2022 Canyon League Football Opener

Thurs. & Fri., Sept. 15-16, 2022

"No good deed ever goes totally unpunished."

It's an old saying but a true one for me these past two days.

On Wednesday, Laurie and I packed three boxes of used shoulder pads for delivery to the Constanta Pirates in Romania.

On Thursday, I awakened with lots of lower back pain from that perceived good deed, hence the adage.

Thus, I did a lot of reading before rallying on Friday night for the ride up to Newbury Park H.S. for the Panthers (4-0) Canyon League opening game against the surprising Royal H.S. Highlanders (3-1).

NPHS Offensive Line Coach

Ryan Hurley leading pre-game warm-ups

CONTACT!

The Panthers kicked off to start the game

It was a touchback, always a good way for the NPHS Defense to take the field.

The Line of Scrimmage

Getting a tad violent in The Pit

I ran into legendary former NPHS

QB Cameron Merrill on the sidelines

Cameron's parents, Verne and Deb, were both students of mine at Thousand Oaks H.S. fifty years ago.

YIKES!

 

NPHS with the proverbial

"Hole big enough to drive a truck through!"

There was way too much of this explosive play for the Highlanders to handle.

At the Half Time break, the Panthers led 49-0. The Second Half was played with a Mercy Rule induced running clock.

The Final Score was Newbury Park (5-0) 55 - Royal (3-2) 0.

I do not think that Royal is all that bad, Newbury Park is just playing exceptional football as their regular season reached the half way point.

I've attended three Newbury Park games this season that had halftime scores of 44-0, 42-0 and, tonight, 49-0. All three games used the Mercy Rule running clock to start the Second Half.

The Panthers truly amazing Freshman phenom QB, Brady Smigiel, did not see the field in the Second Half of any of those three "contests."

The Panthers (5-0, 1-0 Canyon League) have a BIG game next weekend when they travel to Thousand Oaks H.S. to take on the Lancers (4-0, 1-0 Canyon League) in the latest renewal of the Congo Valley Championship Game, a series that dates back to 1970.

Jacob happily donned the

headsets in the Fourth Quarter

"Are you having fun, Jacob?"

"INDEED I AM!"

After the game, I had the chance to see some old friends who had worked on the Royal sideline.

Royal Athletic Director Andy Andreolli

I coached with Andy on the Westlake H.S. staff 40 years ago.

Royal Defensive Coordinator Justin Broome

I first met Justin when he was a DB on our Europe Warriors team that played in Mexico in 2018 against the University of Chihuahua. The Warriors beat the Águilas that night 19-10.

He was both a good player and an even better teammate all of the week that we were together in Chihuahua. I believed then that he had the makings of a good coach.

This is his first year coaching at his alma mater.

It was a tough night for his defense to be sure after only having given up a total of 86 points in their previous four games. I'm sure that with his high energy personality and passion for the game, he'll have his group back in peak form next week against the 3-1 Camarillo H.S. Scorpions.

Our son Michael with Justin

Michael was one of our Defensive Back Coaches with the Europe Warriors back in 2018 and also had a high opinion of Justin.

Jacob with Panther RB Nolan Story

Our son Michael is a teacher at Newbury Park H.S. and has several of the Varsity Panthers, like Nolan, in his classes.

When Nolan saw that Jacob was not wearing a Panthers jersey tonight in the First Quarter, he signaled to Michael so that they could talk. His message was simple, "Mr. Contreras, please go into the locker room and get Jacob my black jersey that's hanging in my locker."

DONE!

How cool was that of this young man taking Jacob under his wing and making his evening even more special?

All over Europe, teams like the Catania Elephants are starting their 2022-23 season recruiting efforts