NHS football shot down by Musketeers
By Jesse Phelps

Friday night marked the opening night of the local high school football season. A Nordhoff team featuring faces old and new traveled to Moorpark to take on the bigger, faster Musketeers in a non-league game that showed the Rangers have some work to do if they want to avoid a second consecutive losing season.

Moorpark, behind the strong legs of senior tailback Anthony Lopez, tallied 270 yards rushing on a night when the Ranger offense looked stagnant. The Ranger defense, which got some penetration in the first half, eventually tired, and by the end of the night, the Nordhoff staff and players were left to mull over a brutal 32-6 thumping.

The Ranger offense looked somewhat stagnant all night, gaining small chunks of yardage with the running game and virtually nothing through the air. Quarterback Paul Chesser completed three of nine passes for 27 yards and also threw an interception.

Still, Chesser wasn't at fault for the team's woes. A swarming Moorpark defense, keyed on the run, made life difficult for the Rangers. That difficulty was compounded by a number of penalties, mostly for illegal motion and holding, which killed any offensive momentum the Rangers were able to attain.
Then there was the Moorpark offense.

If the shifty running of Lopez wasn't enough, Musketeer quarterback Cody Holland made Swiss cheese of the Nordhoff secondary, shooting holes in it all night to the tune of 11-14 passing and 149 yards.

Still, heading into the second half, the game was easily within reach of the Rangers.

Trailing 13-0 and needing a defensive stop to open the third quarter, the Rangers locked down and forced a fourth down near midfield. But Lopez picked up just enough for the first on his subsequent carry. Then Holland and his favorite target went to work. Sandwiched around another Lopez carry, junior receiver Chastin West caught passes of 25 and 24 yards, the latter for a touchdown and the Musketeers led 20-0.

After a pair of penalties killed the next Nordhoff possession, Moorpark ate up the remainder of the third with another monster drive, capped by Lopez's third score of the evening, a 31-yard burst through the left side of the line.

With nothing to lose, the Rangers opened up the offense on its next drive and Chesser began to make things happen once he got out of the pocket. On a bootleg, he completed an 11-yard strike to Hayden Herbruck, then followed with two runs to get into Moorpark territory.

On second and three at the Moorpark 38, Chesser handed the ball to Josh Catlett, who picked up the first down. After a 15-yard unsportsman-like conduct penalty against the Musketeers, Chesser kept the ball again and got Nordhoff in position for a first and goal.

In total, Chesser picked up 33 yards in keepers on the drive, which the Rangers eventually capped off with a 1-yard power burst by Catlett for the touchdown.

The scoring was completed by Moorpark's Greg Dettore, who busted a 70-yard run up the sideline for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter.

Catlett rushed 10 times for 21 yards and the score and also recorded two sacks on the day.

Afterward, he wondered if his team was mentally prepared for a war with the defending CIF Southern Section Division IV champs. He said he'd like to see more enthusiasm and fight from his teammates next week.

"We just gotta step up," said Catlett, "be more enthusiastic out there. We're really quiet and everybody was just, like, whatever out there."

Nordhoff head coach Cliff Farrar pointed to penalties and a lack of playmaking in analyzing his team's defeat. "Penalities definitely hurt us," he said. "How many times did we face a first and 12 or a second and 20 tonight? And defensively, we just couldn't make the big play. We're in trouble speed-wise."
In total, the rangers netted only 90 yards rushing. Junior Will Strong was the team leader with 41 yards on 11 carries. Chesser, who was sacked a number of times, wound up with minus two yards rushing, despite his excellent play on the scoring drive.

The Ranger defense was led by the Catlett brothers. In addition to his two sacks, Josh also contributed 11 tackles. Younger brother Casey had 15 tackles and Strong had 11.
Next up for the Rangers is another non-league battle with Santa Ynez next Friday. They'll open their home schedule with Calabasas and their first league game comes against Carpinteria at home on Oct. 3.
© 2003 The Ojai Valley News

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