Calabasas (Photo: Contributed)
One week after showing it could win a back-and-forth scorefest against an elite opponent, the Calabasas High football team had a few more tricks up its sleeve.
A pounding ground game? A dominating defense?
Good luck to the rest of the schools on the Coyotes’ schedule.
Calabasas piled up 224 yards rushing and didn’t allow a first down until less than two minutes remained in the first half of its 52-14 win over visiting Westlake on Friday night.
“When you rush two and drop nine, you got to be able to run the ball a little bit,” Calabasas coach Casey Clausen said. “That’s what we had to do tonight.”
Six different runners carried the ball a total of 45 times for Calabasas (7-0), which was led by sophomore Kaylan Wesley, who rushed for 115 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries.
Against a defense designed to take the ball out of his hands, Calabasas quarterback Jaden Casey completed 12 of 16 passes for 178 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran for a touchdown.
“Calabasas is a great football team,” Westlake coach Tim Kirksey said. “You have to execute at a very high level to beat them.
“I was happy with the way the defense played. The points in the first half were all offense. That’s a hard thing to ask a defense to play a team like that and not do our part on offense.”
Calabasas was jokingly criticized by Petros Papadakis on KNBC’s “The Challenge” for its dramatic 65-63 win over Valencia on Sept. 28.
“How about a little bit of defense, Coach Clausen?” Papadakis asked. “C'mon, that wasn't football. Tackle someone.”
Calabasas did plenty of thatFriday.
After Kamren Fabiculanan’s fumble return gave Westlake a 7-0 lead just 80 seconds into the game, the Warriors were held to just 17 offensive snaps on their six first-half possessions, which ended on three interceptions, two punts and a lost fumble.
If it wasn’t for Carson Kuhl’s 22-yard circus catch of a deflected pass along the visiting sideline, Westlake would have went the entire first half without moving the chains.
“The defense bounced back pretty well,” Clausen said. “Obviously, they’re missing a few of their key guys.”
Westlake (5-2) was again without starting quarterback Jake Kaplinski, who suffered a concussion in the Sept. 22 win over Moorpark, and as many as seven other significant contributors.
“That beat up against this kind of team, tough gig man,” Kirksey said.
The Warriors started junior Cam Fouts at quarterback, but went to senior Brendan Udolph in the second quarter and junior Victor Cano took over for two possessions in the fourth.
Udolph completed 9 of 14 passes for 115 yards and Westlake’s lone offensive score, a 3-yard touchdown pass to Kuhl in the third quarter.
Westlake takes second half kickoff and marches 80 yards. Pulling within 38-14 on 6-yard Carson Kuhl TD catch 6:29 Q3 @_WHSFootball_pic.twitter.com/4KlZX21GZI — VCS Preps (@vcspreps) October 7, 2017
The defensive ploy worked initially for Westlake, as Fabiculanan scooped and scored on the third snap of the game.
The Warriors nearly earned a stop on high-powered Calabasas’ second possession as well, but the Coyotes converted a pair of fourth downs ahead of Casey’s 17-yard touchdown pass to Keithan Goodan.
Calabasas produced a strip sack on Westlake’s second offensive snap and, three plays later, Wesley followed with a 3-yard touchdown run.
Calabasas evens score 7-7 with Westlake. Casey 17-yard TD pass to Gooden 6:15 Q1 @CalabasasFtballpic.twitter.com/dtLMZcbpZN — VCS Preps (@vcspreps) October 7, 2017
Calabasas took a 38-7 halftime lead with a 1-yard Casey sneak, a 5-yard Gooden run, a 10-yard Gooden run and a 25-yard Andrew Allen field goal as time expired.
“Overall, we played pretty well,” Clausen said. “The first half was awful sloppy with all the penalties overall.”
A week after winning a back-and-forth scorefest against an elite opponent, the Calabasas High football team flashed a few more tricks on Friday.
Calabasas Photo Contributed One week after showing it could win a back-and-forth scorefest against an elite opponent the Calabasas High football team had a few more tricks up its sleeve A pounding ground game A dominating defense Good luck to the rest of the schools on the Coyotes’ schedule Calabasas piled up 224 yards rushing and didn’t allow a first down until less than two minutes remained in the first half of its 52-14 win over visiting Westlake on Friday night When you rush two and drop nine you got to be able to run the ball a little bit Calabasas coach Casey Clausen said That’s what we had to do tonight Six different runners carried the ball a total of 45 times for Calabasas 7-0 which was led by sophomore Kaylan Wesley who rushed for 115 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries Against a defense designed to take the ball out of his hands Calabasas quarterback Jaden Casey completed 12 of 16 passes for 178 yards and three touchdowns He also ran for a touchdown Calabasas is a great football team Westlake coach Tim Kirksey said You have to execute at a very high level to beat them I was happy with the way the defense played The points in the first half were all offense That’s a hard thing to ask a defense to play a team like that and not do our part on offense Calabasas was jokingly criticized by Petros Papadakis on KNBC’s The Challenge for its dramatic 65-63 win over Valencia on Sept. 28 How about a little bit of defense Coach Clausen Papadakis asked C'mon that wasn't football Tackle someone Calabasas did plenty of thatFriday After Kamren Fabiculanan’s fumble return gave Westlake a 7-0 lead just 80 seconds into the game the Warriors were held to just 17 offensive snaps on their six first-half possessions which ended on three interceptions two punts and a lost fumble If it wasn’t for Carson Kuhl’s 22-yard circus catch of a deflected pass along the visiting sideline Westlake would have went the entire first half without moving the chains The defense bounced back pretty well Clausen said Obviously they’re missing a few of their key guys Westlake 5-2 was again without starting quarterback Jake Kaplinski who suffered a concussion in the Sept. 22 win over Moorpark and as many as seven other significant contributors That beat up against this kind of team tough gig man Kirksey said The Warriors started junior Cam Fouts at quarterback but went to senior Brendan Udolph in the second quarter and junior Victor Cano took over for two possessions in the fourth Udolph completed 9 of 14 passes for 115 yards and Westlake’s lone offensive score a 3-yard touchdown pass to Kuhl in the third quarter Westlake takes second half kickoff and marches 80 yards Pulling within 38-14 on 6-yard Carson Kuhl TD catch 6:29 Q3 @ _ WHSFootball_pic . twitter . com / 4KlZX21GZI VCS Preps @ vcspreps October 7, 2017 The defensive ploy worked initially for Westlake as Fabiculanan scooped and scored on the third snap of the game The Warriors nearly earned a stop on high-powered Calabasas’ second possession as well but the Coyotes converted a pair of fourth downs ahead of Casey’s 17-yard touchdown pass to Keithan Goodan Calabasas produced a strip sack on Westlake’s second offensive snap and three plays later Wesley followed with a 3-yard touchdown run Calabasas evens score 7-7 with Westlake Casey 17-yard TD pass to Gooden 6:15 Q1 @ CalabasasFtballpic . twitter . com / dtLMZcbpZN VCS Preps @ vcspreps October 7, 2017 Calabasas took a 38-7 halftime lead with a 1-yard Casey sneak a 5-yard Gooden run a 10-yard Gooden run and a 25-yard Andrew Allen field goal as time expired Overall we played pretty well Clausen said The first half was awful sloppy with all the penalties overall