Mission Viejo HS....Sept 2, 5:00 PM.
Oaks Christian School is an independent, co-educational, college-preparatory, non-denominational school in Westlake Village, CA. It was established in 2000, straddling Ventura and Los Angeles (western edge) counties where they found immediate success on the field with a frosh-soph team going 7-3. The following season saw them get their first varsity win beating Silver Valley. Thereon, they made the CIF playoffs (California Interscholastic Federation) every year except 2014 when they went 5-5.
Over the years they have become one of southern California’s top teams, winning 7 CIF championships while recording a 135-21 (87%) record from 2004 to the present with 4 undefeated seasons. Their 5 year won-loss is 43-15.
Head Coach Jim Benkert is in his second year at the school, coming here initially to co-coach with Bill Redell who had 13 seasons at the helm before moving on to Director of Football Operations at OC. Redell went 142-19-1. Talk about a pipeline, Coach Redell sent 125 players to play college ball at various levels with 4 currently in the NFL. He and Benkert previously worked together at Crespi (Encino) where Benkert was Redell’s offensive coordinator from ‘82 to ‘88. With a 226-86-5 record at neighboring Westlake, Benkert is the winningest coach in Ventura County with 4 CIF championships. Westlake, a public school, is in Oak Christian’s back yard, a few blocks away where they too have been one of the top programs in the state and their bitter rival.
Interestingly, the geography of recruiting shows Oaks Christian as one of the top high schools in the west, funneling players to the PAC-12, along with Loyola of Los Angeles (oldest school in southern California), Long Beach Poly, De La Salle, Mullen in Denver and Hamilton of Chandler, AZ. Poly is one of the most famous high schools on the West Coast for athletics, once deemed by Sports Illustrated the “Sports School of the Century” for producing more professional athletes than any high school in the country. Still, Oaks produces some of the highest level prospects as evidenced by their standing as one of “the” pipelines to the PAC.
For the upcoming game with the Hawks, Oaks had a number of impactful graduates. Gone are USC signee Michael Pittman (6-5, 205) with 24 touchdowns and 81 receptions for 1990 yards. In the post season game against ranked Bishop Amat, he caught 16 passes for 354 yards! Running back Gil Scott Jackson’s 1631 yards on 176 carries and 132 in 10 receptions is also gone. At last check he was being recruited by Ucla, Nebraska, ASU and Purdue. The line lost two cogs in Richard Cabrera (6-6, 325, Ucla, Notre Dame) and OG Jaylen Larry (6-4, 275, Oregon, Cal), but return four; OL/DT Reece Silofau 6-3, 280, so), Ryan Goodman (6-2, 265, sr), Nicolo Di Fronzo (6-3, 275, sr) and TE/DE Colby Parkinson (6-7, 230, sr). Parkinson is highly rated after catching 24 passes for 489 yards with offers from Notre Dame, Michigan, Ucla, USC, Arkansas, etc, etc.
With an 87% winning percentage over the years, the cupboard is rarely bare at OC. Wide-out Michael Owusu (6-5, 201, sr) returns after catching 15 passes for 232 with Micah Pittman (6-0, 190, so), who caught 14 passes for 190 yards. Running back Brandon LaBrie (5-10, 200, sr) is back after gaining 204 yards on 20 carries. He also caught 10 passes for 146 yards so they are set at receiver.
This is good news for one of the most exciting quarterbacks in southern California with the return of junior Matt Corral (6-3, 190, USC commit) in his third year under center. You know he’s special starting as a freshman at this school in talent rich California. He completed 168 of 247 throws for 3283 yards with a Td-Pick ratio of 36 to 6, while rushing for 414 yards on 69 carries. He returns to a system that has been explosive for years, averaging over 40ppg in 8 of the last 12 years, 50 in four of those years. Last year’s team averaged 50ppg against legitimate competition including Thousand Oaks, Westlake, Cathedral Catholic and Bishop Amat. They play in the Marmonte League (St. Bonaventure, Westlake, Moorpark) then playoff in the powerful PAC-5 Division with national powers, St. John Bosco, Mater Dei and Centennial-Corona.
