Demanie Bell, Westlake football pull away from Thousand Oaks

THOUSAND OAKS — Demanie Bell scored four touchdowns and the Westlake defense forced four turnovers, as the Warriors defeated crosstown rival Thousand Oaks, 42-21, on Friday night to improve to 7-0 for the first time since 2011.

“The kids did it. We put together a good game plan and the kids just executed,” said first-year Westlake head coach Rick Clausen, whose team is 2-0 in Conejo Coast League play. “The kids played inspired, they put in a ton of work and they flew around tonight, which was really good to see.”

Bell ran for 189 yards on 21 carries for Westlake. The most impressive of his four touchdowns came on a 74-yard run, when he was initially stood up by a Thousand Oaks linebacker but broke through that tackle and then three more to score.

“It feels great to get the win and start 7-0 and celebrate with my boys,” said Bell, who is committed to Cal Poly. “The O-line was great tonight. I love those boys to death and I might go buy them something.”

Westlake forced three of its four turnovers on Thousand Oaks’ first three possessions of the game. On the Lancers’ first series, Julian Ramirez forced a fumble and Owen Rockabrand picked it up and returned it 42 yards for Westlake’s first touchdown of the game.

“We came in here with a great game plan. Our new coaching staff is amazing,” Rockabrand said.

Westlake was not able to capitalize on Thousand Oaks’ second turnover, fumbling the ball back to the Lancers on the ensuing play.

Thousand Oaks (5-2, 1-1) had driven into the red zone early in the second quarter when Westlake’s Niles Davis came up with an interception and returned it 92 yards to the Thousand Oaks 6-yard line.

“These last seven weeks no one had been really testing me and they were the first ones to test me, and I was able to come up with the pick,” Davis said.

A couple of plays after the Davis interception, freshman quarterback Ford Green had his lone touchdown pass of the night when he found Charles Davis from 4 yards out for a 14-0 lead.

Westlake took control of the game after halftime. The Warriors led 21-14 at the intermission then used relied on Bell during long, methodical drives to pull away. Bell had 14 of his carries for 82 yards and three touchdowns after halftime.

Westlake forced its fourth turnover of the game on an interception by defensive end Dylan Burns early in the fourth quarter. Three plays later, Bell scored his final touchdown of the night.

Thousand Oaks quarterback Jackson Taylor, a Boise State commit, finished 21 of 31 for 245 yards with two touchdowns and the two interceptions. Brady Beck had seven catches for 121 yards and one touchdown for the Lancers.

Westlake plays host to Newbury Park next week. Thousand Oaks will look to bounce back when it plays at Rio Mesa.