Canyon puts an end to Westlake's perfect season

On Dec. 1, exactly three months after Westlake High's football season began with a win at home against Basic High in the regularseason opener, Warrior head coach Jim Benkert finally had to address the media as a losing coach.

Westlake's improbable ride, one that saw the team win its first 12 games, capture a Marmonte League title and advance to the CIF-Southern Section Northern Division semifinals, finally came to a close with a 42-7 defeat against Canyon High.

"The kids are really down about it because they really wanted to go to the title game," said Benkert, who's won 149 games in 18 years at the helm. "It just wasn't to be. The magic ran out."

Although the players refused to make excuses after the game, the loss to Canyon was, in part, a byproduct of mounting injuries and missed opportunities.

The Warriors entered the game without run-stuffing defensive tackle Tyrone Duncan. With Duncan sidelined because of an ankle injury, Canyon running back John Diluigi posted 214 yards on the ground and scored four times.

Senior quarterback Ryan Campbell suffered a mild shoulder separation early in the team's quarterfinal victory over San Luis Obispo and was limited all week in practice. Campbell started against Canyon, but wasn't the allaround offensive threat he'd been for most of the season, completing 18-of-24 passes for 159 yards.

Chase Calderon, Westlake's playmaking linebacker, suffered a concussion against San Luis Obispo but opted to play against Canyon anyway.

Byron Sells, Cooper Shockley and Tommy Stuart all left the Canyon game with different injuries.

"I don't know if we could have played next week anyways," Benkert said. "We were pretty banged up.

"We were banged up going in and guys were tired. You could see that with the (defensive) front; they were moving our front around. Our big guy in the middle (Duncan), we obviously missed him."

Calderon said there were too many missed tackles for the Warrior defense, adding that giving up big plays on thirdandlong situations was also a problem.

"We just didn't tackle, that's the No. 1 key," Calderon said. "There were missed tackles everywhere. We had (Diluigi) plenty of times- he's just another running back, we faced them all year-but, you know, we put it out there and it's a tough loss, a tough way to go out, but we played hard."

Westlake controlled the ball for nearly the entire first quarter and had several scoring chances early, but failed to capitalize.

With Canyon leading 70 midway through the first quarter, Sells fumbled going into the end zone, giving the Cowboys a touchback. On their ensuing drive, the Warriors marched into Cowboy territory, but a holding penalty drove them out of field-goal range.

"We made too many mistakes against a good football team, and you just can't do that and win a game," Benkert said.

Westlake trailed 210 at halftime. The Warriors didn't put points on the board until junior quarterback Nick Owens found wideout Curtis Peterson open in the back of the end zone with five seconds remaining in the game.

For Campbell, who's likely to continue his playing career at an Ivy League university, the 2006 season was vindication for two frustrating years as a sophomore and junior.

"It's night and day," Campbell said. "My sophomore season was cut short with an ACL injury. Last year's team, you know, we fell apart inside.

"But this year it feels so much better. These guys worked hard, they worked their butts off every single day," he said. "It's an honor to play with all these guys. And the coaching staff has been great, too; they supported me 100 percent. It felt good to go out there and win games and show people what I really could do."

With the majority of the starting offensive line, a pair of talented receivers in Peterson and junior Brent Moore, as well as Shockley and Owens all expected to return next season, Westlake should easily make another title run a year from now, Campbell said.

"The future is bright for Westlake," he said. "Winning and instilling that spirit of knowing how to win and how to compete, it's really valuable, especially for these guys. I think it's going to carry them a long way next year."