Tuesday, November 10, 2015

The Thousand Oaks Game for the Camino League Championship



Thousand Oaks Lancers
4-5 overall, 1-1 Camino League
at
Newbury Park Panthers
5-4 overall, 2-0 Camino League



On Friday the Panther JV squad played their final game of the 2015 season against their longtime, crosstown rivals, the Thousand Oaks Lancers.

The two schools first met in a football game back in September of 1970 when I was the one and only assistant coach on the Thousand Oaks H.S. JV staff. Bob Richards was the Lancers' JV Head Coach that season. T.O.H.S. won that game 46 seasons ago by a final score of 36-8.

Now I'm a Panther.

Although the two teams' overall records were not glossy, the stakes were indeed high!

First and foremost, there was the personal pride of community bragging rights for the next year. Also add to the mix the winning of a Camino League title.

If the Panthers won, for the second consecutive season, Newbury Park would go undefeated in league play and have claimed both the 2014 and 2015 circuit crowns.

If Thousand Oaks were to win, then at least the Panthers and Lancers would wind up with shares of the league title. Also, if Camarillo were to beat Royal, it would be a tri-championship with Newbury Park, Thousand Oaks and Camarillo all at 2-1 and having beaten each other. Under this scenario, Royal would be in last place at 0-3.

Let's see how things turned out in 2015 . . .

It was a. . .
BEAUTIFUL DAY FOR AN
AMERICAN FOOTBALL GAME!!!

Warm-ups went well, I thought that we were ready to play.

"Raymond, if you are the C gap player,
you HAVE to contain their QB."

Today's Captains: #8 Ian Albaeck,
#23 Greg Paige, #68 Nick Krause
and #9 Ruben Soria

Tackle for Loss by Jake Radwan

Rallying to the ball

Matt Stein recovering a Thousand Oaks
surprise on-side kick

That was close!

The Offensive Line blocked well today

We rushed for a season high 277 yards and passed for another 106 yards.  That's 383 yards of total offense on 60 plays.

QB Ruben Soria is loose again

Ruben carried the ball a whopping 29 times for 277 yards scoring four TDs and threw for 106 yards and two TDs. He also made five tackles from his cornerback spot.

LB/RB Noah Clark had a good day too

He was in on seven tackles, rushed for 80 yards and caught a screen pass that he ran 30 yards to pay dirt for a TD.

Derek Henry making a big tackle for
loss on our successful goal line stand

Ruben on a bootleg

For the season, he scored 114 points on 18 TDs and three Two-Point PATs.

He rushed for a team leading 794 yards on 150 carries, scoring 16 TDs and three two-point PATs.

He passed for 1,634 yards, completing 107 of his 170 attempts (62.9%). He threw 13 TD passes.

Defensively, he was in on 42 tackles, intercepted three passes that he returned 143 yards (one for a TD), broke up six passes, recovered a fumble and forced a fumble.

Ruben contributed on special teams too, returning eight kickoffs (one for a TD) and five punts.

We ran good old fashioned I formation
Toss Sweeps for good yardage today

Ian Albaeck's 43 yard TD reception

Ian also had an outstanding season for the Panthers. He caught 69 passes for 1,264 yards and notched 11 TDs.

As a cornerback he was in on 28 tackles, broke up three passes and intercepted five passes that he returned 97 yards including one for a TD.

QB Wedge = SIX POINTS!!!

Wounded Panthers

Hunter Hoskins and Fernando Takacs were both sorely missed today. Hunter is a first year player who was really improving when he got injured in the Camarillo game.

Fernando missed the last seven games of the season but was still our second leading rusher with 334 yards.

With Varsity Referee Diego Renteria

I had the pleasure of coaching Diego at Rio Mesa H.S.

Diego is now a hard working, up and coming high school referee who did a good job working the Varsity game on Friday.  

Sometimes Ruben is just a blur
on the game field

Ruben is hard to catch

Ruben for the last six of the season

The defense struggled but did come
up with some timely stops

IT'S OVER!!!

FINAL SCORE
Newbury Park (6-4, 3-0 CL) 42
Thousand Oaks (4-6, 1-2 CL) 32

With the win in the season finale, the Panthers improved to a perfect 3-0 in league play and were crowned the . . .
2015 CAMINO LEAGUE CHAMPIONS!

Here is a final look at our 2015 JV football results:


Beat Birmingham (4-6) 36-14
Beat Saugus (4-6) 42-18
Lost to Agoura * (9-1) 29-49
Lost to Dos Pueblos (7-2) 16-26
Beat Venice (3-6) 28-6
Lost to Simi Valley (3-7) 28-29
Lost to Westlake ** (8-2) 34-35
Beat Camarillo (5-5) 49-39 ***
Beat Royal (3-7) 27-13 ***
Beat Thousand Oaks (4-6) 42-32  ***
* Canyon League Champions
** Marmonte League Champions
*** Camino League Game

Final 2015 Camino League JV Standings
1. Newbury Park 3-0 (6-4 overall)
2. Camarillo 2-1 (5-5 overall)
3. Thousand Oaks 1-2 (4-6 overall)
4. Royal 0-3 (3-7 overall)

It was a long, often times difficult and trying campaign, but in the end we were able to adapt and overcome. Playing well the last three games left everyone with a good feeling about the 2015 season.


