Westlake Fights Valiantly in 34-28 Loss to Ventura

For all of its shortcomings, for its miserable defense, its spotty offense, its 0-3 record, there is something about Westlake High’s football team that tugs at one’s sense of valor. There is no way to get down on this team.

Take Thursday night at Thousand Oaks High, for instance. The Warriors lost another nonleague game, this time to Ventura, 34-28.

After a week’s worth of practices designed solely to stop the run, the Warriors gave up 273 yards rushing to one guy--Danny Taylor--who had 117 in his previous two games combined. In all, Ventura gained 318 yards on the ground, 109 in the air.

But despite all that, Westlake had two chances to win after trailing by 20 points early in the fourth quarter.

“I’m proud of the defense because they stopped them on two critical drives and gave us the opportunity to win the game,” Westlake Coach Jim Benkert said. “We could have actually gone in and won the game.”

And take this Benkert guy. First-year coach, looks about 17, bleached-blond hair and promises of better things. Who you gonna believe, Dennis the Menace or those nasty little numbers that say Westlake is dead last in the Valley in defense?

“I can’t be down,” Benkert said. “I’m not down. The kids are playing. We’re young and the kids are going to get better.

“Stay with us.”

Fair enough. Toss into Westlake’s grand scheme a junior quarterback named Todd Preston. He’s 6-foot-2, 170 pounds and has a rifle for a right arm. By the fourth quarter, it’s an AK-47.

Preston threw for 243 yards--127 in the fourth quarter. He also threw touchdown passes of three and 12 yards.

His first pass of the fourth quarter was of three yards to Erik Holcomb to bring the Warriors to within 34-20. His two-point conversion run made it 34-22 with 9:05 left.

His second, less than five minutes later, traveled 12 yards to Dave Monheim and brought Westlake to within 34-28.

“The kid’s a player,” Benkert said of Preston. “He was the team leader we wanted him to be.”

Preston, however, had no say against Ventura’s running game. Taylor ran for three touchdowns, including a 60-yard sweep around right end that gave the Cougars their 34-14 advantage.

Ventura (2-0-1) was aware of Westlake’s difficulty in halting a running game, so the strategy was simple.

“We felt that we had to clean up our act as far as the running game,” Ventura Coach Harvey Kochel said. “And we felt they lent us that.”

Westlake was within seven, 14-7, at halftime, despite its inability to control the defensive line of scrimmage and, therefore, Ventura’s rushing game. The Cougars gained 151 first-half yards via the rush.

Included in that yardage were two long scoring runs by Taylor, both on dive plays out of the veer. Taylor dashed 37 yards on a fourth-and-three play to give the Cougars a 7-0 lead 5:49 into the game.

With every Westlake defender stacked along the line of scrimmage expecting the dive, Ventura obliged and Taylor squirted through. Then, with 3:07 left in the half, Taylor scored from 59 yards for a 14-0 lead.

Between the two runs, Ventura linebacker Jeff Green blocked Luke Crawford field-goal attempts of 27 and 47 yards. He also recovered two fumbles.

Westlake retaliated with 42 seconds remaining in the half. On second and 10 from the Cougar 36, a scrambling Preston connected with Erik Holcomb, who outran the defense to the end zone. The point-after made the score 14-7.

Holcomb accounted for three touchdowns, including an 86-yard kickoff return with 1:26 left in the third quarter that made the score, 28-14, Ventura. But Westlake’s last two drives ended with Preston passes being intercepted.