Harvard-Westlake Football Looks to Make Amends

After a disappointing opening loss that saw Harvard-Westlake surrender a 21-point lead in a 34-27 loss to Venice, the Wolverines are looking to redeem themselves tonight at 7 against visiting Fairfax of L.A.

But it won’t be easy. The visiting Lions won the City Section Division II championship last season, the third year in a row Fairfax has advanced to the section semifinals or further.

Plus, Fairfax has not played a game yet, so Harvard-Westlake does not know quite what to expect.

“We haven’t seen them, so I have to go on what they did last year, and I know they have some of their most physical players back this season,” Harvard-Westlake coach Vic Eumont said. “They’re a good football team because they know how to win. We’re still trying to figure out how to win.”

Harvard-Westlake moved up last season to the Mission League and Western Division from the lesser Del Rey League and Northwest Division, and there were some growing pains, as the Wolverines finished 2-7-1 and finished last in the league.

Harvard-Westlake is hoping to turn things around behind quarterback Chad Kanoff, a returning junior who passed for 289 yards and three touchdowns in the Venice loss.

The key for the Wolverines is defense. The team was burned for some big plays against Venice, and Eumont is trying to figure out how to fix it.

Venice ran 48 plays against Harvard-Westlake. On 40 of them, the Gondoliers totaled 44 yards, but on the other eight they totaled 250.

“The big plays killed us, plus our offense self-destructed,” Eumont said.

Also, Harvard-Westlake had a late onside kick that appeared to be successful, but the referee did not see it that way and made a heavily disputed call against the Wolverines.

“We were so irate that we forget to play defense after that,” Eumont said.

Compounding matters is a serious knee injury to junior Dylen Papazian, who has been lost for the season.

“That’s not good because he was a starter at both linebacker and receiver,” Eumont said. “It’s like losing two guys.”

READY FOR MORE SUCCESS

Campbell Hall figures to be a favorite tonight in a nonleague football game at Riverside Christian, though the host Cougars are expected to be really pumped because it’s their first night game under new lights.

“I think they’ll be up for the game, but I don’t think they have enough firepower for us,” Campbell Hall coach Russ Gordon said.

Gordon has good reason to be confident.  Ranked No. 3 in the East Valley Division, the Vikings opened with a 21-11 win over respectable Cerritos Valley Christian, and most of the top players from last year have returned, including the coach's son, three-year starting quarterback R.J. Gordon, along with top receivers Dustin Drai and Josh Ross.

“We just have to establish the run game and execute,” Gordon said. “We’re a lot more balanced than we were last year, and we held Cerritos Valley Christian to minus-6 yards rushing last week. We’ve got eight returning starters, and we’ve got a lot of guys who look good. We feel good about our team.”

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL TONIGHT

Fairfax (0-0) at Harvard-Westlake (0-1)

Campbell Hall (1-0) at Riverside Christian (1-0)

North Hollywood (0-1) at Fontana Miller (1-0)

East Valley (0-0) vs. Noli Indian (0-1) at Soboba Oaks Ranch (San Jacinto), 6:30 p.m.