Stakes high for Scorpions
Camarillo football team heads to Oxnard tonight with Pacific View League title on the line
By Thomas Gase tgase@theacorn.com

When the Camarillo High football team travels to Oxnard High tonight, it will be more than just a matchup between two rivals. The game will be for at least a share the Pacific View League title.

Both teams enter the contest with overall records of 6-2, 3-0 in league. With only two games remaining before the playoffs, it's clear that whoever wins this game will be in the driver's seat for the league's No. 1 playoff seed.

"Our guys have had a great attitude so far this week," Camarillo head coach Dennis Riedmiller said. "They know what's at stake, and they know the football team is in a good position to do something special on Friday."

For the past couple years, Camarillo had gotten off to a rough start early in the season. In 2005, the team lost its first three games before winning eight in a row. Last year the team lost five of its first six games before fighting back to make the playoffs.

Looking to avoid another early tough start to the season, the Scorpions were faced with a matchup against a strong Oak Park team in Week 5. Camarillo pulled out a 30-26 win and, in the process, turned its season around.

"Ever since the Oak Park game I think our team has improved tremendously," Riedmiller said. "We were losing early in that game, but we didn't get down on ourselves. It was a total team victory when we came back. I think we grew up in that game, and it helped our confidence, too."

Since the Oak Park game, the Scorpions have won three league games in a row. During the threegame stretch, Camarillo has scored 128 points while only allowing 20, an average of less than a touchdown per game.

Leading the defense has been senior Sean Kinney, who has 91 tackles on the year. Kinney has been a pleasant surprise to the Scorpions and Riedmiller.

"At the start of the season, he (Kinney) wasn't even a starter," Riedmiller said. "We started noticing him in practice when he was going a mile a minute every day. We quickly made him a starter, and he's had a great season."

In its last three games Oxnard has scored 111 points, so Camarillo will need more than just Kinney to stop them. Other Scorpions that will have to contribute on defense will be senior Matthew Amerault, junior Noah Lyche and senior C.J. Smith.

On offense, the Scorpions seem to do most of their damage in the air, thanks to senior quarterback Marcus Sanchez.

Behind the blocking of Armando Valenzuela (who's now injured), Wade Whitaker, Trevor Ludington, Thomas Gesser, Cameron Begue and Richie Williams, Sanchez has been able to throw at ease. The signal-caller has thrown for 1,960 yards and 18 touchdowns.

Benefiting from Sanchez's strong play are wide receivers Kevin Kawamoto, Anthony Pinedo, Aulama Lemalu and Cameron Cruz. All four have more than 300 yards receiving this year.

"It's hard to say which one of the wide receivers Sanchez likes more," Riedmiller said. "They are all his No. 1 target."

Riedmiller said Camarillo will have to play a perfect game this week, as Oxnard will be looking for revenge for last year's 31-28 loss.

"We have to play a really good game against Oxnard in order to win- and not put the ball on the ground, because they will make you pay for your mistakes," Riedmiller said. "We beat them by just three points in a close game last year, and I'm sure that didn't sit well with their guys."