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.
It’s the second straight year that the two programs are representing Ventura County and are the two schools from the Daily News coverage area to reach a CIF-SS championship game.
“It’s a very competitive county,” Simi Valley coach Jim Benkert said. “We’ve got a lot of good teams out there, whether they’re public or private and in our specific (Marmonte League), there’s three publics and three privates in the league.
“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.”
There are three Marmonte League teams competing for championships — Simi Valley, Pacifica and St. Bonaventure. Oaks Christian was almost the fourth team but lost to Murrieta Valley in overtime in the semifinals. Newbury Park was the undefeated Conejo Coast League champion.
The Pioneers (21-1) will try for their second consecutive CIF-SS championship on Saturday against Edison at Huntington Beach High after winning in Division 6 last season.
Newbury Park (13-0) fell to Orange Vista in the Division 5 title game last year and will play in the Division 2 finals against Murrieta Valley.
“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.”
Head coach Joe Smigiel took over at Newbury Park in 2021 and Benkert took the helm at Simi Valley in 2018 and both coaches have turned their respective programs around while rallying the support of the community.
Smigiel is an alumnus of Newbury Park and many players have had family members before them play a sport at the school. Senior defensive end Michael Guzman’s dad wrestled for the Panthers and his grandfather played sports in Ventura County.
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.
“In Ventura County, we got a lot of skill out here,” Newbury Park senior corner Drew Cofield said. “We have a lot of talent and a lot of players that go unnoticed and are under-recruited.”
Gonzalez gets recognized as a Newbury Park football player even when he’s working part-time at an ice cream shop.
Simi Valley senior Seth Knight is recognized in public, too.
“We’re not just playing for ourselves,” Knight said. “We’re playing for our community and it brings us all together. I have people come up to me and talk to me about the game, just congratulations on winning. It brings our community together and strengthens us.”
There’s some crossover between the two football programs, even though they haven’t played each other since 2015.
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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.
Ventura County football continues to build and thrive on the connections formed by teams like Newbury Park and Simi Valley.
“It’s the dog in the players,” Guzman said. “There’s a lot of connection and roots and love for the game here. That’s what drives us.”