Friday, November 28, 2025
A second Thanksgiving Day early dinner was the star of the day as we were having Michael, Vanessa, Jacob and Mary over to our home to share a special meal.
On Thursday, the kids spent Thanksgiving Day sharing family time at Vanessa's parent's home.
Table for six, please
Laurie hard at work while
the rest of us noshed
The meal was FANTASTIC!
Laurie outdid herself yet again.
Family time is always a good time.
Feeling sluggish after two days of non-stop eating, Michael and Jacob opted to stay home this evening.
As for me, I had game #66 of the
2025 calendar year to attend
It was C.I.F.-Southern Section
Championship Weekend
Seven 11-man and one 8-man Championship games tonight and another eight title tilts on Saturday.
Four Ventura County teams were in these winner take all games.
Tonight in C.I.F.-S.S. DIII game Oxnard's Pacifica H.S. Tritons (13-0), coached by long time friend Mike Moon, were on the road against the Palos Verdes H.S. Sea Kings (10-3).
Saturday evening, the Ventura Cougars (11-2) get to enjoy a long bus ride to take on the St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy Warriors (7-6) for the C.I.F.-S.S. DVI crown.
Tonight, since I was traveling solo, I decided to stay as close to home as possible so I headed to California Lutheran University's William Rolland Stadium to watch the Santa Paula H.S. Cardinals (8-5) battle the Grace H.S. Lancers (10-3) for the C.I.F.-S.S. DXII Championship.
The winner also moves on to the Southern California Regional Game, in reality, the California State Semifinal Championship Game.
These two teams met in the first game of the season back on August 22nd. Santa Paula won that shootout, 45-34.
It was the fourth and final
weekend of the DXII playoffs
Santa Paula H.S. Cardinals
8-5 overall, 1-4 Tri-County League
Fifth Place Tri-County League
2025 Results
at Grace (9-3) – Won 45-34
vs. La Cañada (10-2) – Lost 42-14
at Del Sol (1-9) – Won 42-0
at Narbonne (0-10) – Won 34-8
vs. Carpinteria (3-6) – Won 43-10
vs. Agoura (10-2) – Lost 35-10 *
at San Marcos (4-7) – Lost 25-0 *
vs. Dos Pueblos (4-6) – Lost 14-3 *
at Hueneme (1-9) – Won 27-16 *
vs. Fillmore (9-2) – Lost 45-8 *
vs. Ocean View (7-4) – Won 27-7 **
at Arroyo Valley (9-3) – Won 21-14 **
vs. Bellflower (8-5) – Won 17-14 **
* Tri-County League Game
** C.I.F.-Southern Section DXII Playoff Game
vs.
Grace H.S. Lancers
10-3 overall, 5-0 Citrus Coast League
Citrus Coast League Champions
2025 Results
vs. Santa Paula (8-5) – Lost 45-34
at Arrowhead Christian (1-9) – Won 40-14
vs. El Camino Real (6-5) – Won 31-29
at Fillmore (9-2) – Lost 54-40
at Brentwood (8-4) – Lost 40-7
at Del Sol (1-9) – Won 53-6 *
vs. Carpinteria (3-6) – Won 52-20 *
vs. Nordhoff (8-3) – Won 42-28 *
at Channel Islands (3-8) – Won 49-20 *
vs. Santa Clara (0-10) – Won 64-12 *
vs. Rialto (9-2) – Won 28-27 **
vs. Yucca Valley (7-5) – Won 41-28 **
at Coachella Valley (7-6) – Won 49-42 **
* Citrus Coast League Game
** C.I.F.-Southern Section DXII Playoff Game
If you were a Cardinals' fan and
couldn't make the trip, you could
still watch it at this local pub
Everything was going along smoothly until I got to William Rolland Stadium.
An eerie fog was rolling into this
corner of Thousand Oaks, California
The more recent success of
Cal Lutheran's rich football legacy
Grace was the home team
I liked their motivational banners.
TRUE!
As I settled into my seat on the
home side, I wondered if there was
anybody on the Santa Paula side?
Well, I guess there were!
The Santa Paula band was impressive all night long.
The Cardinals returned the opening
Kickoff to the 11 yard line but had to
settle for a Field Goal
It was wide right.
I think.
The Lancers responded with an
impressive 80 yard TD march
End of the First Quarter
Grace - 7
Santa Paula - 3
Grace continued running the
ball effectively in the fog
Despite the fog, Grace was able to throw the ball effectively, Santa Paula, not so much.
Halftime Score
Grace - 21
Santa Paula - 3
Happily, during the 15 minute break, the fog lifted.
Santa Paula gave Grace great
field position on every Kickoff
and Punt
Not good.
Santa Paula, as it turns out, brought a GREAT crowd to the game.
Grace was matriculating the
ball down the field again
Lancers' O-Line moving the pile
Grace knocking on the door again
Nice scoreboard at CLU.
The Cardinals' Defense was
still battling
With no fog, the Santa Paula
passing game improved
Suddenly, the fog was back,
from the crowd reaction across
the way, I think the Cardinal WR
caught the pass
The Third Quarter saw Grace assert its dominance, a Cardinals TD on the last play of the quarter eased the Santa Paula pain a bit.
End of the Third Quarter
Grace - 41
Santa Paula - 10
The Grace Offense slowed things
down, running the ball and using
every bit of the clock between snaps
A big score and a now
running clock led to a decision
I opted to head home before the end of the game now that the winner was clearly determined. The damp weather was a factor.
Final Score
Grace (11-3) - 48
Santa Paula (8-6) - 16
As for the other C.I.F.-S.S. championship game played tonight involving a local team . . .
Final Score
Pacifica (14-0) - 20
Santa Paula (10-4) - 10
For Coach Mike Moon, it was his Tritons second straight C.I.F.-S.S. Championship and third overall having now won titles in 2019 DVI (15-1), 2024 DIV (11-5) and 2025 DIII (14-0).
His 2019 Pacifica team also won the California State Division 2A Championship.
The 2024 Pacifica team was the California State Division 2AA Runner-ups.
Mike continues to do amazing things with his program.
I had the great fortune to work with Mike coaching the Defense at Rio Mesa H.S. for many great seasons.
CONGRATULATIONS!
A couple of thoughts from the net . . .
Not sure about that "eat half"
part though . . .
Being normal again for
18 years now since retiring
has indeed been nice
No comments:
Post a Comment