Reading Is Fundamental

I have now read all eight of the
wonderful Bruno, Chief of Police novels

As always, an interesting mixture of crime in France (terrorists this time), life in the countryside of the Dordogne region and tales of the amazing cuisine that permeates every facet of this wonderful country!

Sunday, November 1, 2015

Halloween 2015


Halloween is easily one of the biggest days on the calendar for any child whose last name is Contreras.

Let the 2015 version be celebrated!

Laurie set the table

All of our pumpkins and Jack-o-Lanterns
were on display

Jake of Neverland Pirate fame
was in the house!

Careful with that butcher knife Jake

Wendy and Peter Pan flew in for
the festivities

A sumptuous Halloween spread

Helen and Rod Fujita joined in on the fun

Brian FitzGerald was with us too

His lovely bride Koreen was with us too but she was a bit camera shy.

Tinkerbell, Tiger Lily and Peter Pan

Captain America, Thor, The Incredible Hulk
and Iron Man

Heroes just having fun 

Old friends, young friends

Wendy, Tinkerbell, Tiger Lily,
Peter Pan, Jake and Smee

One of our French friends mistook me for Jacques Cousteau. An understandable case of mistaken identity.

 Tinkerbell, Up Close and Personal

It's dark, time to hit the neighborhood,
TRICK OR TREAT TIME!!!

Load up the children, we're on the hunt
for mouthwatering treasures 

I did not know that the man from
the Monopoly game lived near us 

One house gave the adult males
stacks of baseball cards

 Lots of loot for the boys and
more memories I suspect!

Fun Times INDEED!!!


Saturday, October 31, 2015

The Royal Game



Newbury Park Panthers
(4-4, 1-0 Camino League)
at
Royal Highlanders
(3-5, 0-1 Camino League)



Game Two of the three game Camino League season saw the Panthers on the road one last time to play the Highlanders on their recently revamped, Field Turf stadium.

After another up and down week of practice, it was anyone's guess as to how this one would turn out.

 This week's Captains were #8 Ian Albaeck,
#68 Nick Krause, #15 Bryce Simmons
and #9 Ruben Soria

Ian Albaeck also had the honor
of carrying out the Big Hammer

 Scrum

Noah Clark had 87 yards rushing
and was in on 10 tackles as a LB

Toss Sweep to Clark

One of Ian Albaeck's six catches
that were good for 117 yards
and two TDs of 52 and 32 yards
  
 TJ Davis attempting to block

I think . . .

Raymond Strizich almost
made this play
  
 FS Logan Popok on the interception

He had two on the day that he returned for a combined 38 yards. 

Would Ruben Soria out run these two
Highlanders to the end zone?

Of course he would, TD Panthers!

"Block that kick, block that kick . . ."

So TJ Davis did.

Calling the Defense today

Because Mike, who is our Defensive Coordinator, was at Jury Duty all week, I was called into emergency service as the interim DC for a game.

The Pit

TD pass, Soria to Albaeck

At the half, it was NP 20 - Royal 13.

Andres Chavarria's 73 yard TD
scamper on the first play of the second half

 Logan Popok's second interception

 Ruben Soria's 58 yard run
to the two yard line

Unfortunately, we would fumble the ball back to Royal on the next play.

CB Ruben Soria on the tackle

More of TJ Davis' wild arm gestures

Cole Peterson on the tackle

Noah Clark controlling the clock
in the fourth quarter 

 Two bald guys

On the season, Ian Albaeck has now
caught 66 passes for 1,198 yards and 10 TDs

 Convoy

I felt a LOT of love on this field!

 Ruben Soria QB Sneak

Rueben is our leading rusher with 597 yards and 12 TDs. He has also passed for 1,528 yards in completing 65% of his passes and connecting on 11 TD passes.

Victory Formation at the Royal
three yard line to end the contest

It was a clean, hard fought game as expected. No sense rubbing it in with an extra score, so we took a knee to end the contest.

 FINAL SCORE

Our 27-13 victory, combined with Camarillo's 56-28 win over Thousand Oaks, means that we sewed up at least a share of the 2015 Camino League title!

With one game remaining in the Camino League season, the standings are:
1. Newbury Park 2-0
2 Tie. Camarillo 1-1 and Thousand Oaks 1-1
4. Royal 0-2

Next Friday's Camino League games are:
Thousand Oaks (4-5, 1-1 CL) at Newbury Park (5-4, 2-0 CL)
Royal (3-6, 0-2 CL) at Camarillo (4-5, 1-1 CL)

Logan Popok earned the Game Hammer
for his defensive efforts

The defense did a splendid job after settling down, holding the Highlanders scoreless over the last 32 minutes of the game.

No need to share things at this stage like a league championship, if you ask me,

BEAT T.O.!!!

Reading Is FUNdamental

One book with two of the
1930's mystery classics