CZERNEK SUPERB VS. ROYAL : NEWBURY PARK 26, ROYAL 23.

Byline: Vincent Bonsignore Daily News Staff Writer

Nick Czernek said he was just being himself.

Some people were confusing him for John Elway.

Such are the comparisons when you march your team 75 yards in under two minutes with just one timeout for a game-winning touchdown.

``I'm just trying to be Nick Czernek,'' he said, minutes after completing a 6-yard touchdown pass to Paul Sanford with 20 seconds left to give the Panthers a critical 26-23 win over host Royal. ``Our offense is built to do those sort of things.''

Czernek calmly completed passes of 23, 24 and five yards on the march. On the night, he completed 19 of 22 passes for 222 yards and one touchdown.

The Panthers also got a big assist on a face-mask penalty on the Highlanders (4-4, 1-3) that put the ball on the 9-yard line with 33 seconds left.

The win keeps Newbury Park's undefeated record intact. The Panthers (8-0, 5-0) host Westlake next week in a game that should decide the Marmonte League championship.

At this point, they're breathing a huge sigh of relief that they can still win the championship outright.

``Royal beat (our behinds) for 46 minutes,'' Newbury Park coach George Hurley said. ``But our kids showed tremendous heart to come back and win. I'm surprised that we still had anything left when we got the ball back because that was a (behind) kicking for 46 minutes.''

Czernek agreed.

``Obviously I was concerned and nervous when we got the ball at the end,'' he said. ``Up until that point, Royal had beaten us. That was the most physical team we've played all year and for whatever reason, we didn't come out and play hard. We know how we have to come out every game now.''

The Highlanders had taken a 23-19 lead moments before when Bryant Phipps scored on a 10-yard run to cap a six-play, 60-yard drive.

The Highlanders had a chance to close the game out but could not convert a third-and-3 play with two minutes left. They punted on the next play, giving Newbury Park an opportunity to win.

Newbury Park led 19-16 after a bizarre first half dominated by penalties, a safety, three interceptions and some unusual plays.

The Highlanders used a little trickery on their initial drive to take a 7-0 lead.

On the first play of the game, Dustin Cruz threw a pass down the line of scrimmage to Kevin Krause, who immediately handed the ball to Phipps for a 50-yard gain to the Newbury Park 30-yard line. Two plays later, Steve Sheehan scored on a 15-yard touchdown run.

The Panthers answered with a 9-play, 66-yard drive to cut the lead to 7-6 on Mike Simo's 15-yard run. Chad Agel's PAT hit the crossbar.

The highlight of the march was Czernek's 15-yard pass to Tyler Johnson on a fourth-and-10 from the Royal 33-yard line.

Newbury Park linebacker Brian Crain put the Panthers ahead 12-7 when he intercepted Cruz at the 2-yard line and fell into the end zone for a touchdown.

Royal regained the lead at 14-12 when Phipps capped an 11-play, 64-yard march with a 3-yard touchdown run. On the drive, Cruz hooked up with Kevin Krause on passes of 10 and 24 yards.

But with 4:24 left in the first half, Nate McArthur scored on a 1-yard run to put Newbury Park ahead 19-14. Royal cut that to 19-16 with under a minute to play when the Panthers snapped the ball out of their end zone on a punt attempt for a safety.

CAPTION(S):

Photo

PHOTO Newbury Park had a running attack, too, as proved on this Mike Simo touchdown.

Gene Blevins / Special to the Daily News