West Gets Its Kicks but East Wins, 33-27

MOORPARK —  It was football with a few unusual and ugly twists.

The East defeated the West, 33-27, Saturday night at Moorpark College in the Ventura County high school all-star game which featured numerous penalties and turnovers and a rule more suited to Arena football.

The West scored on a two-yard run by Carl Richardson to pull to within 30-13 early in the fourth quarter.

Thanks to a rule peculiar to this year’s game, a team trailing by more than nine points was allowed to receive a kickoff after scoring. So the West did--and promptly went 83 yards in four plays, scoring on a 70-yard pass play from Farhaad Azimi to Ross Randolph to make it 30-20.

The West received the ensuing kickoff but Azimi threw an interception on the first play from scrimmage.

On the following play, the West’s Scott Fujita intercepted Chris Czernek’s pass and returned it 45 yards for a touchdown. Suddenly the score was 30-27 with seven minutes left.

The comeback ended when an onside kick by the West was recovered by the East. Although the West forced a punt, it turned the ball over on downs late in the game, leading to a 37-yard field goal by the East’s Ryan Geisler.

Adding to the game’s garbled profile were eight turnovers--four by each team--and a number of physical confrontations after the whistle.

The East was whistled for nine penalties totaling 115 yards and the East’s Michael Boyd was ejected following a bench-clearing scuffle that followed Azimi’s interception.

The East held a 16-7 halftime lead on one-yard touchdown runs by Scott McEwan and Jud Southwell and a 47-yard field goal and an extra point by Geisler.

The West’s first-half scoring came on a 28-yard touchdown run by Carl Richardson and an extra point by Ryan Brunsell.

The West received the second-half kickoff and took possession at its 11-yard line but on the second play from scrimmage, quarterback Teohua Sanchez attempted to throw a slant to Pepe Villasenor.

The pass was intercepted and returned 14 yards for a touchdown by Eugene Jackson.

Southwell scored on another one-yard run late in the third quarter to give the East a 30-7 lead.

Azimi completed nine of 15 passes for 175 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

Richardson rushed for 50 yards and two touchdowns in nine carries and Sanchez completed five of 12 passes for 23 yards and an interception.

Czernek completed four of nine passes for 64 yards and two interceptions. McEwan completed seven of 14 passes for 107 yards. Barrett Grindle caught five passes for 88 yards.

For the West, Russell Farrar had 18 yards in nine carries, Villasenor had four catches for 20 yards and Ryan Brunsell had three catches for 38 yards.

For the East, Southwell carried seven times for 15 yards and two touchdowns, and Elliott Kane caught three passes for 59 yards.

The East won for the third consecutive time and leads the series, 13-9-2. West Coach Cliff Farrar lost for the second time in two game appearances.