Westlake Passes By Ventura

VENTURA — So much for Jim Benkert’s master plan.

The Westlake High coach planned to rotate three quarterbacks in Friday night’s game against Ventura, just as he did in a lopsided season-opening victory over Buena.

But starting quarterback Scott Spruill’s performance changed Benkert’s mind midstream, as the Warriors rebounded from an early two-touchdown deficit to defeat Ventura, 52-26.

Spruill completed 13 of 24 passes for 289 yards and three second-quarter touchdowns as Westlake (2-0) amassed 540 yards of offense.

Spruill remained in the game until midway through the fourth quarter, when Brian Shubin replaced him. Shubin completed five of seven passes for 47 yards and a touchdown.

“We planned on switching earlier but I didn’t want to disrupt the rhythm of our offense,” Benkert said. “We still have two quality quarterbacks.”

Spruill spread the wealth among Westlake receivers Billy Miller (six receptions, 103 yards), Jason Victor (five, 105) and Mike Leibin (five, 118).

“I just felt hot going in, even though we didn’t score early,” Spruill said. “Then we just started clicking.”

Westlake’s passing success opened up the running game. Backup tailback Jamal Harris gained 85 yards in six second-half carries, including a pair of 30-yard touchdown runs. Victor also gained 53 yards in six carries.

Ventura (0-2), behind quarterback Erik Olson, was able to stay close to Westlake until the beginning of the fourth quarter. Olson scored a pair of touchdowns and completed nine of 14 passes for 82 yards.

Ventura’s option attack worked perfectly in the Cougars’ first two possessions. Tailback Aaron Davis rushed for 99 yards, including scoring runs of 24 and 20 yards in the first quarter. But Davis gained only eight more yards the rest of the game.

Two turnovers stalled the Cougar offense in the second quarter as Westlake took the lead, but Olson scored on a nine-yard run late in the first half to put Ventura temporarily back on top.

After turnovers on Westlake’s first two possessions in the opening quarter, Spruill exploded for 161 passing yards in the second quarter.

Miller caught three scoring passes, including a 35-yard bomb at the end of the first half.

Victor scored on a two-yard run for the Warriors’ first score and took a screen pass 47 yards to help Westlake take a 25-20 halftime advantage.