Defensively, the principle losses were at linebacker and in the secondary where they lost 190 and 119 tackles respectively. Five return to the front seven with 227 tackles with the secondary returning some experience. Up front Reece Silofau (6-3, 280. So, BYU offer) had 55 tackles as a freshman last year. DE Colby Parkinson (6-6, 230) had 17 stops with OL/DL Grant Marcketta (6-3, 250, jr) and DTs Dallas Holliday (6-4, 270, jr) and Patrick Beattie (6-3, 225, so) getting time. OL Ryan Goodman (6-2, 265) also plugs in at NG with Aina Setefano (6-2, 290, sr). Brandon LaBrie (5-10, 200, sr) had 69 tackles at OLB with Bo Calvert (6-5, 220, jr) getting 58 also at OLB. Others with time are MLB Devin Calloway (6-0, 205, sr) with 28, LB Alex Haberlach (6-0, 190, sr) with 16 stops and Tony Burgos (5-9, 190, sr) with 21 tackles. 6-1, 195, junior Ben Raymond projects to SS with 11 tackles while Nick Moore (5-9, 160, sr) gets one of the corners.
Oaks Christian opens with Chaminade (7-4, 2013 state champ 14-2) while the Hawk’s open at St. Joseph Regional (8-4). Schedule wise the Lions seem to get the better end of the deal in the opener playing Chaminade who is replacing quarterback Dymond Lee (6-2, 185, 1622 pass, 417 rush, Ucla) while the Hawks play what should be a strong group from SJR who will be pumped after last year’s loss. The Green Knights look absolutely loaded for what could be a memorable year.
Sources:
The Bakersfield Californian, OCSidelines.com, LA Times.com, vctimes.com, materdei.org/football, Fresnobeehive.com, Whittier Daily News, Monterey Herald, The Press Enterprise (Riverside), Daily Bulletin (Rancho Cucamonga), Capistrano Dispatch, Sentinel Weekly (Corona), OCVarsity.com, The Beach Reporter (beach cities of LA’s South Bay), High School Football america.com, You Tube videos, Orange Lutheran online, TexasHighSchoolFootball.com, USA Today, Daily Motion Videos
Oaks Christian School is an independent, co-educational, college-preparatory, non-denominational school in Westlake Village, CA. It was established in 2000, straddling Ventura and Los Angeles (western edge) counties where they found immediate success on the field with a frosh-soph team going 7-3. The following season saw them get their first varsity win beating Silver Valley. Thereon, they made the CIF playoffs (California Interscholastic Federation) every year except 2014 when they went 5-5.
Over the years they have become one of southern California’s top teams, winning 7 CIF championships while recording a 135-21 (87%) record from 2004 to the present with 4 undefeated seasons. Their 5 year won-loss is 43-15.
Head Coach Jim Benkert is in his second year at the school, coming here initially to co-coach with Bill Redell who had 13 seasons at the helm before moving on to Director of Football Operations at OC. Redell went 142-19-1. Talk about a pipeline, Coach Redell sent 125 players to play college ball at various levels with 4 currently in the NFL. He and Benkert previously worked together at Crespi (Encino) where Benkert was Redell’s offensive coordinator from ‘82 to ‘88. With a 226-86-5 record at neighboring Westlake, Benkert is the winningest coach in Ventura County with 4 CIF championships. Westlake, a public school, is in Oak Christian’s back yard, a few blocks away where they too have been one of the top programs in the state and their bitter rival.
Interestingly, the geography of recruiting shows Oaks Christian as one of the top high schools in the west, funneling players to the PAC-12, along with Loyola of Los Angeles (oldest school in southern California), Long Beach Poly, De La Salle, Mullen in Denver and Hamilton of Chandler, AZ. Poly is one of the most famous high schools on the West Coast for athletics, once deemed by Sports Illustrated the “Sports School of the Century” for producing more professional athletes than any high school in the country. Still, Oaks produces some of the highest level prospects as evidenced by their standing as one of “the” pipelines to the PAC.
