Football: Another Westlake-Oaks Christian showdown

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For 10 years, Westlake and Oaks Christian sat about a mile apart and couldn’t get together to play a football game.

‘Jim wouldn’t play us,’ Oaks Christian Coach Bill Redell said of Westlake Coach Jim Benkert.

‘That’s correct,’ Benkert replied.

Now the two schools are set to play for the fourth time in two years and the second time in the Northern Division final on Friday at Oaks Christian.

And they love it.

On Saturday morning, Benkert and Redell met at a McDonald’s in Westlake Village to exchange films.

‘You’d think we’d get a deli,’ Benkert said.

Redell hired Benkert to be his offensive coordinator at Encino Crespi in the 1980s. The two have been friends for more than 30 years. ‘It’s like old times,’ Benkert said.

Oaks Christian upset Westlake in last year’s final. If the Lions were to win Friday, it would be an even bigger upset, because Westlake is 13-0 and won its semifinal, 62-0, over Thousand Oaks. Oaks Christian rallied for a 27-24 win over St. Bonaventure in which sophomore quarterback Brandon Dawkins completed 25 of 29 passes for 204 yards.

‘My prediction is we’ll show up,’ Redell said.

Benkert said the community is fired up, even at the McDonald’s.

‘Half is for Westlake, half for Oaks Christian,’ Benkert said. ‘The community is down the middle.’

No word on who was going to pick up the breakfast tab on Saturday, though Benkert insisted it was Redell’s turn.

What’s clear is that getting a ticket to Friday’s game will be tough.

-- Eric Sondheimer