Football: It’s showdown time in the Marmonte League

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

The preliminary stuff is over. It’s time for the Marmonte League championship to be decided on Friday night, when Ventura St. Bonaventure (7-1, 6-1) plays at Westlake Village Westlake (8-0, 7-0).

Westlake has won 22 consecutive games over the last two seasons. Its starters have played beyond the third quarter only once this season.

St. Bonaventure has a win over Long Beach Poly and the Seraphs’ only loss came to Westlake Village Oaks Christian in overtime after blowing a 19-0 lead. St. Bonaventure has won its last two games impressively, beating Thousand Oaks, 52-0, and Calabasas, 57-0.

So we’re finally going to learn if there’s a defense capable of stopping Westlake’s versatile offense. St. Bonaventure has a formidable defensive line that puts pressure on quarterbacks, which means quarterback Nick Isham gets another opportunity to display his talent.

I expect these two teams to meet again in the Northern Division final, so it might be smart to hold a few plays back. Then again, if you want to keep alive a state bowl berth, there’s no holding back.

-- Eric Sondheimer