Future is now for these high school teams
Oaks Christian and Chaminade, thought to be a year away, put on a show in a season opener won by the Lions, 65-55.
Those marketing geniuses at Nike, Adidas and Under Armour should have dropped by Westlake Village on Friday night for the football opener between host Oaks Christian and West Hills Chaminade and fought it out to be the sponsor for what could have been called “The Future Bowl.”
No. 12-ranked Oaks Christian started nine sophomores. No. 6-ranked Chaminade started nine juniors. In another year, they’ll have teams and players hyped as being among the best in the nation. And what a game it produced in terms of offensive firepower and fan excitement. No lead was ever considered safe.
In the end, Oaks Christian came away with a 65-55 victory in a game that had videogame like qualities.
Brandon LaBrie, one of the few seniors in Oaks Christian’s starting lineup, scored four touchdowns and rushed for 123 yards. Quarterback Matt Corral passed for 419 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions. He also ran for a touchdown.
Brevin White of Chaminade passed for 317 yards and three touchdowns. Michael Wilson caught seven passes for 200 yards.
“Every time we had the ball, we thought we had to score,” Oaks Christian Coach Jim Benkert said.
By halftime, Corral, a USC commit who’s only a junior, had passed for 298 yards and two touchdowns to give Oaks Christian a 30-21 advantage. He also ran for 52 yards.
Standout running back T.J. Pledger scored two firsthalf touchdowns for Chaminade but struggled with cramps. Chaminade hurt itself with too many penalties — nine. Wilson caught passes of 55 and 44 yards from White. But the Eagles also struggled with protecting White, something Coach Ed Croson knew could be an issue. Oaks Christian finished with eight sacks.
“We have a good group of young players,” he said. “Last year was tough to get through and now hopefully we enjoy the benefits. The whole thing is how fast does the offensive line develop.”
It was an insane third quarter. Oaks Christian appeared ready to pull away at the outset, getting a blocked punt, with Bo Calvert scoring the touchdown for a 37-21 lead. Then came the stunning play of the night as White scrambled 83 yards for a touchdown, and suddenly Chaminade had momentum.
“I was going to run off the sideline and try to tackle him,” Benkert said.
White rarely runs with the ball, but after running for his life at times, he just took over and never stopped running until he reached the end zone. By the end of the quarter, it was Oaks Christian 51, Chaminade 49. Among the touchdowns in the quarter were a 56-yard screen pass to LaBrie; Chaminade’s Isaiah Richardson catching a 50yard TD pass from White; a TD run by LaBrie; and TD runs by Chaminade’s Pledger and Andrew Van Buren.
Oaks Christian finally got a little breathing room in the fourth quarter. Corral had a 4-yard touchdown run and Zach Charbonnet added a 4-yard touchdown run.