Czernek Out-Wings Wing-T

How is this for a passing grade?

Chris Czernek threw for six touchdowns and 387 yards to lead Newbury Park High to a 49-29 victory over Ayala on Friday night in a Southern Section Division III quarterfinal at Chino High.

Czernek ran for a touchdown, too.

The Panthers (12-0) face Westlake (7-4-1) next Saturday.

Newbury Park scored on its first seven possessions to cruise past an opponent that boasted a crisp wing-T running attack. The only wing that mattered, however, was Czernek’s. Ayala was like a stagecoach chasing a 747.

“I’ve never see a team pass that way,” Ayala Coach Mark Pasquarella said. “That quarterback has great eyes.”

What does Czernek see? Four wide receivers, each of whom had four to six catches and one or two touchdowns. Czernek spread the ball like cream cheese on a warm bagel, completing 22 of 32 passes.

The critical blow was a 65-yard pass play to Eddie Patterson with 10 minutes to play that followed Ayala’s last touchdown and gave Newbury Park a 42-29 lead. Czernek scored from one yard on the Panthers’ next possession.

“We were really on, that’s all I can say,” said Patrick Reddick, who had two interceptions to go along with five catches for 79 yards and a touchdown. The interceptions marked the game’s only possessions that did not end in a touchdown except when the Panthers ran out the clock.

Newbury Park took a 35-21 lead with two minutes to play in the third quarter on Czernek’s fifth touchdown pass, a 25-yard fade pattern on which DeJuan Hawkins outjumped a defender in a corner of the end zone.

Ayala opened the third quarter with a 66-yard touchdown drive that was followed by one of 85 yards by Newbury Park. Czernek hit Patterson for the touchdown from 21 yards.

All five possessions in the first half resulted in touchdowns--three by Newbury Park and two by Ayala. Czernek had 186 yards and three touchdowns in the half.

The Panthers’ most-impressive play, however, was an option pass from Justin Vint to Reddick for a 43-yard gain with 31 seconds to play in the half. Reddick made an over-the-shoulder catch with a defender draped all over him that set up Vint’s 11-yard scoring reception with 17 seconds to play.

Newbury Park opened the game with a 76-yard scoring drive, capped by an eight-yard pass from Czernek to Reddick.

Czernek’s six-yard pass to Hawkins gave Newbury Park a 14-7 lead early in the second quarter. Ayala went 68 yards to tie, Anthony Redd scoring from two yards.