For the upcoming game with the Hawks, Oaks had a number of impactful graduates. Gone are USC signee Michael Pittman (6-5, 205) with 24 touchdowns and 81 receptions for 1990 yards. In the post season game against ranked Bishop Amat, he caught 16 passes for 354 yards! Running back Gil Scott Jackson’s 1631 yards on 176 carries and 132 in 10 receptions is also gone. At last check he was being recruited by Ucla, Nebraska, ASU and Purdue. The line lost two cogs in Richard Cabrera (6-6, 325, Ucla, Notre Dame) and OG Jaylen Larry (6-4, 275, Oregon, Cal), but return four; OL/DT Reece Silofau 6-3, 280, so), Ryan Goodman (6-2, 265, sr), Nicolo Di Fronzo (6-3, 275, sr) and TE/DE Colby Parkinson (6-7, 230, sr). Parkinson is highly rated after catching 24 passes for 489 yards with offers from Notre Dame, Michigan, Ucla, USC, Arkansas, etc, etc.
With an 87% winning percentage over the years, the cupboard is rarely bare at OC. Wide-out Michael Owusu (6-5, 201, sr) returns after catching 15 passes for 232 with Micah Pittman (6-0, 190, so), who caught 14 passes for 190 yards. Running back Brandon LaBrie (5-10, 200, sr) is back after gaining 204 yards on 20 carries. He also caught 10 passes for 146 yards so they are set at receiver.
This is good news for one of the most exciting quarterbacks in southern California with the return of junior Matt Corral (6-3, 190, USC commit) in his third year under center. You know he’s special starting as a freshman at this school in talent rich California. He completed 168 of 247 throws for 3283 yards with a Td-Pick ratio of 36 to 6, while rushing for 414 yards on 69 carries. He returns to a system that has been explosive for years, averaging over 40ppg in 8 of the last 12 years, 50 in four of those years. Last year’s team averaged 50ppg against legitimate competition including Thousand Oaks, Westlake, Cathedral Catholic and Bishop Amat. They play in the Marmonte League (St. Bonaventure, Westlake, Moorpark) then playoff in the powerful PAC-5 Division with national powers, St. John Bosco, Mater Dei and Centennial-Corona.
Defensively, the principle losses were at linebacker and in the secondary where they lost 190 and 119 tackles respectively. Five return to the front seven with 227 tackles with the secondary returning some experience. Up front Reece Silofau (6-3, 280. So, BYU offer) had 55 tackles as a freshman last year. DE Colby Parkinson (6-6, 230) had 17 stops with OL/DL Grant Marcketta (6-3, 250, jr) and DTs Dallas Holliday (6-4, 270, jr) and Patrick Beattie (6-3, 225, so) getting time. OL Ryan Goodman (6-2, 265) also plugs in at NG with Aina Setefano (6-2, 290, sr). Brandon LaBrie (5-10, 200, sr) had 69 tackles at OLB with Bo Calvert (6-5, 220, jr) getting 58 also at OLB. Others with time are MLB Devin Calloway (6-0, 205, sr) with 28, LB Alex Haberlach (6-0, 190, sr) with 16 stops and Tony Burgos (5-9, 190, sr) with 21 tackles. 6-1, 195, junior Ben Raymond projects to SS with 11 tackles while Nick Moore (5-9, 160, sr) gets one of the corners.
Oaks Christian opens with Chaminade (7-4, 2013 state champ 14-2) while the Hawk’s open at St. Joseph Regional (8-4). Schedule wise the Lions seem to get the better end of the deal in the opener playing Chaminade who is replacing quarterback Dymond Lee (6-2, 185, 1622 pass, 417 rush, Ucla) while the Hawks play what should be a strong group from SJR who will be pumped after last year’s loss. The Green Knights look absolutely loaded for what could be a memorable year.
Sources:
The Bakersfield Californian, OCSidelines.com, LA Times.com, vctimes.com, materdei.org/football, Fresnobeehive.com, Whittier Daily News, Monterey Herald, The Press Enterprise (Riverside), Daily Bulletin (Rancho Cucamonga), Capistrano Dispatch, Sentinel Weekly (Corona), OCVarsity.com, The Beach Reporter (beach cities of LA’s South Bay), High School Football america.com, You Tube videos, Orange Lutheran online, TexasHighSchoolFootball.com, USA Today, Daily Motion Videos
