Last Friday Night, the Calabasas Coyotes were soundly defeated by the Oaks Christian Lions 56-8. The lone touchdown of the night came from Alonzo Contreras, who rushed and scored from the goal line.
Oaks Christian put on a brilliant offensive performance behind four star running back Deshonne Redeaux and three star tight end Stevie Amar, who combined for 189 yards and 3 touchdowns. Quarterback Nate Bennett threw for 196 yards and three touchdowns before being pulled at halftime. His only hiccup of the night came from an interception by senior Coyote Adam Geukens.
On the Calabasas side, the Coyotes were missing two of their top players for the majority of the game. Senior Aaron Butler announced that he would forgo his final 5 games of his season in preparation for Coach Deion Sanders’ team in Boulder. With the absence of Butler, it was up to junior Danye Brown to assume the top wide receiver position, and he caught a 60 yard bomb from Contreras in the middle of the 1st quarter. The Coyotes continued to drive behind the legs of Contreras and scored a touchdown along with a two point conversion to go up 8-7.
The third drive of the game brought misfortune for Calabasas as Contreras exited the game with a head injury. He would not return to the game and was later diagnosed with a concussion. Freshman quarterback Dom Hardy made his first varsity appearance when taking over for Contreras. Unfortunately, the Coyote offense was ineffective throughout the remainder of the game as the Lions expected a run-heavy offense and were able to stifle it.
“I feel like it would have been a whole different game if we would’ve had [Alonzo]”, said Danye Brown. “We would have been in position to score many more times.”
The Coyotes return to Keith Ritchie Field tonight for the annual homecoming game against Simi Valley. There is a sense of urgency as the Coyotes look to avoid an 0-2 league start and potentially put their CIF playoff hopes in jeopardy.
