has a ton of speed, and that'll help against opposing Marmonte offenses who like to spread the ball all over the field. Leading the front eight is linebacker Calderon and defensive tackle Tyrone Duncan, a 6foot-3, 300-pound mauler who's already received scholarship offers from Nebraska and Mississippi.

With Sells, Kennedy and Barraza all back for their senior campaigns, the Warrior secondary could be the most complete and talented unit in the league.

Jordan Mannisto will once again handle the team's punting and place kicking duties. He was very solid in the same role last season.

In a nutshell: There's no game plan for injuries, and head coach Jim Benkert knows keeping his players healthy will be priority No. 1. Benkert's 68.8 percent career winning percentage in 17 years at WHS makes it nearly impossible to believe he won't have the Warriors back in the playoffs. But that's why they play the games.