Willamatte Plays at Cal Lutheran

The Football Weekend Continues

Our son Mike and his fiancee, Vanessa, are both graduate students at California Lutheran University in nearby Thousand Oaks, California. The 0-0 CLU Kingsmen opened their 2008 season Saturday against the 1-0 Willamette University Bearcats from Salem, Oregon.

Mike and I went to the game our FIRST EVER CLU game together primarily to watch Catania Elephant Brandon Bennett coach his alma mater's offensive line. Because Saturdays are always such a HUGE work day as a Varsity coach, I have just never had time to go to a 1:00 p.m. kickoff of a CLU game. I don't know Mike's excuse for never going to one of these shindigs.

One of the positive side effects of Freshman football coaching is indeed MUCH more free time on the weekends!

Brandon, in the maroon shirt, strides onto the field for pre-game warm-ups.

Re-United in Ventura County

I REALLY enjoyed Brandon in Catania, just a GREAT GUY!

Watching him at work in Sicily convinced me that he has all the makings of a GREAT coach as well as being the excellent lineman we thought he would be.

#42 Fernado Raigoza

Because I was in Sicily last spring, I lost sight of the fact that Fernando, who graduated from Rio Mesa in June, was playing for CLU. It was a great surprise to see him at the game!

Fernando making a tackle in a pre-game tackling drill.

Fernando was the epitome of hard work in high school. Due to his size he is now a defensive back at CLU after being a stellar linebacker at Rio Mesa.

I was surprised when Brandon's linemen did not run laps before the game.

NCAA Division III Football

College football at it's purest!

Coach Bennett about to make game time adjustments.

The Bearcats Smell Victory in the Hazy Air!

Willamette improved their record to 2-0 on the season with a 31-17 victory at Mt. Clef Stadium.

The Wildcats were down 3-7 at the half but stormed back in the last two stanzas to ensure a pleasant trip back to Oregon. Offensively, Brandon's very well coached linemen helped Willamette to 350 yards of total offense on only 52 plays for a very solid 6.7 yards per snap average.

The Bearcats will return to Southern California on Saturday, September 27 for a 1:00 p.m. kickoff at La Verne University. Because we are hosting a dinner party that evening for soon to be "in the closet" University of Washington fans if our football team doesn't win soon, I probably will not be able to attend Brandon's game. If I did go, Laurie would undoubtedly kill me!