Both teams are making their second-straight championship appearances and the Pioneers are trying for their second consecutive ring.
Simi Valley football coach Jim Benkert, left, and Newbury Park football coach Joe Smigiel at the CIF Southern Section football championship luncheon on Monday. LONG BEACH — Coaches and players from the Newbury Park and Simi Valley football teams were seated at tables next to each other at the CIF Southern Section football championship luncheon on Monday afternoon.
“You’ve got to step up to be successful and that’s what we’ve had to do. We’ve had to elevate to get to where we are.” “That’s what was in the back of my head when we were all lifting this offseason: Get back to the championship and win it all,” Newbury Park senior lineman Joel Gonzalez said. “It’s something that I’ve been thinking about since that loss to Orange Vista.”
He also has a younger brother on the JV team, which has served as the scout team for varsity throughout the playoff run. It’s the first time the two brothers have been able to play against each other. Some players have been in the same youth football programs as each other and Benkert coached against Newbury Park when he was a coach at Westlake and Smigiel was playing for the Panthers.
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