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High school football roundup: Smigiel Era in Newbury Park gets off to a great start

from staff reports
·10 min read

The Smigiel Era at Newbury Park opened with joy in Santa Clarita.

Freshman quarterback Brady Smigiel threw four touchdowns in the first half to help deliver his father Joe Smigiel a win in his first game as Panthers head football coach, 38-21, at Golden Valley High on Friday night.

“Everything has to be put in perspective,” said Joe Smigiel. “It’s a brand-new team with a brand new offense, defense and special teams. It certainly wasn’t pretty, but we beat a good football team out there.”

Smigiel completed 21 of 35 passes for 327 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions.

“In the first half, he was really good,” the elder Smigiel said of his son. “Second half, he struggled a little bit. But what do you expect from your first game?

“I was pleased with the way the offensive line gave him a chance to stand up.”

That meant for a good night for the receiving corps.

Casey Knieriem caught eight passes for 114 yards and a TD. Charlie Simmons grabbed five passes for 104 yards and a TD. Shane Rosenthal caught seven passes for 94 yards and two touchdowns.

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“Charlie Simmons went off,” Smigiel said. “He played really well.”

Despite a 31-14 halftime lead, Smigiel was unhappy with his team’s lack of discipline at times.

“We had way too many penalties, way too many selfish penalties,” Smigiel said. “We have a long ways to go.”

Newbury Park will play its home opener next Friday night against El Camino Real.

INGLEWOOD 41, ST. BONAVENTURE 34: It was the Delon Thompson Show, but it wasn't quite enough to earn the Seraphs a win on the road against a powerhouse opponent.

Thompson rushed for 236 yards on 25 carries, including a long run of 72 yards, and caught four passes for 26 yards with a pair of touchdowns.

"He's a special player," said St. Bonaventure coach Joe Goyeneche. "He's settled in this season to the point where he's become a team leader and a guy everyone looks up to. He's going to show everyone how good he is this season."

St. Bonaventure held a 20-7 lead in the first half against the team that defeated the Seraphs in the first round of last season's Division 2 playoffs, but surrendered the next 20 points.

"We've got a lot of young guys, including four sophomores starting on defense, and it was a game where we learned some lessons that should pay off down the road. We've got work to do, but we're going to get better," Goyeneche said.

Anthony Wolter completed 10 of 18 pass attempts for three touchdowns, including two to Joaquin Johnson. The standout receiver caught five passes of 121 yards.

Manny Rosales finished with 70 total yards, one passing touchdown and two catches for 11 yards.

Anthony Albanez had a strip sack that he returned to the 1-yard line to set up the Seraphs' first score.

St. Bonaventure will host to Pacifica next Friday at Ventura College.

OXNARD 27, QUARTZ HILL 19: Senior Elijah Davis returned the opening kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown and caught a 58-yard TD pass as the Yellowjackets' talented receiving corps starred in a season-opening win on the road.

Oxnard led from start to finish to open 1-0 for the fifth straight year.

“We had to battle the elements, battle the referees and battle a good team,” Oxnard coach Jaime Moreno said.

Sophomore Andrew Maria excelled in his first game as the starting quarterback, completing 14 of 17 passes for 224 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions.

In addition to Davis’ strike, Maria connected with senior Elijah Aragon for a 19-yard TD pass and sophomore Isaiah Dillon for a 13-yard TD pass.

Aragon caught five passes for 96 yards. Davis had five catches for 92 yards.

Defense end Jaime Hernandez had an interception and middle linebacker Jacob Perez had 12 tackles and forced a fumble to seal the win in Oxnard territory with 1:40 to play.

“Playing at Quartz Hill is a good win,” Moreno said. “We’ve got to keep it going.”

Oxnard hosts Hart in a nonleague at home next Friday.

ROYAL 21, BIRMINGHAM 14: Just one week in, and the Highlanders have already demonstrated big-time resiliency and poise under first-year coach Mike Puopolo.

Trailing 14-0 in a road contest against the defending L.A. City Section champions, Royal made it all the way back.

Senior quarterback Evan Nagy, who had already thrown for a pair of touchdowns, scrambled into the end zone from 4 yards out in the final minute to earn the Highlanders their stunning victory.

Nagy threw for 124 yards in completing 15 of 20 pass attempts. His 8-yard scoring pass to Owen Muench at the close of the first half cut the deficit to 14-7.

Nagy's second 8-yard scoring throw to Muench closed out a 10-minute possession in the third quarter and pulled Royal into a 14-14 tie.

Garrett Patenaude was the defensive hero with a pair of sacks in the fourth quarter. His strip sack with 3:30 minutes remaining set up Royal's game-winning march.

The Highlanders will host to Castaic in their home opener next Friday.

CAMARILLO 35, HART 17: Brody Meyer threw for five touchdowns and 311 yards and Brandon Contreras hauled in touchdown receptions of 84 and 75 yards and racked up five tackles on defense to spark the victory at home.

Meyer, a senior, finished 16 of 25. Griffin Addison notched four receptions for 63 yards.

