HOT WHEELS—Newbury Park High wideout Phillip Muscarella breaks free from the pack as NPHS rolled over Saugus, 41-21. OCHS (3-0) at Venice (3-0)

Outlook: After beating Skyline of Washington 28-25 on the road in a nationally televised clash on Sept. 18, the Lions had a week off to regroup and rest up for another highly anticipated contest at Venice.

Oaks Christian would be wise not to take Venice lightly.

It was, after all, only two years ago that Venice defeated the Lions at OCHS, 41-35.

The Lions, ranked No. 3 in the nation by MaxPreps.com, continue to pile up impressive numbers on offense, particularly running back Malcolm Jones, who’s averaging 7.9 yards per carry.

OCHS’ pass defense has been a bit suspect, but the unit did have three interceptions at Skyline.

Simi Valley (0-3) at Newbury Park (3-0)

Outlook: Another week, another home game for the Newbury Park football team.

On paper, this doesn’t figure to be much of a challenge for the Black Cat Attack.

With an inexperienced quarterback, Simi Valley has had major trouble generating offense—the Pioneers scored six total points in their first two games before finally finding some offense during last week’s 56-27 loss to Pacifica.

Despite injuries to a few key contributors, Newbury Park’s defense has exceeded expectations to this point.

Josh Sackheim, Nelson Duarte, Michael Difronzo, Justin Southon, Drake Exstrom and Maxx Lunn are stalwarts for the NPHS defense.