Westlake's win over Oxnard was all guts and guile

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers BADDEST MAN IN LANCER LAND—Senior running back John Lister is the program's all-time leading rusher. What a game, and what a win for the Westlake High football program.

Last weekend's exhilarating 3635 Warrior comefrombehind victory at previously unbeaten Oxnard in the first round of the CIF-Southern Section Northern Division playoffs will forever be remembered as an alltime triumph—unless, of course, you are a Yellowjackets fan.

"It was an emotional roller coaster," said Westlake sophomore running back Tavior Mowry following his threetouchdown performance.

"Things weren't looking too good at halftime, but we had the heart to come out in the second half and take it. Everyone on our sideline knew we were going to take this game, and that's what pulled us through."

In victory, Westlake (7-4) rallied from an 11-point deficit midway through the fourth quarter. The Warriors trailed 14-10 at intermission and 21-17 through three quarters. Going into the contest, Oxnard (101) hadn't allowed more than 21 points in a game all season.

Sophomore quarterback Nick Isham, who was forced into fulltime duty after senior Ben Conlin went down with a shoulder injury in the regular-season finale, completed 24-of-39 passes for 359 yards and a touchdown.

Isham, who posted a teamhigh 73 rushing yards, scored the game-winning touchdown on a 12-yard run with 1:44 to play.

"I can't even explain what (Isham) can do on the field," WHS linebacker Justin Lilley said. "The guy is just unbelievable, especially as a sophomore."

Senior James De La Cerna hauled in 11 receptions for 200 yards for Westlake.

The WHS defense, which had been run over for most of the night, made a pair of critical stops late in the contest to push the program's first-round playoff winning streak to eight games.

And last but not least, Jim Benkert logged his 164th career head-coaching victory to set a new Ventura County record.

"So many of our kids put out such a big-time effort for this game," Benkert said. "Oxnard is a good football team. They were 10-0; they were champions of their league, the No. 3 seed.

"Their kids played their hearts out, and our kids played their hearts out. I have no words to describe how happy I feel right now."

Added Benkert's mother, Joanna, who's been to every game he's ever coached or played in: "We've had a lot of games that were really close calls, but he's managed to come out in the end. It's awesome the way he does that. I don't know how he does it."

Up next:

Quarterfinal round

Westlake will host Foothill League runner-up Valencia (92) Friday in the Northern Division quarterfinals.

Thousand Oaks, which defeated Santa Barbara 49-28 in Round 1, faces off against Foothill champion Saugus (8-3) at College of the Canyons. Both kickoffs are slated for 7 p.m.

Marmonte League champion Moorpark (10-1) travels to Atascadero (9-2) for a 7:30 p.m. tilt. The game features strength vs. strength as the Musketeers' vaunted defense tries to contain Atascadero's high-powered ground attack.

Over in the CIFSS Northwest Division, Oaks Christian (110) will host Pioneer Valley (9-2) Friday at 7 p.m. The top-seeded Lions crushed South Torrance 64-14 in their playoff opener at home.

Odds and ends

Thousand Oaks senior running back John Lister is a beast—everyone who's seen him play knows that.

Against Santa Barbara, Lister rushed for a TOHS single-game record 327 yards on 39 carries and scored five times. He's the program's alltime leading rusher in career yards and single-season yards, in addition to holding or sharing a slew of other school records.

Let's give the Lancers' starting offensive line some credit here, too. Left tackle Eddie McGilvra, left guard Bob Lamm, center Sean Henson, right guard Nick Caprarelli and right tackle Lucas Clifford have all played outstanding this season, said Thousand Oaks head coach Mike Leibin.

Oaks Christian's defense quietly allowed 14 points in Round 1. It was as many points as the team had given up in its previous five games combined.

If the Lions can stop anyone in the postseason (inserting sarcasm now) they may have a shot at a sixth consecutive section title.

And finally, Isham, Westlake's cool-as-a-cucumber signal-caller who possesses an uncanny presence in the pocket, made it clear that his team wasn't satisfied with its upset of Oxnard.

"We're going for a CIF championship," Isham said. "We want to get to 'The Big One.'

"I'm friends with a lot of the seniors on this team, and I know how much it means to them, so I really wanted to win this game and keep it going for them."