Blog: Despite Loss to Camarillo, Oak Park Eagles Football Team Heads to Lead Play in Good Shape

The Oak Park football team is 3-3 and in a good position to start its Tri-Valley League play at Santa Paula this Friday night.

The Eagles head into league play having had a mixture of success and failure during its non-league contests.

In its most recent game, last Friday night at home, Oak Park was defeated by Camarillo, 43-14.

After a devastating loss in the season opener to cross-town rival Agoura, during which the Chargers made a late comeback to force overtime, Oak Park had wins over Channel Islands and Simi Valley.

"The Agoura game was a huge build up for us," said Oak Park coach Terry Shorten. "It's a cross-town rival. All the players know each other. There was a lot of pride at stake.

"It was imperative that our players came back strong the next week, because it was real easy to get let down, from not only giving up the touchdown in regulation, but to lose it in overtime (against Agoura)."

Agoura's quarterback Richard Poutier connected with Shawn Kagan on the last play of the fourth quarter and then the Chargers scored on a 2-point conversion pass play to force the overtime period.

"I was really proud of the way we bounced back against Channel Islands," Shorten said. Oak Park beat the Raiders 18-7 in a game played at Oak Park High School.

A week later, the win over Simi Valley was particularly inspiring because the Eagles scored 25 unanswered points to break a 14-14 tie and cruise to a 39-14 win. In that game, junior defensive end Justin Green had a remarkable game.

Green, who is 6-foot-3, 200 pounds and also plays tight end, had two interceptions for touchdowns, recorded a safety and recovered three fumbles. The pick sixes were from nine yards and 65 yards.

A defensive performance for the ages

"Justin had a huge defensive game against Simi Valley," Shorten said. "It was a big win for our program. It established us. It gave our kids confidence that we can go into a big game and come out winners."

Simi Valley committed 10 turnovers in the loss to Oak Park. And Shorten said the Eagles' defense created most of the Pioneers' mistakes.

"The majority of their turnovers were forced" he said. "That was due to kids hustling and being in the right place at the right time. So we created a lot of the turnovers that night, which was an extremely proud moment for the defense."

But Oak Park may have suffered somewhat of a letdown after the big win against the Pioneers and was beaten by Calabasas 51-20 the following week.

Shorten was asked whether the lopsided loss the next week against Calabasas was, indeed, because of a letdown or just a case of a game wherein Oak Park simply made a lot of mistakes?

"A little bit of both," he said. "We might have been thinking about the win the week before against Simi Valley and kind of let ourselves get to a place at practice where we weren't focused enough on Calabasas.

"They're a good team. They gave us some challenges that we couldn't overcome and we committed a lot of turnovers that night. We had to learn from the loss to be prepared for every opponent and take ever game one at a time."

The Eagles responded by defeating El Segundo, 14-13, to improve to 3-2 heading into last Friday's game against Camarillo. Oak Park utilized a 17-play, 80-yard opening drive that used up 10:36 of the clock.

The drive essentially shortened the game to a little more than three quarters with the Eagles ahead 7-0.

"If we're going to be an effective team we have to use ball control," Shorten said. "That first drive we pretty much established a physical presence up front, offensively.

"Defensively, we played tremendous football all night. We got a couple of bad breaks in the fourth quarter to let them back in the game. But for the most part, we answered the Calabasas game by coming back strong and against a quality opponent in El Segundo."

Pass happy Scorpions

That set up this past Friday night's game at Oak Park High, wherein Camarillo, which improved to 4-1 with the win, showed up with a strikingly effective passing attack.

The Scorpions' senior quarterback Travis Valdez came into the game having completed an astounding 74 percent of his passes. He was near that efficiency as he went 20-27 against the Eagles.

More importantly, he threw for five touchdowns to do along with 328 yards through the air. Phillip Pizzo and Christian Bernal each had two of those TD receptions.

It was little consolation that Corbin Covey, who came into the game averaging an unheard of 14 catches per game, was held to seven by Oak Park.

