Blog: Agoura Football Gets Second Chance to Play Royal in Season Finale

The Agoura football team may still be riding a high from last week’s win against Calabasas. That’s not a bad thing as the Chargers prepared this week for their season finale at home against Royal.

Sean Bar, who ran for 173 yards on 21 carries and scored two touchdowns, said after the win over the Coyotes: “It’s a big win for next week. We’re going to come out firing.”

Agoura (3-6 overall, 1-3 Marmonte League West) gets a shot to play the Highlanders for the second time this season. Generally, when teams meet twice it means they are facing off in the playoffs the second game.

However, in the new-look Marmonte League this fall, the 10^th and final game of the regular season was set up to pit teams from the league’s east and west divisions against each other.

The two first-place teams, for instance, the East’s St. Bonaventure and the West’s Oaks Christian, are playing for a league title on Friday night in Westlake Village.

Agoura and Royal (5-4, 1-3) are the two fourth place finishers and are playing for seventh and eighth place in the 10-team league.

When Royal beat Agoura, 24-18, in Simi Valley, on September 21, the game didn’t count in the Marmonte League standings.

The Chargers were driving with a chance to win that game, but came up short when Royal intercepted a pass from Agoura quarterback Jack Barmasse near the goal line as Agoura attempted to score the winning touchdown late in the fourth quarter.

“We had a shot there,” said Agoura head coach Charlie Wegher. “Obviously, that was why we’re excited to get a chance to play those guys again.”

Football coaches, particularly in high school, are always apprehensive about playing a team they’ve already beaten earlier in the year. Former Oaks Christian coach Bill Redell never lost to the same team twice in one season.

“If you win the first time, you’re not excited (to play again),” Wegher said. “I’ve always felt like the team that won the first time has a little bit of a different challenge – a different motivation – than the team that didn’t win the first game.

“If you lose the first match up, you want another shot. And that was a great game. Both teams played hard. I think we’re pretty evenly matched. It was competitive. And we had our chances.”

The Chargers’ coach said the difference in that game came down to third down opportunities: Agoura failed too many times on third down while the Highlanders succeeded.

“We allowed them to convert a lot of key third downs,” Wegher said. “Then there were a couple that we didn’t make that would have sustained drives. I think that’s why we wanted another chance to redeem ourselves.”

Richard Poutier, who played the whole game against Calabasas, completing 16 of 25 passes for 168 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions, will likely see most of the action as the Agoura play-caller against Royal.

Poutier also ran for 138 yards and two TDs on 17 carries against Calabasas. It was his running ability that may have kept Wegher from using Barmasse, a junior, in the second half.

“Although Jack’s a good runner, Richard’s a little faster, so I felt like that gave us another dimension,” said Wegher. “Also, Richard had a good game going. He did very well.”

Wegher noted that they continued to take an equal amount of reps in practice this week and that he has confidence in both quarterbacks. Barmasse filled in and played well in Games 2 through 5 and afterwards, both were used in three subsequent games.

“Jack played four games and he got a chance to get in a few other games,” said Wegher. “He got better fast. He really improved. His first game against Ventura was okay, but in the following weeks, I was very impressed with him. He played very well.”

Still, coming off his performance against Calabasas, and because he missed four games, in this, his last year of high school football, Wegher said Poutier will probably get most of the playing time against the Highlanders.

“Richard is a senior, he missed four games and I’ve always tried to be loyal to my seniors and give them a chance to play because they work hard to do it,” said Wegher, who added: "You’ve always got to balance that with what’s best for the team.”

Last week, Shawn Kagan, a senior wide receiver, led the Chargers with six receptions for 56 yards and two TDs, including the winning 5-yard pass from Poutier with 11 seconds left in the game. Kevin Adams, a junior wide receiver, had five receptions for 51 yards.

On defense, Cody Banks, a senior defensive back, led Agoura with 11 solo tackles and 14 total tackles. Tristram Gillette, a senior linebacker had 10 tackles (five solo). Banks and Gillette also each recovered a Calabasas fumble.

Chris Devries, a senior linebacker, recorded a sack. Bar, at defensive back, had six tackles. Zak Miller, a junior defensive end, who has played linebacker as well due to injuries to the Chargers’ linebackers in recent weeks, intercepted a Calabasas pass.

Bryan Hochberg, a senior who led Agoura in receptions the first game of the season against Oak Park, but broke his ankle late in that game, won't be able to make it back for one last game.

Wegher said Hochberg is good enough to play in college, but because of the injury, he may have to play junior college football first to resume his career.

However, for the first time in a while, the rest of the Chargers are all back from injuries.

“We’ve got a healthy team and we’re excited,” Wegher said. “The kids have a lot of confidence coming off last week and they’re excited to get another chance at a team that beat them.”