Newbury Park football forges improbable CIF championship run fueled by naysayers

Dorian Hoze, a running back from the Murrieta Valley, was once again on the loose. By the time he broke for another huge gain that appeared certain to result in a touchdown in the fourth quarter, he was already close to 200 yards rushing, but then Drew Cofield happened.

Hoze was about to cross the goal line when Cofield chased him down from behind, stripped the ball, and forced a turnover. With eleven minutes remaining, the turnover resulted in a touchback, giving Newbury Park the ball instead of Murrieta Valley taking the lead.

“I knew I had to make a play,” Cofield said. “There was no way I was going to tackle him before he gets to the end zone, so I tried everything I can to punch that ball out. Thankfully, I was able to.”

Brady Smigiel would connect with Shane Rosenthal for a 27-yard touchdown on the ensuing possession that would essentially put the game out of reach and eventually grant Newbury Park a 31-28 victory over top-seeded Murrieta Valley to lift the CIF Southern Section Division 2 title Saturday night.

Newbury Park lost in the Division 5 final last year, but avenged that defeat with an improbable postseason march in what many consider the toughest playoff division in the section. The crowning moment gives the program its first CIF title since 1993.

Brady Smigiel remarked, “I appreciate the media for underestimating us because of our size.” “Thanks for the inspiration, everyone. I constantly take screenshots of that stuff.

Smigiel completed 14 of 20 passes for 276 yards and three touchdowns. In addition, he ran for fifty yards, including a touchdown run of twenty yards. He and Cofield connected for two 27- and 66-yard touchdowns. With two goals and a huge strip fumble in the last session, Cofield was named the game’s MVP.

With seven receptions for 120 yards, Rosenthal finished as California’s all-time reception leader. Tyler Stromsoe, a sophomore running back, ran for 18 attempts and gained 85 yards.

THE MOST IMPRESSIVE PART …

Newbury Park’s ability to run the ball on a bigger Murrieta Valley front line might’ve been the most impressive part of the Panthers’ victory, especially after trailing 14-0 in the first quarter. Hoze scored two quick touchdowns, including a 69-yarder before finishing the game with 245 yards and four scores on 29 carries.

The chip on the Panthers’ shoulder grew from questions about the team’s size and physicality. Local pundits doubted if Newbury Park could handle the week-to-week gauntlet and physicality of Division 2. The notion that maybe Newbury Park played itself into a division too high after going 10-0 in the regular season began to make its rounds.

“I seriously never knew how good we were,” Newbury Park Joe Smigiel said. “We didn’t play a meaningful fourth quarter all year long.”

Newbury Park answered all those questions throughout the month of November with three MONSTER road wins at San Clemente, Yorba Linda and at Murrieta Valley Saturday night.

“Our guys love it. It’s the reason we won,” Smigiel said of his offensive and defensive line.

The Newbury Park defense stuffed Stanford commit Bear Bachmeier on 4th down late in the fourth quarter to seal the victory.

https://x.com/Tarek_Fattal/status/1863098131791151274?

LAST, BUT NOT LEAST …

In an era of competitive equity, where computer rankings and math are used to create the playoff divisions based on the current year, we tend to see things that make us scratch our heads.

St. Pius X won Division 8 after going 1-9 in the regular season. St. Augustine won Division 3 in the San Diego Section after going 0-10 this fall. Rio Hondo Prep, with 71 boys in the entire school, knocked off Warren High – with an enrollment of 3,000-plus, in the Division 7 final.

In Newbury Park’s case, the Panthers were lifted into Division 2 where Southern California high school football giants like Gardena Serra, Oaks Christian and Los Alamitos live. From the outside looking in, it looked like the Panthers, a ball club from Ventura County, were getting fed to the wolves in Division 2.

Little did we know, Newbury Park was the wolf the whole time.

https://x.com/Tarek_Fattal/status/1863136567885205664?