PRESS PREDICTION:
By Derry Eads October 20, 2006
By Derry Eads October 20, 2006
Newbury Park 30, Simi Valley 27: How well Newbury Park's defense fares against Simi Valley RB Langston Jackson could determine the outcome. We're checking the files right now as it appears the 16 pass attempts by Newbury Park last week may have been a school-record low total. There have been many games Newbury Park had 16 — or more — attempts in one quarter. .
— The Deuce can be reached at deads@VenturaCountyStar.com.
Copyright 2006, Ventura County Star. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.venturacountystar.com/vcs/vcpreps/article/0,1375,VCS_136_5083851,00.html
Newbury Park routs Simi Valley
By Loren Ledin, lledin@VenturaCountyStar.com October 21, 2006
By Loren Ledin, lledin@VenturaCountyStar.com October 21, 2006
On this night, the Newbury Park High football team evoked memories of its glory years.
Perhaps laid the groundwork for some good times this year, too.
Colby Cameron threw for 349 yards and three touchdowns and Anthony Leonardi caught 10 passes for 135 yards and one touchdown while running for two more scores, including one on a fake field goal, as Newbury Park rolled up a 52-23 victory over host Simi Valley in their Marmonte League contest Friday night.
The Panthers posted four touchdowns in the second quarter while opening up a 28-3 advantage, benefitted on defense from two interceptions, three fumble recoveries and three sacks and suddenly look like a playoff contender.
After an 0-2 start in the Marmonte League, Newbury Park is all even at 2-2 (3-4 overall) and clearly is running on momentum.
"Hey, we're getting better, week by week, and that's what you're supposed to do," said coach George Hurley. "We've got such a young team — we're starting six seniors — but we've got guys like Colby who are making strides every week. The game is starting to slow down for (Cameron) and he's seeing the field and making plays."
Cameron, a junior, completed 25 of 46 pass attempts, including touchdowns tosses of 29 yards to Leonardi, 17 yards to David Gru and 7 yards to Diefenthaler. He took another step toward joining Newbury Park's illustrious quarterback tradition.
"I'm starting to feel more comfortable," he said. "The real key is that our receivers are making plays all over the field, and the offensive line is giving me all kinds of time to throw. They (Simi Valley's defense) didn't blitz much, and that kind of threw me off. I kept waiting for them to blitz.
"But after a slow start, we seemed to get it going."
After having one drive end at the Simi Valley 11-yard line on an interception and another drive stopped on fourth and goal at the Simi Valley 1-yard line, Newbury Park turned opportunistic in the second quarter.
A 27-yard connection from Cameron to Leonardi set up Newbury Park at the Simi Valley 3-yard line, and Leonardi scored three plays later on a 1-yard run.
One possession later, after an interception by Jason Anderson, Leonardi displayed his versatility.
On fourth and four from the Simi Valley 4-yard line, lined up for an apparent field goal, Leonardi took a direct snap and sprinted left into the end zone for a 13-3 lead.
He wasn't through yet. On the PAT, Leonard took another direct snap and again sprinted into the end zone for a two-converstion.
"We've never done that before," he said afterwards. "It's just something that got them off guard."
Leonardi's play definitely kicked the Panthers into high gear.
In fact, Leonardi did everything to spur the momentum except change the tires on the bus. His 58-yard punt return set up a mini-3-yard drive that upped the lead to 2 with 7:00 left until halftime. Leonardi also connected on a 37-yard field goal in the third period.
Simi Valley (3-4, ) tried to jump back into the game behind quarterback Bradon Fricke, who completed 17 of 28 pass attempts for 236 yards and two touchdowns. Jack Albert caught six passes for 110 yards.
But Simi Valley's 74-yard touchdown march to open the second half was immediately answered by Cameron and the Panthers. His 29-yard strike to Leonardi pushed the lead to 35-10 with 5:28 left in the third period. Copyright 2006, Ventura County Star. All Rights Reserved.
zahorik Registered Member(10/21/06 11:45:08 am)
Report From Simi
First off, congratulations to Newbury Park. These guys came out prepared and fired up. They put on quite a show.I have to say that I had a bad feeling about this game before the opening kickoff. It was homecoming night but the atmosphere before the game reminded me more of a funeral. This was "one of those games" for the Pioneers. The first 4 Newbury Park touchdowns came as a result of a fumble on the Simi 5, a fumbled punt on the Simi 25, an interception at the Simi 20, and a punt returned back to about the Simi 5. Once NP had Simi on the ropes, they never let up. They attacked the flats relentlessly, something I'm sure they picked up on game film. Simi is very aggressive on defense and, early in the game, NP was prepared to counter all the blitzing using screens and quick flat passes. This strategy put the Simi D off their game a bit and they were on their heels the rest of the game. The NP defense completely shut down the Simi running game early. Simi was embarrassed by a fake FG that was a direct snap to Leonardi who easily ran to the pylon, followed by the exact same play on the conversion. Simi tried to get back in the game with a nice drive to open the 2nd half bringing the score to 28-10. NP put the dagger in the heart by immediately answering with their own touchdown drive. Newbury park is the best 2-4 team I've seen. Props to #11 Leonardi who was clearly the best athlete on the field. Props also to the QB #7 Cameron who plays with a lot of poise - he will be a good one. Good luck to NP the rest of the way. As for Simi, these guys have a ton of potential. They have the ability to shut down an offense on their best night, but they need to have their best night more often. The mistakes have to stop.
