THOUSAND OAKS — From the moment the ball was snapped, Thursday night’s football rivalry game between Newbury Park and Thousand Oaks belonged to the visiting Panthers.
Newbury Park quarterback Aiden Tasci connected with wide receiver Darrien Johnson for an 80-yard touchdown on the game’s first play from scrimmage, setting the tone for a dominant win, 50-0.
Newbury Park, which scored all of its points in the first half, improved to 2-2, while Thousand Oaks fell to 1-3.
The Panthers’ win avenges their loss to Thousand Oaks, 17-7, last season.
“I’m just beyond blessed to do it with the people I love,” Tasci said. “I love these guys so much.It’s a blessing that we won the trophy back.”
The opening play was a simple slant from Tasci to Johnson, with the latter using his speed tooutrun the Thousand Oaks defense for most of the yardage.
“We knew a couple of plays that could hurt (their defense),” Newbury Park head coach JoeSmigiel said. “And we started off with it, and it was open, and we played catch and (it was) offto the races.”
Newbury Park gashed the Lancers’ defense with big plays throughout the first half. Their nexttwo touchdowns went for at least 37 yards, both on deep passes from Tasci to MerrickMcClure.
The latter featured McClure providing the play of the game with an incredible over-the-shoulder catch.
“I have my full trust in Merrick, and I just gave him a shot,” Tasci said. “I threw it up and put it(on his) outside shoulder, and he just came down with it. It’s all him.”
“I’m just running,” McClure recalled. “I’m like, ‘I don’t think he’s gonna throw it.’ I see it, and Ijust try and go get it. That’s what me and him do. We just have that chemistry.”
Tasci, a senior, and McClure, a junior, are both in their first years at Newbury Park and havebonded as they adjust to a new school.
“We’re friends on and off the field,” Tasci said. “We have classes together. It’s amazing. Ourchemistry is unmatched.”
Subsequent Newbury Park drives were more sustained, but still utilized big plays. A 44-yardpass from Tasci to Caleb Perry led to a Tyler Stromsoe touchdown run, while Stromsoe’s 27-yard run on their next drive set up his own short receiving touchdown.
Newbury Park’s defense was equally dominant. Thousand Oaks crossed the 50-yard line justtwice all game. Simon Mekari added a pick-six near the end of the first half for whatwould be the game’s final points.
“The defense is good,” Smigiel said. “We’re well coached and kids fly around. It’s fun to watchthem play.”
Newbury Park punted only once. The punt was muffed and the Panthers recovered, although they did not score on the ensuing possession.
Due to the lopsided nature of the game, the two teams played with a running clock in the secondhalf.
After losses in each of their first two games, including a triple-overtime loss to Westlake in theirseason opener, Newbury Park is back at .500 with Thursday’s result.
“Our two losses, you know, week one, week two, it just motivated us to get this win today andthe win last week,” Tasci said. “So it’s just motivation for us. It drives us.”
“I want to keep going,” Smigiel said. “We got to get better every week. This schedule is going toget a lot tougher. So we got to continue with winning the turnover battle, playing hard andpreparing to play every Friday.”
Both teams next play on Friday, Sept. 18. Newbury Park will host Muir while Thousand Oaks willvisits Lancaster.