Calabasas Looks to Start Anew After One-Sided Loss at Westlake

It was no big surprise football team lost at powerful Westlake on Friday.

What irked first-year coach Christian Pierce was how Calabasas lost.

Calabasas fell behind by 56 points at halftime in a 63-0 defeat, and the Coyotes displayed questionable sportsmanship, including taunting Westlake players a few moments before the opening kickoff.

“We played and acted disgraceful, and it’s not acceptable,” Pierce said. “We expect to get better.”

Someone should have told Calabasas there would be days like this. The Marmonte League is top heavy with state powers Westlake, Oaks Christian and St. Bonaventure – the Coyotes will be huge underdogs against the latter two, as well – so Calabasas has to steal victories where it can.

Yes, there was some momentum heading in to the Westlake matchup after coming from nine points down one week earlier in an opening 16-12 win over Granada Hills. But to put things in perspective, Granada Hills is a City Section Division II team – one of the Southland’s least respected divisions among large, public schools -- an opponent Calabasas had defeated not once, not twice but three times over the past three seasons; Granada Hills would lose to Westlake 63-0, too.

Calabasas (1-1) plays host to Royal (1-1) on Friday, an opponent favored by only one point by Calpreps. Like Calabasas, Royal is licking its wounds after a 59-0 loss Friday to St. Bonaventure, so both programs are going through the same thing.

Calabasas needs no further motivation than simply remembering what happened last week. Calabasas’ offensive line, led by Jon Dehhaghi and Mark Weiner, faced one of California’s most awesome defensive lines, led by All-American candidates Justin Solis and Johnny Stuart, so there’s no doubt the Coyotes will learn to do better.

Calabasas quarterback Brandon Marin had a tough night, going 2 for 5 for 11 yards and a lost fumble. Ike Fuchs came on and completed 4 of 4 passes for 43 yards, but by then the outcome had been all but decided.

Overall, Westlake totaled eight sacks and five deflections. The Coyotes were limited to 77 yards and were forced to punt nine times.

One thing Calabasas needs to work on is getting off to a better start. They’ve yet to score a touchdown in the first half, and the Coyotes want to succeed against Royal, they need to hit the gas right from the starting line.

VIEWPOINT FOOTBALL IS ON HIGH

Viewpoint’s football team is idle this week following a 49-7 win over L.A. Baptist – the second one-sided victory in a row for the streaking Patriots (2-1) – and coach Chris Adamson is feeling good about his team.

“We should have a great shot to be 4-1 heading into our game vs. Rio Hondo in week six,” Adamson said. “That would be unchartered territory around here.”

In the win over L.A. Baptist, Joey Verhaugh completed 7 of 11 passes for 72 yards and two touchdowns, and Adam Markun rushed for 109 yards in 10 carries and two touchdowns. Dakota Williams also scored two touchdowns, while Viewpoint’s defense, led by Spencer Bernstein (12 tackles), Amir Karian (10 tackles) and David Cutler (10 tackles), forced three turnovers.

“The players were as excited and animated after the game as I’ve ever seen them,” Adamson said. “I honestly don’t think anyone besides the players and coaches thought we would win that game. People at the game were in total shock when we were up 35-0 at halftime.”

Viewpoint resumes competition on Sept. 30 at 4 p.m. against visiting Bell-Jeff.