Toads squash Wildcats behind 7 Caldwell TDs
by Jesse Phelps

Tyler, Tyler, Tyler. That was the story Saturday afternoon at Villanova School, as the Villanova Wildcats welcomed the Thacher Toads in Ojai's first bragging rights game in Heritage League eight-man football.
Under a hot sun that might have seemed a spotlight or a flashbulb, Thacher's Tyler Caldwell gave a large, mostly pro-Villanova crowd something to remember, scoring seven touchdowns to lead the Toads to a 56-27 thrashing of their hosts.
This is the first year Thacher School (5-0) has fielded a football team in recent memory, and the Wildcats are starting fresh in a different way, having graduated a host of seniors from last year's dominant squad, the first in Villanova's storied athletic history. On this day, Thacher was clearly the superior squad.
The opening play of the game was a harbinger of things to come as Caldwell received Villanova's kick deep in his own zone, eluded a couple of tackles and broke up the southern sideline 70 yards for his first score.
On the last play of the half, Caldwell provided the bookend. Under pressure in the pocket, Villanova quarterback Andy Lory threw to the sideline, where Caldwell was lurking in wait. He broke in front of the intended receiver for the pick and sprinted to the end zone as time expired. He'd just scored his sixth touchdown of the first half. A 40-yard touchdown reception and several long runs added to Caldwell's return yardage gave him more than 200 all-purpose yards to that point.
"I just wish he wasn't a senior," said Thacher coach Jeff Hooper. "He's fun to coach."
But Caldwell wasn't quite finished. The prettiest play of the day came in the third quarter as Thacher quarterback Brenton Sullivan lofted a rainbow to the back of the end zone, where Caldwell stretched out and, dragging both feet inches in front of the line, hauled in the reception for his seventh and final score of the day.
Villanova coach John Muller said, "I thought we had a good game plan for him, but nine times out of 10, he's going to beat you. We got better today, and it was good to play a well-coached team because it makes us better."
Villanova was led by Lory, Chris Gerhart, Nate Langelier and Cody Supan.
Female sophomore kicker Krista Krakowski kicked Villanova's final extra point to end the day on a high note.

© 2002 The Ojai Valley News

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