Game Blogging: Westlake at No. 3. Oxnard
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His team stands 10-0 for only the second time in school history. It’s captured its fifth league championship in the last eight years. It has won 18 consecutive regular season games.
Is Oxnard focused? Coach Mike Beckham thinks so. Has it been hard preventing the Yellow Jackets from becoming complacent? Beckham says not at all.
“They were undefeated this year but they look at it like they had two losses in their career,” Beckham says.
One of those losses includes a 31-28 defeat to Westlake in the first round of the playoffs in 2006. Fittingly, No. 3 Oxnard (10-0, 5-0 in the Pacific View League) hosts the Warriors (6-4, 3-3 in the Marmonte League) tonight at 7:30 in the first round of the Southern Section’s Northern Division playoffs.
Some storylines to consider:
1. Much has been made about Oxnard’s scheduling or lack thereof. The Times’ Ben Bolch mentioned in a story today that the Yellowjackets’ first four nonleague opponents finished with losing records while Westlake opened the season with three playoff-bound teams.
Westlake Coach Jim Benkert told Bolch: “”They have not played anywhere near the schedule we’ve played, but on the other hand they’re 10-0 and they have to take their schedule as it comes.” Meanwhile, Beckham said earlier this year that “I don’t pad the schedule and say, ‘I’m picking an easy schedule.”
2. Warriors senior quarterback Ben Conlin is questionable tonight because of an injured shoulder. His strong arm has resulted in a 103 of 177 performance for 1,252 yards and 13 touchdowns. In Westlake’s 35-0 loss to Moorpark last week, Conlin went 5-of-12 for 31 yards before leaving with a shoulder injury in the second period.
Nonetheless, the Warriors have platooned Conlin and sophomore Nick Isham all year. Isham has gone 79-of-128 for 967 yards and 11 touchdowns. He’s also had 86 carries for 626 yards and four touchdowns.
Though Beckham isn’t sure of Conlin’s status, he said his team has anticipated having to face both quarterbacks.
“(Conlin’s) a thrower and not as much of a threat to run,” Beckham said. “(Isham) runs the ball. He’ll go up and run the football. I see him as a threat running the ball.”
3. The running game of quarterback Dasmen Stewart and running back Sam McCowan has made the Yellowjackets’ Wing-T offense hard to stop. Stewart’s run for 888 yards and 10 touchdowns off 90 carries. McCowan’s rushed for 1,275 yards and 23 touchdowns.
“(McCowan’s fast and if you don’t make the tackle, he usually doesn’t let one guy bring him down,” Beckham said.
I’ll provide quarter-by-quarter updates tonight so be sure to check back frequently with Varsity Times.
--Mark Medina