Perhaps laid the groundwork for some good times this year, too.
Colby Cameron threw for 349 yards and three touchdowns and Anthony Leonardi caught 10 passes for 135 yards and one touchdown while running for two more scores, including one on a fake field goal, as Newbury Park rolled up a 52-23 victory over host Simi Valley in their Marmonte League contest Friday night.
The Panthers posted four touchdowns in the second quarter while opening up a 28-3 advantage, benefitted on defense from two interceptions, three fumble recoveries and three sacks and suddenly look like a playoff contender.
After an 0-2 start in the Marmonte League, Newbury Park is all even at 2-2 (3-4 overall) and clearly is running on momentum.
"Hey, we're getting better, week by week, and that's what you're supposed to do," said coach George Hurley. "We've got such a young team — we're starting six seniors — but we've got guys like Colby who are making strides every week. The game is starting to slow down for (Cameron) and he's seeing the field and making plays."
Cameron, a junior, completed 25 of 46 pass attempts, including touchdowns tosses of 29 yards to Leonardi, 17 yards to David Gru and 7 yards to Diefenthaler. He took another step toward joining Newbury Park's illustrious quarterback tradition.
"I'm starting to feel more comfortable," he said. "The real key is that our receivers are making plays all over the field, and the offensive line is giving me all kinds of time to throw. They (Simi Valley's defense) didn't blitz much, and that kind of threw me off. I kept waiting for them to blitz.
"But after a slow start, we seemed to get it going."
After having one drive end at the Simi Valley 11-yard line on an interception and another drive stopped on fourth and goal at the Simi Valley 1-yard line, Newbury Park turned opportunistic in the second quarter.A 27-yard connection from Cameron to Leonardi set up Newbury Park at the Simi Valley 3-yard line, and Leonardi scored three plays later on a 1-yard run.
One possession later, after an interception by Jason Anderson, Leonardi displayed his versatility.
On fourth and four from the Simi Valley 4-yard line, lined up for an apparent field goal, Leonardi took a direct snap and sprinted left into the end zone for a 13-3 lead.
He wasn't through yet. On the PAT, Leonard took another direct snap and again sprinted into the end zone for a two-converstion.
"We've never done that before," he said afterwards. "It's just something that got them off guard."
Leonardi's play definitely kicked the Panthers into high gear.In fact, Leonardi did everything to spur the momentum except change the tires on the bus. His 58-yard punt return set up a mini-3-yard drive that upped the lead to 2 with 7:00 left until halftime. Leonardi also connected on a 37-yard field goal in the third period.
Simi Valley (3-4, ) tried to jump back into the game behind quarterback Bradon Fricke, who completed 17 of 28 pass attempts for 236 yards and two touchdowns. Jack Albert caught six passes for 110 yards.
But Simi Valley's 74-yard touchdown march to open the second half was immediately answered by Cameron and the Panthers. His 29-yard strike to Leonardi pushed the lead to 35-10 with 5:28 left in the third period. Copyright 2006, Ventura County Star. All Rights Reserved.
zahorik Registered Member(10/21/06 11:45:08 am)
Report From Simi
First off, congratulations to Newbury Park. These guys came out prepared and fired up. They put on quite a show.I have to say that I had a bad feeling about this game before the opening kickoff. It was homecoming night but the atmosphere before the game reminded me more of a funeral. This was "one of those games" for the Pioneers. The first 4 Newbury Park touchdowns came as a result of a fumble on the Simi 5, a fumbled punt on the Simi 25, an interception at the Simi 20, and a punt returned back to about the Simi 5. Once NP had Simi on the ropes, they never let up. They attacked the flats relentlessly, something I'm sure they picked up on game film. Simi is very aggressive on defense and, early in the game, NP was prepared to counter all the blitzing using screens and quick flat passes. This strategy put the Simi D off their game a bit and they were on their heels the rest of the game. The NP defense completely shut down the Simi running game early. Simi was embarrassed by a fake FG that was a direct snap to Leonardi who easily ran to the pylon, followed by the exact same play on the conversion. Simi tried to get back in the game with a nice drive to open the 2nd half bringing the score to 28-10. NP put the dagger in the heart by immediately answering with their own touchdown drive. Newbury park is the best 2-4 team I've seen. Props to #11 Leonardi who was clearly the best athlete on the field. Props also to the QB #7 Cameron who plays with a lot of poise - he will be a good one. Good luck to NP the rest of the way. As for Simi, these guys have a ton of potential. They have the ability to shut down an offense on their best night, but they need to have their best night more often. The mistakes have to stop.
