WESTLAKE VILLAGE — Moorpark High football coach Christian Dearborn made a decision after his team’s season-opening overtime loss: The Musketeers would go for two-point conversions whenever they had the chance.
On Friday night, that decision helped Moorpark defeat Westlake, 29-27, in overtime in the regular-season finale for both teams at Westlake High.
Moorpark (8-2 overall, 4-1 Channel League) scored on a touchdown run in overtime and converted its two-point attempt to take a 29-21 lead. Westlake (7-3, 3-2) answered with a 7-yard touchdown run by Jackson Griffin, but its two-point conversion attempt failed.
“Our first game of the year, we lost in overtime. We went for two,” Dearborn said. “And I told our boys after that game we’re going for two every time.”
Moorpark trailed 21-14 in the fourth quarter on Friday before quarterback Dawson Armstrong threw a touchdown pass to Colby Cronquist to tie the score.
Dearborn credited adjustments to the running game for helping Moorpark move the ball in the fourth quarter.
“We just finally really got a run game going,” Dearborn said. “We made some adjustments in the run game and just really were able to move the ball that fourth quarter.”
Cronquist caught two touchdown passes for Moorpark, while Blake Davidson caught another.
Armstrong said Westlake started out playing Cover 2 defense, but changed its coverage after Moorpark started running the ball more.
“They’ll play Cover 2 the whole game, just drop everybody and dare us to run the ball,” Armstrong said. “And then we ran the ball a lot, so they had to switch out of it.”
After Moorpark tied the score at 21-21, the Musketeers recovered a Westlake fumble late in the fourth quarter. Moorpark reached the Westlake 7-yard line but missed a field goal attempt with three seconds left in regulation.
Dearborn said he wished he had moved the ball closer to the middle of the field before the kick.
“I wish I would have centered the ball a little bit more,” Dearborn said. “We have a left-footed kicker. I put him in a tough spot on that far left hash.”
Armstrong said he was already preparing for overtime before the kick.
“You always hope for the make, but you got to prepare for the worst,” Armstrong said. “I was still locked in, very excited to go out and play some more football.”
Moorpark receiver Davis Benson credited his teammates for responding after the missed field goal attempt.
“We all had faith in our kicker,” Benson said. “Sometimes we all make mistakes, but at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter that he missed because our defense had his back the whole entire time.”
Westlake coach Rick Clausen pointed to turnovers as a deciding factor.
“I think it was the turnover battle which made a difference in the game,” Clausen said. “Can’t win football games that are close losing the turnover battle.”
Westlake trailed 7-0 at halftime. Hendrix Tucker threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to Erik Green in the third quarter and an 8-yard touchdown pass in the fourth. Chaise Morton added a 9-yard touchdown run to give Westlake a 21-14 lead.
Clausen said Westlake played with good energy but came up short when it came to execution.
“We need to execute better,” Clausen said. “Energy level was good, but execution was not where it needs to be in Week 10.”
Both teams await their playoff opponents, with CIF-Southern Section pairings to be revealed on Sunday at 10 a.m.