Camarillo, like some of the Marmonte League opponents that Oak Park has on its schedule, had a very distinct advantage in man power. The Scorpions list 78 players on their roster while Oak Park has just 35.

"It does present some issues with our players going both ways (offense and defense) and Camarillo having (78) players," said Shorten.

So the Eagles were unlikely to win a war of attrition. They would need to use ball control against Camarillo.

However, Oak Park's running game was stifled by a suffocating Scorpions' defense in the first half. The Eagles were held scoreless and were behind 14-0 at halftime. But the Oak Park defense kept the Eagles in the game.

Luca Bruno, a senior defensive end, who is 6-foot-4, 285 pounds, and has already been offered a scholarship to play at the University of Arizona in the Pac 12, is the captain of the Eagles' defense.

"Defensively our strength is up front, where we have a tremendous defensive line," said Shorten, prior to the Camarillo game. 

"Justin Green is on the other side, and then on the interior defensive tackle, Shawn Green is one of our tackles that plays extremely tough. Anthony Pounds is a 300-pound tackle that anchors our tackles inside."

Sam Heald and Greg Kalbfeld, both juniors who play the line on offense and defense, and Ben Adivi, a senior who plays offensive line and inside linebacker, have also aided the Oak Park cause.

Seniors Brandon Schmidt, an outside linebacker, and Thomas Mattivi, a defensive back, also play both ways. Kyle Rozanski, a sophomore, has been playing well as a linebacker.

A steady hand at QB

Although the Eagles did break through for two touchdowns in the second half against Camarillo, Oak Park was unable to stop the Scorpions' passing attack, which got rolling in the third quarter.

Oak Park's own senior quarterback Jack Gerstenberger has been steady and reliable. Against Camarillo, he completed 10 of his first 12 attempts and ended 12 of 20 for 172 yards and two touchdowns.

"Jack's done a great job for us this year," Shorten said. "His senior leadership is one of his strengths. It's a tough offense to run and we have a young offensive line."

The Eagles tend to focus more on the run, with an eye of chewing up clock. Kyle Espinoza, a senior, and Brandon Coppel, a junior, have alternated in leading the Eagle’s ground attack.

Matt Byer and Devin Mackey, both juniors who are also called upon to catch passes, sometimes at the wide receiver position, are also providing depth to the Oak Park running game.

"We're sharing reps," said Shorten. "Each one of them presents a different type of runner. And we've been rotating them through."

Gerstenberger is often doing some of the running himself on quarterback keepers.

Erik Tamiyasu, who is 6-foot-4, 190, led Oak Park's wide receivers with five receptions for 115 yards and a touchdown against Camarillo. Byer, who has impressed with his overall athleticism, had three catches, one for a 28-yard TD.

"We have two of the best receivers in the Tri-Valley League and in Ventura County," said Shorten. "Matt Byer is a junior having a huge year. And on the other side, Erik Tamiyasu presents huge issues for teams trying to cover him. So we're really blessed with a couple of great wide receivers."

A very tough league, but high hopes

The Oak Park coach knows that even with games against three Marmonte League foes and a Pacific View League team with only one loss, the Eagles' tough non-league schedule doesn't guarantee success in the Tri-Valley League this year.

Nordhoff is 6-0 and on fire. Bishop Diego is 5-0. Carpinteria is 4-2.

"With Nordhoff beating Thousand Oaks and Bishop Diego being undefeated as well, I think there's a lot of parity in the Tri-Valley League," said Shorten. "And it's a high level of competition, so it's going to be a real battle each week."

The one weak link may be Santa Paula (1-4), which hosts Oak Park this Friday night to begin league play. But Shorten won't let his team take the Cardinals lightly.

Besides, Nordhoff is the following week, so there's little time to relax.

"We've got to take each game and focus on that team and win one game at a time," he said. "We're kind of growing together, offensively, and we're hoping to hit our stride and get ourselves in a position where we can win the Tri-Valley championship."