Ojai Eagles football squads back in the game
by Misty Volaski

In the Bantam Division, the Eagles improved their record to two wins and zero losses by defeating Channel Islands, 22-0. The Eagles played as a team and were on offense most of the game, led by Dillon Lowen at quarterback, Jon Woodcock (66) yards), Alex Leckie (95 yards) and Rory Lenehan (60 yards) at running backs. At halftime the Eagles brought in their second string backs Ryan Cowles, Connor O'Malley, Shawn Shirk, and Austin Walgraeve.
The Eagles' defense had seven takeaways in the game, with two interceptions, one each from Keegan Shirk and Alex Leckie. A late fourth-quarter attack was shut down by a touchdown-saving tackle by Dillon Lowen. The defense held off Channel Islands and sustained their shutout.
The Bantams will play their first conference game at Point Hueneme tomorrow at 9 a.m. in the J1 Division. The J1 Blue team dropped a tough one to the Packers of Moorpark losing, 20-6. The Eagles offense, led by the throwing arm of Drew Rodriquez, marched the ball down the field in the fourth quarter, with a 20-yard pass caught by tight end Tyler Cowles. With that, the Eagles were in striking distance.
Tyler Wadsworth ran in the only score of the day for the Eagles. Defensively, the Eagles were on the field for a long time holding the Packers to only two touchdowns. One of the Packers' touchdowns was on a controversial fumble recovery that was run in for a score. The Eagles defense was led by linebackers Wadsworth and Dillon Jones. The J1 Blue team will be at home tomorrow at 11 a.m. against the Steelers of Newbury Park.
The J1 Gold team remained undefeated by besting the Vikings of Simi Valley, 6-0. The Ojai Gold J1 Eagles' defense seemed to take their playbook straight out of the Tao. Although the Vikings were able to move the ball on the Eagles, the Vikings were unable to break down the Eagles defense and score. The defense was led by its linebacker core and secondary with exceptional performances by Chad Gibson, Chris Gibson, Daniel Vigil, Jimmie Johnson and Steven Sharp. Evan Magill also had an interception.
It was the defense that provided the offense with a scoring opportunity by forcing and recovering a fumble at the Viking 35-yard line.
The offense capitalized on the opportunity. The only touchdown of the game came from Daniel Vigil's 15-yard run, where he broke three tackles to produce the game-winning touchdown.
The Ojai Eagles J1 Gold team faces Santa Paula at 9 a.m. tomorrow at Nordhoff High School. Overall the J2's played a tough hard-fought game.
The game was scoreless until late into the fourth quarter when the Santa Clarita Warriors scored on an eight-yard run, leaving only three minutes on the clock.
Some of the highlights in the game were an 80-yard return of a fumble to the six-yard line by Jacob Bracamonte - who also had a great game on defense with numerous tackles. The Eagles committed no penalties in the game, but came up short as the Warriors won, 6- 0.

© 2002 The Ojai Valley News

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