Blog Post: Chargers Lose At Newbury Park; Return Home Friday To Play Golden Valley

Count Charlie Wegher as one coach who thinks the Big Three–Oaks Christian, St.Bonaventure and Westlake–are not the only very good teams in the Marmonte League.

Add Newbury Park to that list, he said.

"They're going to challenge, I think," Wegher said. "They've got the bodies. They're huge. I was really impressed with how big they were."

As Agoura struggled with injuries, Newbury Park defeated the Chargers, 42-3, Friday night in Newbury Park.

The Panthers improved to 2-1 by dominating the first half, during which they built a 35-3 lead.

Jack Barmasse, starting his second game at quarterback, completed 15 of 25 passes for 95 yards for Agoura.

"Jack's been doing okay," said Wegher. "That hasn't really been the problem for us. We had some offensive line problems and we had to shift some people around.

"That caused some issues because Newbury Park's defense does a lot of blitzing and they did some other things that were hard for us to pick up because we're young."

Pedram Razaee kicked a 31-yard field goal in the second quarter to account for the only Chargers score.

Nick Cerreta completed both pass attempts he made after replacing Barmasse late in the game.

The Chargers had 102 yards passing. Shawn Kagan led Agoura with five receptions for 39 yards. Sean Bar and Kevin Adams had three catches apiece and Cody Banks and Andew Costin each had two. Bar also returned three kickoffs for 64 yards.

But Agoura (1-2) managed only 20 yards on the ground, averaging less than a yard per run. Cody Banks was the leading rusher with 21 yards on six carries. Alex Antzoulatos ran for 16 yards on two carries.

Injuries to the Chargers offensive line definitey hurt, said Wegher.

Robert Webb and Sam Rubin, both juniors who play guard, were injured and couldn't play against Newbury Park. They are expected to return this Friday night against Golden Valley (0-2) at home.

"I think having our offensive line back to where it was at the beginning of the year will help us," said Wegher. "And we're going to work really hard this week to refine our offense and get better execution."

Zak Miller, a junior defensive end, was injured against Newbury Park and will miss Friday's game against Golden Valley. He status for Royal, next week, remains uncertain.

Sean Pawlak, a senior on the D-line also missed the game against the Panthers but is expected to return for Golden Valley.

Not having Webb and Rubin, who also play on the defensive line, and Pawlak, also left the Chargers exposed.

"We had three starting defensive linemen out [against Newbury Park], and that really hurt us because Newbury Park is big. And they're very good," said Wegher. "There as good as I've seen them in a while. They just run the ball right at you.

"I think [Newbury Park] can make some noise in that other division. It's going to be interesting."

Agoura played Newbury Park in a non-league game this year. Newbury Park, which has been placed in the Marmonte League's West Division in the new first-year format–wherein the league was dividing into two, five-team divisions–will  have to contend with Westlake, St. Bonaventure, Simi Valley and Royal when league games begin.

"Defensivey they fly to the ball and they look pretty solid," Wegher said.

He noted that it is ironic that the Panthers threw seven passes against Agoura, a far cry from the iconic Panthers teams of the 1990's and the first decade of the 21st Century, which spread the field, used four wide receivers at times, and threw for 400 yards regularly.

The memorable formula for success–pass often and pass again–of the legendary Keith Smith, the Czernek brothers and several other prolific passing Newbury Park quarteracks, has changed this year for the Panthers.

Gary Fabricius is the head coach at Newbury Park. He and Doug Dagan were longtime assistants under Ventura County Hall of Fame coach George Hurley.

They were there througout that era. In fact, Fabricius was the offensive coordinator; the mastermind of those aerial attacks.

"I said to Gary after the game, 'Man, you've really gone over to the Dark Side, running the ball," Wegher said, with a laugh.

When Agoura finally returns home after two road losses to face Golden Valley of Santa Clarita on Friday night, Richard Poutier, the Chargers senior quarterback, who led Agoura to a stirring overtime comeback win in the season opener against Oak Park, will probably miss his third straight game due to injury.

The most likely scenario is that Poutier won't play until the league opener against Oaks Christian, on October 5, in Westlake Village.

In another injury update, wide receiver Bryan Hochberg, also a senior, may be back from a broken ankle against Oaks Christian, although the following week, Oct. 12, at Moorpark, is more likely.