WATCH LIST – Oaks Christian High wide receiver Weston Schwesinger, an athletic scholarship player with a 4.4 grade-point average who lives in Moorpark, attended the Marmonte League media day at the Lions’ Den on Aug. 5. Schwesinger has an offer from Air Force. MICHAEL COONS/Acorn Newspapers
Media day is usually a rather quiet affair for acorn high school football teams, with the main activity centered on teenagers wolfing down breakfast burritos at neighborhood sports grills.
The Marmonte League, led by host and defending champion Oaks Christian and the school’s athletic director Brad Cook, has decided on a major tournament.
Oaks Christian, Camarillo, Simi Valley, St. Bonaventure, Pacifica and Bishop Diego of Santa Barbara showcased their top players during the Marmonte League Media Day on August 5.
The spectacle included a lighted stage, the clicking of cameras from a gaggle of photographers that included budding multimedia journalist Alan Ko, a Thousand Oaks senior and CIF champion for character; a gaggle of journalists, notably respected scribes Haley Sawyer, Lorenzo Reyna and Eric Sondheimer (Joe Curley was reportedly on vacation teaching his offspring the lost art of snipe hunting); and a slightly confused Snotlout wondering why a buffet of yogurt and black coffee costs $250 per school.
Apple tree
It wasn’t about food. It was about football.
“The Marmonte League is the best league in Ventura County,” said St. Bonaventure head coach Joe Goyeneche.
St. Bonaventure and Simi Valley won the CIF Southern Section championships in Divisions 2 and 6, respectively, last season.
Oaks Christian posted a 9-3 record, won the Marmonte crown with a 5-0 record and reached the quarterfinals of the Division 2 playoffs last fall.
Pacifica went a perfect 10-0 in the regular season and won the Channel League last year.
Camarillo, a public school team that does not recruit players and has a proud history of success, has not qualified for the 2023 postseason.
Bishop Diego Parish, whose school is so far from the scope of this newspaper that it might as well be in Wetaskiwin, had an irrelevant report. We looked it up, looked at the computer screen, made a note of it and made the decision not to print the report here.
It’s hard for players to stand out on a day when the media is in the spotlight – they’re understandably nervous, and there’s rarely any real insight to be gleaned from the standard jargon of sports talk – but Weston Schwesinger was a notable exception.
Schwesinger, a senior wide receiver at Oaks Christian who lives in Moorpark, talked about his older brother Carson, who played at UCLA before eventually earning a scholarship. Carson Schwesinger is a redshirt junior linebacker, a model student and a bioengineering major for the Bruins.
“He inspired me,” said Weston Schwesinger.
The younger Schwesinger received an offer from the Air Force Academy this summer, but the 5-foot-10, 175-pound teenager knows he will have a tough time wherever he plays football.
“It couldn’t be easier,” he said. “I know I can play in college and at a high level.”
Schwesinger, an athletic scholarship student, has a 4.4 grade point average. The track and field sprinter is also one of the fastest players on the Lions’ squad.
Tight end Stevie Amar Jr. (multiple Division I offers), quarterback Axel Eason (UC Davis commitment), linebacker Christian Knoos (UC Davis), defensive end Hayden Lowe (USC) and offensive lineman Will Simic (University of Chicago) also represented Oaks Christian at media day.
Knoos, who is close to breaking the school record for most tackles in a career, talked about the intensity of Oaks Christian’s offseason workouts.
“When it comes to competition, we treat every training session like a game,” said Knoos.
Camarillo’s media day was attended by head coach Nathan Anderson, as well as standout players Garrett Johnson, Peyton Moise, Drew Reyes, Brayden Smith (CIF Baseball Champion) and quarterback Brendan Widerburg.
“We’re honored to be in this league … and hope to win some games,” said Johnson, a 6-foot-3, 215-pound tight end/defensive end.
Johnson is one of four tight ends integrated into Anderson’s complex offense at Camarillo.
“We involve tight ends in almost every single game,” Anderson said.
The Scorpions, who opened fall camp on Aug. 5, kicked off media day festivities. When they were ready, they raced down Conejo Grade to join the rest of the team in practice.
St. Bonaventure is the Teddy Roosevelt of high school football. The Seraphs are determined and direct; they’re soft-spoken off the field, but they’re hell-raisers on it.
“Our first goal now is to win the league,” said Goyeneche. “Oaks are top of the table and it is our job to beat them.”
Brice Hawkins, Izak Simpson, Kevin Ilano, Jack Reed and Gino Veon represented Simi Valley on media day.
The Pioneers are the first team to play this season. Next week, they’ll be playing in another state: Simi Valley will play at Spanish Springs in Reno, Nevada on August 16.
Lowe of Oaks Christian said he is ready for the new season.
“We really want to have a great year,” said the Lion.
Follow sports editor Eliav Appelbaum on X @EliavAppelbaum
