Football: Harvard-Westlake looks to take big step

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Football has not been the most successful sport at Studio City Harvard-Westlake. The school is known for its academics and success in such sports as basketball, water polo, soccer, tennis, volleyball, golf and lately baseball.

But first-year football Coach Scot Ruggles has the Wolverines with a 6-1 record, a six-game win streak and coming off Mission League victories over schools they used to lose to routinely, St. Paul and St. Francis. Now comes the biggest challenge yet, a Friday home game against West Hills Chaminade.

Harvard-Westlake’s only loss was to Loyola in the season opener when the Wolverines got worn down in the second half, started to cramp and couldn’t handle the Cubs’ running game.

Chaminade (6-1, 2-0) has a power pitch play featuring tailback Terrell Newby that will test the Wolverines’ defense. ‘We’re going to do our best,’ Ruggles said.

Harvard-Westlake has its own offensive weapon in Vanderbilt-bound quarterback Chad Kanoff, who has passed for 32 touchdowns with just two interceptions. The Wolverines know if they protect Kanoff, good things happen.

Chaminade Coach Ed Croson said, ‘This is the best Harvard-Westlake team I’ve seen.’

But it will require a big jump up in performance for the Wolverines to beat a Chaminade team that knocked off Gardena Serra two weeks ago.

-- Eric Sondheimer