BAND OF BROTHERS—Westlake High’s football team captured the CIF-Southern Section Northern Division title last weekend with a 14-10 come-from-behind win over Moorpark at Simi Valley High. The Warriors finished their season with a 14-0 record for the second time in school history. JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers “Sometimes nothin’ can be a real cool hand.”

— Cool Hand Luke, 1967

Westlake High freshman backup quarterback Justin Moore figured: Why not?

After driving his team 85 yards in the waning moments of last weekend’s CIF-Southern Section Northern Division football championship against Moorpark, Moore was convinced he could navigate a few more feet forward on a fourth-down-and-1 play from the Musketeer 2-yard line with a section title in the balance.

“I told Coach, ‘Just give me a chance to win this,’” Moore said. “And he gave me my chance.”

UNREAL—Westlake High freshman Justin Moore, right, celebrates with his teammates. WENDY PIERRO/Acorn Newspapers Bypassing a chip-shot gametying field-goal attempt with 45 seconds remaining on the scoreboard clock at Simi Valley High, Westlake head coach Jim Benkert rolled the dice with a 15-year-old signal-caller who had entered the game in the third quarter after the Warriors lost star quarterback Nick Isham to a broken collarbone.

Facing one of the toughest defensive fronts in the Southland, Benkert and the Warrior offense went all-in with the stakes at an all-time high.

“We called the play right out of the gate,” Benkert said. “Normally our quarterback would read and react on that play, but we just told him to keep (the ball), to tuck it and run.”

Moore took the snap and faked a handoff to tailback Tavior Mowry. He then sprinted in the opposite direction of the flow of moving linemen, toward the pylon on the Moorpark sideline.

Musketeer defender Brian Blechen, who had knocked Isham out of the game on a sack, was in hot pursuit but couldn’t close the gap before Moore found pay dirt.

The freshman’s breathtaking jaunt helped stake Westlake to a 14-10 last-second advantage it would not relinquish en route to the program’s third section title in school history.

“On the last play when they scored, we had them,” Blechen said. “Everyone was where they were supposed to be except one guy, and that was me.”

Blechen, a Utah commit who terrorized the Warrior offensive line all night while recording a pair of sacks, said he over pursued Moore’s history-altering touchdown dash. It was a bitter pill to swallow for one of the premier players in Ventura County.

“I had the quarterback’s back side, and I’d been watching him every single time,” Blechen said. “On the last time I just forgot, I guess.”

When a last-ditch scoring effort by Moorpark was thwarted near midfield, bedlam ensued on the Warrior sideline as the game clock expired.

Despite losing their Marmonte League MVP quarterback, the Warriors completed a perfect 14-0 campaign, becoming only the second varsity squad in school history to finish undefeated.

“I’ve never been more proud in my life,” said WHS middle linebacker Adrian Muguerza.

“This is a great team. It’s an honor. I’m just glad I had the opportunity to play with all these guys.”

Moorpark players and coaches were left once again to ponder what could have been.

The loss was the Musketeers’ fourth section title game defeat in five years and the program’s most gut-wrenching setback since dropping a last-second decision to Canyon in the 2006 section championship at Home Depot Center.

“We had them on the ropes,” said Moorpark defensive coordinator Ron Wilford.

“I thought we did a great job defensively by holding them to 14 points. But things just kind of got away from us at the end. We had our shot.”

Moorpark, which finished 12-2 with both losses coming against Westlake, credited its fiercest league rival for a hardearned victory.

“They are a very good team that executes extremely well,” said Musketeer linebacker Sean Blum. “Both teams left everything on the field.”

Much of the postgame celebration centered on Moore, a 5-foot-10, 155-pound Simi Valley resident who said he planned on attending Moorpark prior to his freshman year but opted for Westlake when the Musketeer coaching staff tried to convert him into a wide receiver during summer workouts.

Moore, who attended Mesa Verde Middle School in Moorpark, has ties to several MHS players, including Blechen.

“He’s a family friend,” Blechen said. “I’ve known him for years.”

Westlake scored the game’s first points on a 27-yard touchdown pass from Isham to wideout Nelson Spruce 10 minutes into the first quarter.

Moorpark cut the Warriors’ lead to 7-3 on a 46-yard field goal by place kicker Stephen Picchini at the 9:21 mark of the second quarter.

The Musketeers pulled ahead, 10-7, just before halftime on a 1-yard keeper by quarterback Brody Rohach.

With Moorpark clinging to a three-point lead with 6:48 left in the fourth quarter, Westlake’s offense took possession of the ball at its own 13-yard line.

Moore had a key 28-yard strike to Spruce on a third-down play early in the drive to advance the ball to the Warriors’ 41. The combo hooked up again shortly thereafter for a 10-yard pickup.

Inside Moorpark territory, Moore connected with wideout Max Klinedinst on a pair of key passes that helped move the chains and set up the go-ahead touchdown.

“We didn’t have to change much on the last drive,” Klinedinst said. “Justin Moore is a great quarterback, and we have all the confidence in the world in him. There was no bump in the road.”

Once they got close enough to sniff the end zone, Westlake’s offensive line made sure Moore had enough room to finish the job in exhilarating fashion.

“That’s an all-out brawl on the last play at the goal line,” said Warrior offensive lineman Brenden Root-Burks.

“It’s that guy versus you, and you can’t do anything but sell out completely to win.”

Spoken like a gambling man.