Agoura Football Team Comes Up a Little Short

The Agoura High football team erased a two-touchdown deficit for the second game in a row, but this time came up a little short, losing to Simi Valley 41-35 on Thursday in the Marmonte League opener.

Down 22-7 at halftime, the host Chargers tied the score at 28 in the third quarter and again at 35 in the fourth quarter only to see Simi Valley score the game-winning touchdown with 1:36 remaining.

Agoura quarterback Gerard Poutier, who helped the Chargers rally to beat Ventura 35-34 in their season-opener, threw for 343 yards and three touchdowns in the loss. He also rushed for 66 yards and two touchdowns.

But six Simi Valley backs combined for 251 yards rushing and four touchdowns.

"If we can't stop the run, it's going to be a long season," Agoura coach Charlie Wegher said.

Simi's Jens Jeters rushed for 106 yards and three touchdowns on 17 carries. He also intercepted a pass in the fourth quarter than ended an Agoura drive on the 35-yard line with 32 seconds to play in the game.

"He's probably one of the most underrated players," Simi Valley coach Lance Martin said. "He mentally led us and physically led us."

Simi Valley running back Bradley Sims rushed for 80 yards and a touchdown on eight carries. Teammate Matt Baynard gained 40 yards on 10 carries. Quarterback Jake Maranto rushed for 30 yards on 14 carries. He was sacked five times.

Jeters scored his first touchdown in the first quarter on a 2-yard run. Simi Valley scored on a 2-point conversion when Eric Pinkston took a high snap on the extra-point attempt and ran into the end zone. Maranto then hit Jordan Thiel with a 39-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter to give Simi Valley a 15-0 lead.

Agoura scored its first touchdown on a 60-yard pass from Poutier to Stephan Yang with 4:59 to play in the second quarter. It was the first of two touchdown catches for Yang. He caught four passes for 141 yards.

Simi Valley went up 22-7 on a 7-yard touchdown pass from Maranto to Pinkston just before halftime.

Agoura scored on its first drive in the third quarter to trim Simi Valley's lead to eight points. Poutier hit Corey Da Silva with a 45-yard touchdown pass. Later in the third quarter, Poutier threw a 73-yard touchdown pass to Yang to climb within seven points of Simi Valley, 28-21.

After Yang's second touchdown, Agoura kicker Jaime Alvarado pooched the kickoff to the Simi Valley 20-yard line and the Chargers' Kamron Daftari recovered the ball. Poutier capped a four-play drive with a 1-yard touchdown run to tie the score at 28.

The two teams swapped touchdowns before Simi Valley took the lead on a 1-yard run by Jeters with 1:36 to play.

Agoura drove down to the Simi Valley 31-yard line when Poutier threw his only interception of the game. Jeters picked off Poutier's pass and returned it to the 35-yard line, ending Agoura's last-gasp drive.

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