Blog Post: Coach Wegher Saw a Shift in his Agoura Football Program Coming as Three Matthews Depart

Part I of two-part post:

I was on the east coast recently moving things out of storage and in the process I came across a story I had written after the final game of Agoura High's 2003 football season. It was a memorable year for the Chargers in a lot of ways. The team lost in the CIF semifinals against St. Bonaventure and Agoura's only other loss that fall was against Westlake.

The Chargers finished 11-2. The two losses were versus the top two teams in the division, the two teams, Westlake and St. Bonaventure, which would ultimately square off against one another in a rematch of the previous year's CIF championship game.

The story that I found talked about how proud the players were of the season just completed. A photo accompanying the story showed Bryan Walker, the Chargers senior quarterback, and Andy Christopher, a senior wide receiver, consoling each other during a post-game hug during which tears were shed.

"Everyone on this team had the true heart of a champion," said Christopher, at the time. "...We all knew we were destined for great things."

Another senior, Braden Lepisto, a standout wide receiver, said: "[This] was my favorite year. Not because of the wins, but because of the guys. I love them. Realizing I'm not going to be with them next year, it's tough."

Two other seniors, Joey LaRocque and Clay Matthews, both linebackers, were also quoted in the story as were Walker and Bob Snyder, a senior lineman. Of course, it was not possible to know just how quickly or high Matthews would ascend after that game.

Even with a redshirt year at USC, where he wasn't offered a scholarship as a freshman and thus walked on, and a nondescript second year as a Trojan, it didn't seem to take long for Matthews to find his niche as a star USC linebacker on his way to becoming one of the NFL's most prominent players as a member of the Green Bay Packers.

And LaRocque, who also played running back and led Agoura in rushing in 2003, went on to play at Oregon State and is still hopeful to catch on again in the NFL after two brief stints in the league.

"It's been really fun this year," Matthews said at the time. "We've got a great group of guys. We finished ahead of 27 teams. We only lost to the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds. We have our heads up high."

His teammate and friend, LaRocque, said he was hopeful that the example set by that group would inspire the Chargers to continue winning the following season.

"I'm going to be watching next year," LaRocque said, referring to the 2004 Chargers. "Let's hope they can get past [the semifinals] next year."

The next year, Agoura almost did exactly that. The Chargers fell 10-9 against Ventura in the CIF semifinals. And so, although they finished 9-4, at least as far as the postseason was concerned, Agoura in 2004 came closer to reaching the pinnacle: a trip to the CIF title game. (The Chargers were beaten 31-3 against St. Bonaventure the year before.)

What was perhaps most remarkable about the achievement of the 2004 Chargers, though, was that the losses in man power had already started. Not only did the team lose its large contingent of seniors from the previous year, but a key assistant coach, Clay Matthews II, who played in the NFL for 19 years and was, by 2003, a sought after coach, had also left. (His son, Clay, now on the Packers, is actually Clay Matthews III.)

Agoura head coach Charlie Wegher had known during the fall of 2003 that (the coach) Matthews and his younger son, Casey, then a sophomore at Agoura High, would be headed to Oaks Christian for the next school year. Matthews told Wegher that Casey had expressed a desire to go to the new school and that he, the elder Matthews, wanted to continue coaching his son.

Casey Matthews went on to help Oaks Christian win two CIF championships and one state title, then starred at the University of Oregon, and like his brother, Clay, is now playing in the NFL. Casey plays for the Philadelphia Eagles.

He and future Oaks Christian star running back Marshall Jones had both been ball boys for Wegher and the Agoura football team. But both decided to play football at Oaks Christian. Later, Jones' two brothers would also play football for the Lions.

And so, in a sense, that memorable 2003 Chargers season also marked the beginning of an exodus of standout football players from Agoura during ensuing years.

Players eschewed staying to help their hometown team in Agoura, instead deciding the grass may be greener on the field turf of Thorson Stadium, Oaks Christian's football facility at the state of the art private school, which opened in 2000.

Next in Part II:

Chargers ball boys Casey Matthews and Marshall Jones head to Oaks Christian, and Agoura coach Charlie Wegher reflects on the impact of players deciding to attend others schools.