IMPRESSIVE WESTLAKE IS SURE A SPECIAL TEAM(S); KICKING GAME STANDS OUT, TOO.Byline: Chris Cocoles Staff Writer Finding an area of concern for the Westlake High football team is a difficult assignment. The Warriors are ranked first in the Daily News for a reason. Offense? Hardly. Not with quarterback Zac Wasserman, running backs Julian Lambert and Frankie Toner An electrically charged ink used in copy machines and laser printers. It adheres to an invisible image that has been charged with the opposite polarity onto a plate or drum or onto the paper itself. , wide receiver Chris Catalano and a veteran offensive line. Defense? It has posted three shutouts (in consecutive weeks) and allowed an average of 8.6 points/game. Special teams? You'd figure the 11-1 Warriors wouldn't need much help from the kicking game being so dominant on both sides of the ball. Wrong. The Warriors, who host Camarillo tonight in a Division IV quarterfinal game, have quietly assembled a top-notch special teams corps. If Westlake's traditionally potent offense has somewhat overshadowed a stingy stin·gy adj. stin·gi·er, stin·gi·est 1. Giving or spending reluctantly. 2. Scanty or meager: a stingy meal; stingy with details about the past. defense, Westlake's kicking and return game is buried beneath all the accolades of both. ``I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. if our defense is underrated or not but I think what's underappreciated is our special teams,'' Warriors coach Jim Benkert said. ``Dos Pueblos knows how good our special teams are.'' The Chargers won't soon forget either. In a 63-7 first-round playoff loss last week, Dos Pueblos allowed three kick returns for touchdowns. In the first half, Julian Lambert brought a kickoff back 95 yards for one touchdown, and during Westlake's 35-point second quarter Michael Brignac scored on a 63-yard punt return In American and Canadian football a punt return is one of the punt receiving team's options to respond to a punt. A player (usually a second or third string wide receiver or running back) positioned many yards from the line of scrimmage will attempt to catch or pick up the ball . If those two displays weren't enough, Josh Golden Brendan Josh Golden is a musician who currently lives in Seattle, Washington. He has played with numerous Seattle indie rock artists, including David Bazan and Damien Jurado, and he is a former member of Pedro the Lion. brought back the second-half kickoff 94 yards for the Warriors' third special-teams TD. ``When you can send out guys like Josh Golden, Michael Brignac and Julian Lambert to return kicks, they can make big plays because we're putting athletes on the field,'' Benkert said. Zac attack: Wasserman has been a first-half player for the Warriors this year. And that's not a dig on the quarterback who signed with Penn State. Wasserman's services have rarely been needed after halftime. The Warriors led Dos Pueblos 49-7 at the break last week. In the season's last five weeks, Westlake held halftime leads of 28-0, 42-0, 26-0, 35-0 and 43-0. Westlake coaches estimated Wasserman played in 26 of 40 possible quarters throughout the regular season. Benkert called Wasserman's performance against Dos Pueblos his best of the season. He only attempted 13 passes, completing eight for 170 yards, but had four touchdowns. ``Three of those incomplete passes An incomplete pass is a term in American football which means that a legal forward pass hits the ground before a player on either team gains possession. For example, if the quarterback throws the ball to one of his wide receivers, and the receiver either does not touch it, or tries were dropped,'' Benkert said. ``He threw the ball very well.'' All the way Ray: The quarterback shuffling at Newbury Park has definitely affected Panthers receiver L. Ray Hawkins' statistics. He enters tonight's Division IV quarterfinal against Buena with 50 receptions for 816 yards and nine touchdowns. But with Cameron Merrill, who was brought along slowly while replacing injured in·jure tr.v. in·jured, in·jur·ing, in·jures 1. To cause physical harm to; hurt. 2. To cause damage to; impair. 3. starter Chris Lombardo, Hawkins strung together his best games the past two weeks. In wins over Thousand Oaks Thousand Oaks, residential city (1990 pop. 104,352), Ventura co., S Calif., in a farm area; inc. 1964. Avocados, citrus, vegetables, strawberries, and nursery products are grown. and Righetti in the playoffs, Hawkins caught a combined 16 passes for 283 yards and four touchdowns. He also returned an interception 50 yards for a score in the playoff game Noun 1. playoff game - one game in the series of games constituting a playoff game - a single play of a sport or other contest; "the game lasted two hours" playoff - any final competition to determine a championship . ``I think in L. Ray's case it was simply a matter of timing with Cameron,'' Newbury Park coach George Hurley George Hurley (born September 4 1958 in Brockton, Massachusetts) is a drummer noted for his work with The Minutemen and fIREHOSE. Hurley's powerful style brought a sense of musicianship to the genre, paving the way for new possibilities in underground music. said. It seems Hawkins and Merrill are now on the same page. ``We just kept playing catch every day,'' Hawkins said. TONIGHT'S GAMES Camarillo at Westlake, 7:30 p.m.; Newbury Park vs. Buena at Ventura High, 7:30 p.m.; Oak Park vs. Cathedral at St. Matthias, 7:30 p.m. CAPTION(S): Box Box: Tonight's Games (see text) |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion