Friday Night Lights: Newbury Park at Camarillo

 

Friday, October 28, 2022

Yet another edition of Friday Night Lights, this time at Camarillo H.S. for a game to decide both second place in the Canyon League and their final seedings into next week's 2022 C.I.F. football playoffs.

It was the Newbury Park Panthers (8-1) on the road against the Camarillo Scorpions (7-2).

A good home crowd was on hand

for the Scorpions

Jacob practicing honing his

pass catching skills at halftime

The start of a 95-yard TD drive

that would seal the win for Camarillo

The Scorpions were able to run

the ball with physicality from their

Offensive Linemen

Maybe Jacob now is at that age

where comes to these games for

more than just football

Scorpions mixing it up with a pass

Personally, I spent much of the game on the NPHS sideline catching up with Greg Ropes who continues to enjoy a long multi-sport coaching career that has seen stops at Thousand Oaks H.S., Camarillo H.S. and Newbury Park H.S.

Good times, INDEED!

Speaking of good times . . .

I was happily surprised to see Dan Herman

at the game on the NPHS sideline

Dan is one of Thousand Oaks H.S.'s all-time great athletes who was an amazing QB for the Lancers in 1969-70 before taking his skills to the University of Colorado.

My first season as a coach was as a JV coach at TOHS in 1970, when Dan was the Big Man On Campus.

Dan is one of the good guys.

His brother Kurt was our QB/DB at TOHS in 1973-74 when both of those clubs won Marmonte League Championships. Kurt was a fun guy to coach as he brought lots of energy and passion to our program back in the day.

There was one somber event at the game when Camarillo's outstanding athlete Brandon Contreras, no relation, received a big, legal hit while returning a kickoff. The game was halted for over 20 minutes until an ambulance was able to take him to a hospital for further evaluation.

Brandon Contreras #24 in action

against Hart H.S. earlier this year

Needless to say is was a good sign to see Brandon moving his legs while laying on the field. We all hope the best for this young man and his family.