Reese Winchester, Nathaniel Madrigral and Blake Bryce added touchdown catches.

Marcos Jaquez and Brock Gilbert sparked an aggressive defensive charge. Jaquez racked up 11 tackles and two sacks and Gilbert finished with 13 tackles and one interception. Robert Trey Valles had five tackles and two sacks.

Camarillo takes on rival Rio Mesa next Friday in a road contest.

THOUSAND OAKS 35, SEGERSTROM 7: Travis Endicott finished with 247 yards and three touchdowns and Chase Martin rushed for 118 yards and two touchdowns and led the defense with 16 tackles — including 12 solos — and one tackle for loss.

Endicott completed 14 of 20 pass attempts.

Andrew Lacombe grabbed four receptions for 106 yards and two touchdowns and added an interception on defense. Johnny Abarzua had three catches for 45 yards and one score.

Will Halub finished with three catches for 45 yards, nine tackles and an interception.

Thousand Oaks will host Conejo Valley rival Westlake next Friday.

MOORPARK 37, HUENEME 13: Connor Smith completed 18 of 30 pass attempts for 201 yards and three touchdowns as the Musketeers opened with a road victory.

Luke Cochran rushed for 74 yards and one touchdown on 17 carries and also caught a scoring pass. Tyler Woods caught three passes for 44 yards and one touchdown and returned an interception for a score.

Moorpark will play at Saugus next Friday.

FILLMORE 49, CALIFORNIA CITY 0: It was hard to tell the Flashes were missing their top player in a season-opening rout.

Despite missing star running back Anthony Chessani, who is out with a long-term injury, Fillmore piled up 273 yards and five TDs on the ground in a season-opening rout.

A committee of five different runners deputized for Chessani, led by Nate Torres, who ran for 126 yards and a TD. David Jimenez (two), Matt Magana and Josiah Cruz also ran for scores.

“That offensive line is just incredible,” Fillmore coach Charlie Weis. “It’s an embarrassment of riches up front.”

Sophomore quarterback Anthony Tafoya completed 9 of 12 passes for 140 yards and touchdown passes to Jarod Uridel and Nate Delgadillo as Fillmore scored 42 points in the first half.

“It was a good night,” Weis said. “We came out on fire.”

Fillmore visits Burroughs-Burbank next Friday night.

SANTA PAULA 34, NORTH HOLLYWOOD 12: Senior Bryce Zavala ran for two touchdowns and caught two touchdown passes as the Cardinals opened with a strong performance on the road.

“He’s kind of our do-it all,” Santa Paula coach Max Montoya said.

Quarterback Marcus Casteneda threw two touchdown passes and running back Timmy Alvarez also scored a touchdown for Santa Paula (1-0), which scored all 20 points in the second half to pull away.

“We started out a little sloppy,” Montoya said, “but we settled in.”

Anthony Cuevas recovered three muffed kickoffs and Josue Garcia had an interception as Santa Paula capitalized on five takeaways.

“He was just all over the place,” Montoya said of Cuevas.

Santa Paula hosts Channel Islands next Friday night.

CHAMINADE 24, OAKS CHRISTIAN 17: Devin Tate threw for 188 yards and one touchdown in his starting debut at quarterback, but the Lions opened with a loss on the road.

Tate completed 17 of 25 pass attempts, including a touchdown to Chase Farrell. Justice Williams hauled in 10 receptions for 106 yards.

Johnny Thompson finished with 68 rushing yards and one score, a 1-yard touchdown run with 2:41 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Oaks Christian picked up more first downs than Chaminade, 18-13, and ran 65 plays to 57 for the hosts.

Oaks Christian will play at Sierra Canyon next Friday night.

CABRILLO 50, NORDHOFF 19: A rash of injuries spoiled the coaching debut of first-year Nordhoff head coach Dillon Lowen.

“The injury bug really hurt us,” Lowen said. “Our No. 1 and No. 2 running backs went down.”

Senior Austin Wheatley threw TD passes to senior Ethan Quinn and sophomore Uriel Covarrubias and sophomore Caden Medlen ran for a touchdown for Nordhoff (0-1), which was within 34-19 in the fourth quarter.

“We did start off strong,” Lowen said. “I thought we looked good in the beginning. Once players started going down, it got messy from there.

“Right now, our focus is going to be on getting guys healthy.”

Nordhoff travels to Dos Pueblos next Friday night.

CALABASAS 41, SANTA MONICA 14: Alonzo Contreras completed 14 of 16 pass attempts for 225 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for another scored to spark the Coyotes.

Aaron Butler caught four passes for 170 yards and King Miller rushed for 125 yards and three touchdowns on 18 carries.

Domata Peko led the defense with nine tackles and a pair of sacks.

Calabasas will play at Oak Park next Friday.

LOMPOC 53, AGOURA 12: Ty Dieffenbach tossed a touchdown pass to Sam Haukaas and Ben Kearns had a 4-yard TD run for the Chargers, who opened the season with a tough loss at home.

Agoura will play at Ventura next Friday night.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Football roundup: Smigiel Era in Newbury Park gets off to great start