No. 4 Westlake and Oaks Christian face off for first time

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. - Friday appears to be a day of reckoning for the football team at Westlake (Westlake Village, Calif.) High School. 

Like an older, bigger and more mature brother, the Warriors have had to bite their respective lips the last decade while privileged upstart sibling and neighboring Oaks Christian (Westlake Village) basked in the glory of championships, famous parents and national rankings.

But Friday, for the first time, the two programs  meet and big brother, with presumably a chip on his shoulder, is the undeniable favorite.

Westlake, coming off a 14-0 season and Northern Division championship, probably has its best team in school history. The Warriors (3-0), riding a 17-game win streak, are No. 1 in the state according to the MaxPreps Freeman computer rankings and No. 4 nationally.

They feature one of the state’s top all-around quarterbacks, Nick Isham (414 yards, 78 percent completions, six touchdowns), wide receivers (Nelson Spruce, 11 catches, 222 yards), running backs (Tavior Mowry, 301 yards), sophomores Dashon Hunt (four TDs, three on defense) and defenses (17 points allowed).

“They might score 70 on us,” Oaks Christian coach Bill Redell deadpanned. “Seriously, they may be the best team
in the state. I hope we can keep it close.”

Redell, a master at downplaying his squad, said it wasn’t great timing for the two rivals, separated “literally by a stone’s throw,” according to Westlake coach Jim Benkert, to meet for the first time.

It really wasn’t by choice. Small-school and national powers St. Bonaventure and Oaks Christian joined the already rugged but public-school Marmonte league this season.

“We don’t have the horses like previous years,” said Redell, whose team has won six Southern Section and one state Bowl Game title over the last seven years. “We’re young and should be much better the second half of the year.”

They’ve been better than good since opening its doors in 2000. Redell, 69, a former Canadian League star and College Hall of Famer from Occidental College, was one of three former Southern Section Coaches of the Year on an 11-man staff which includes defensive coordinator Clay Matthews, a longtime NFL All-Pro.

Redell told us before the team’s state bowl crown in 2006, philanthropist David Price donated $40 million to get the school off the ground. "No expense was spared," Redell said. "The facilities are second to none. It's like a college."

Not only did coaches flock to the campus, but so did players, from everywhere, including last year’s starting quarterback Nick Montana, son of NFL Hall of Famer Joe Montana who transferred from Northern California power De La Salle.

Other kids of famous parents have also attended, including current USC tailback Marc Tyler (son of former NFL running back Wendell), Trey Smith (son of actor Will Smith) and Trevor Gretzky (son of NHL great Wayne). Gretzky, now the backup quarterback following a shoulder injury, and Smith are on the current squad.

Other famous players who have played at Oaks Christian include current Carolina Panthers’ starting quarterback Jimmy Clausen and 2009 Football Gatorade Player of the Year, Malcolm Jones (now at UCLA).

The school was tagged “Hollywood High” for all the celebrities that have attended games over the years.
 
Though animosity would seem inevitable, especially in such tight quarters, Benkert said there is next to none.

Might seem like CoachSpeak, but Benkert and Redell are extremely close, having coached together at Crespi (Encino, Calif.) before Benkert took the Westlake job 22 seasons ago.

“We’ll be good friends before, during and after the game,” Redell said.

Said Benkert: “They’ve got an excellent program and they have no boundaries. We’re a good program with boundaries but we’re also much bigger. We’re in different situations.

“The thing is (Oaks Christian) is a very well-coached, they do a lot of things right and they have a lot of pride in their program. They a do a great job educating kids and teaching good values. There’s no disrespect either way. They do things right in the private setting and I feel we do things the right way in the public setting."

Redell backs that up in a big way.

He said while many local public schools complained about the new private school invading at the turn of the century, Benkert went on the offensive.

“He already had a good program, but when we came in he just made them better,” Redell said.

They never played, “because frankly we never felt it was in our best interest. They were a smaller school so even if we won, it wouldn’t have improved our playoff standing.”

Whoever escapes from the Marmonte League, which had three teams in last year’s section semifinals and two in the finals, should make a strong playoff run. Even a bowl bid.

That adds juice to an already savory game. Some 5,000 tickets were sold in three days and the remaining 1,000 figure to be sold long before today’s crazy 8:30 p.m. start to accommodate regional television.

“If someone escapes the Marmonte league unscathed, it will be a miracle,” Benkert said.

Oaks Christian already has a win over St. Bonaventure 33-32, a game Redell said “we were lucky to win. Then again, we probably should have beat Alemany and we lost (20-17)."

There’s not a big drop-off without Gretzky, as Richie Harrington has been superb, completing 21 of 37 for 602 yards and six TDs with no interception. He led a huge comeback in the win over St. Bonny.

He has a fantastic trio of receivers in Blair Holliday, Jordan Payton and Dillon Van Der Wal, the latter duo return after missing two games with injuries.

Running back Ishmael Adams is coming on strong for Oaks Christian.

“They very much mirror us,” Benkert said. “Both teams are very skilled, but inexperienced on the line. They have really excellent receivers, their running back is dynamic and they have a lot of guys with big-play ability.”

NOTES: The game will be televised live on FSN West. … Both teams had trouble preparing early in the week due to 100-plus-degree temperatures and a local fire that made breathing a challenge. … Temperatures tonight are supposed to hover around 60 degrees. ... With powers such as Servite (4-0), Mission Viejo (4-0), Centennial-Corona (3-0) and Norco (3-0), Westlake can’t afford any losses if it wants to reach the state Open or Division I bowl game. “That’s not something we concern ourselves with,” Benkert said. “There will probably be 100 undefeated teams at the end of the year. College football only has 125 teams total and they can’t get it right. We can’t worry about any of it. The papers are going to spin it a lot of different ways. This is obviously a big game. But I’m trying not to over-hype it to our players. We’re used to playing in big games, so this shouldn’t be any different.”