It’s often been said that when a team plays two quarterbacks, it really has none.
But in an era when it is growing more difficult to keep a quality second quarterback on the roster, Westlake High football
coach Rick Clausen believes in it.
“I think you have to,” Clausen told The Star last month. “You’re one play away from needing (the backup). You’ve got to keep them engaged.”
Clausen rotated starter Ford Green and freshman backup Hendrix Tucker over a three-game span from Week 1 to Week 3.
With Green “nursing a knee,” according to Clausen, on Sept. 18, Westlake was able to turn to Tucker with confidence.
The Warriors may have seen their 14-game regular-season winning streak snapped with a 28-21 loss to visiting Tustin, but that was more of a function of their opponent — a potential Division 2 powerhouse full of college-bound talent — than their performance.
“We haven’t seen a team like that in a very long time,” Clausen said. “It was a good showing. Obviously, we didn’t get the win, but I got out of it what I needed to see from a coaching perspective.”
Tucker completed 13 of 27 passes for 196 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.
“The freshman quarterback played really well in his first start,” Clausen said. “He played well. “
Tucker has completed 26 of 45 passes for 415 yards, eight TDs and one interception through five games.
Home field
It’s official. The first on-campus home game in Del Sol football history will be Oct. 16 against Channel Islands, the second game of the Rose Cup rivalry.
“That night’s going to be a lot of fun,” Del Sol head coach James Nelson said. “I’m sure it’s going to be pretty crazy.”
The Jaguars may only be 1-4, but they have been significant more competitive in their second varsity season.
Del Sol has been outscored in nonleague play 184-100. A year ago, that figure was 212-15.
Isaiah Flores is third in the county in rushing with 621 yards on 125 carries. Hector Villasenor is 11th at 340 yards on 66 carries.
The 5-0 club
Nordhoff became the first county team to complete nonleague play 5-0 with a 41-13 win over Beverly Hills on Sept. 18.
The Rangers did so despite reshuffling their backfield and linebacking corps due to injuries to running back Brody Dvortcsak and linebacker Rea Duenas.
“We had some other guys who stepped up,” Nordhoff head coach Dillon Lowen said.
Quarterback Michael Dennie leads the county in touchdown passes with 20. Isaiah Giesea leads the county in touchdown receptions with seven.
The other three local unbeatens — Pacifica, Calabasas and Royal — can join the Rangers in the 5-0 club with wins on Sept. 25.
Mr. All-Purpose
Andrew Estrada has been an all-purpose weapon for Fillmore High.
The senior has seven touchdowns through five games, including two kickoff return scores, two punt return scores, two TD receptions and a TD run.
“He is just incredible,” Fillmore head coach Charlie Weis said. “When I can figure out a way to get him a passing touchdown he will have scored in almost every conceivable way this year.”
After missing all of last season after transferring from St. Bonaventure, Estrada has scored in four of the five games, has piled up 671 all-purpose yards and also has an interception on defense.
Feeling sore
Forgive Jim Benkert if the Simi Valley head coach is feeling a familiar sense of déjà vu this week.
Injuries ravaged the Pioneers during last year’s 3-7 season, which included a fifth-place Marmonte League finish at 1-5.
Although Simi Valley’s 4-1 start to this season has provided a glimpse of how good this group can be healthy, it’s starting to suffer some key losses.
“We’re just not built to handle injuries,” Benkert said. “That’s going to hurt us.”
Starting strong safety James Scida suffered a knee injury returning a kickoff in a 49-7 win over Palmdale on Sept. 18 and may miss the rest of his senior season.
“It’s so hard when we lose hard-working kids,” Benkert said. “And it’s his senior year.”
Star running back Sal Villa, the county leader with 884 yards rushing, limped out of the game with an ankle injury. Two linemen also left the game with injuries.
The focus during the bye week will be getting healthy ahead of a huge league opener against St. Bonaventure on Oct. 2.
“We need to lick our wounds this week and get ready to compete,” Benkert said.
Joe Curley covers football for The Star. He can be reached at joe.curley@vcstar.com. For more coverage, follow @vcspreps on Twitter/X, Instagram/Threads, Facebook, Bluesky and TikTok.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Rare QB rotation working for Westlake | Prep football notebook
