By Austin Block

Football season came to an end Friday night when the  Wolverines lost their second round CIF playoff game against powerhouse Oaks Christian at Ted Slavin Field 45-10.

The Lions took a 31-3 lead into halftime, and the home team’s lone touchdown didn’t come until near the end of the fourth quarter, when quarterback Oliver Lowry ’10 found receiver Jackson Liguori ’10 in the far right side of the end zone.

Will Oliver ’11 made a short field goal in the first half for the Wolverines.

UCLA-committed senior running back Malcolm Jones ran for 141 yards and scored four touchdowns for the Lions, running his total this season (including playoffs) to 39.

The Lions will play Cathedral, who the Wolverines lost to 32-16 this season, in the CIF semifinals.

Oaks Christian came into the game ranked number four  in the country by ESPN’s Fab 50 Rankings. It had compiled an 11-0 record and scored 538 points in those games, giving up only 102 points in the process. It blew out Santa Ynez 70-14 in the first round of CIF playoffs on Friday Nov. 20 and is now riding a 33 game win streak.
   
“It’s Harvard playing Texas,” Wolverine Head Coach Vic Eumont said before the game.

You never know how it’s going to turn out,” he added. “We’re preparing to win. We’re not preparing to lose.”

Jones, a prolific running back who also plays linebacker for the team has scored over 100 touchdowns in his high school career, and this year he has scored 39 touchdowns and run for 1987 yards on 177 carries (11.23 yards per carry).

Los Angeles Times sports writer Eric Sondheimer named Jones as a possible Southern California player of the year in a piece about him Nov. 20 and said that Jones has compiled his impressive resumé playing little more than half the game in many of the team’s games this season.

The Lions also have sparkling athletic bloodlines, as its starting quarterback is Nick Montana, son of Hall of Fame Quarterback Joe Montana, and its backup quarterback is Trevor Gretzky, son of legendary hockey player Wayne Gretzky.

The Wolverines were coming off a 34-20 comeback win over Compton Centennial last week in Compton.

Starting quarterback Max Heltzer ’11 was injured near the beginning of last week’s game. Linebacker/quarterback Lowry  played most of last week’s game in Heltzer’s place and played quarterback again Friday night.

The team did not alter its preparations because of its prestigious opponent.

“We have to practice for these guys the way we practice for everybody else,” Eumont said. “There’s nothing else you can do other than pray a lot.”

The team practiced Monday and Tuesday afternoons and Wednesday morning. It had Thanksgiving off and assembled for a pregame meal at 3 p.m. on Friday.

Eumont said the outcome of the game would depend on execution.

“The only way to beat them is to out-execute and that’s hard because they’re a talented team, well coached,” he said.

“You can’t beat them on emotion. You can make all the rah-rah speeches in the world but once you get out on the field and somebody hits you you’re either going to do good, or you’re going to do bad,” he said.

“If we play hard we can win,” Lowry said before the game. Sure they’re a great team, one of the best in Cali but they have holes just like anyone else and they might be very athletic but it’s still football and really anyone always has a chance.”

“It seems like a lot of people are excited. I’ve gotten phone calls and e-mails that we’ve never had,” Eumont said. “It’s going to bring the community of Harvard-Westlake together and that’s always a good thing.”

“We’re ready for the challenge. It’s a great challenge. Not a lot of teams get an opportunity to play these guys,” Eumont said.