Oaks Christian football beats Serra with strong effort on defense

WESTLAKE VILLAGE — Oaks Christian football coach Charlie Collins called Thursday night’s game against Gardena Serra an “earmark game.”

The Lions beat Serra 13-6 in a game in which they had no offensive touchdowns. The win erased the weight of losing to Serra last season and Santa Margarita last week.

“I thought the defense was lights out,” Collins said. “We knew we could control the line of scrimmage defensively. This is a game that everyone was kind of calling a step-up game. We kind of took that personally and I hope after this game tonight no one underestimates us going forward.”

The Oaks defense had seven sacks in the game, including four on Serra’s final possession of the game when they were trying to tie it up. Three-star defensive lineman Joseph Peko and USC commit Hayden Lowe led the way for the Lions (3-2), with Peko having three sacks in the game and Lowe having two.

“I feel happy for my defense,” Peko said. “It feels good to only give up six points. I loved the way we went out there and competed and the way that our D-line was getting after the QB.”

The Oaks defense held Serra (2-2) to only 203 total yards and the only Oaks touchdown of the game came on an interception by Davon Benjamin that he returned 58 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter.

The other Oaks turnover in the game came on an interception by Andrew Powell when the Lions were leading 10-0 at the end of the third quarter.

Four-star running back Deshonne Redeaux returned to action for the Lions after suffering an injury in their season opener. Redeaux finished the game with 21 carries for 73 yards and two catches for 16 yards. Oaks freshman quarterback Trey Towns Jr. finished the game 16 of 22 passing for 153 yards but lost a fumble in the second half.

The lone Serra score came on a 3-yard touchdown run by Camron Harris-Willcot to cut the Oaks lead to 10-6 in the beginning of the fourth quarter.

Following the Harris-Willcot score, Oaks was able to drive all the way down to the Serra 1-yard line but was unable to score on a fourth-and-goal due to a bad handoff on the play.

After the failed fourth-and-goal play, the Oaks defense stepped up and was able to stop Serra deep in their own territory.

Noah Laberge was able to kick a field goal and take a 13-6 lead with a little bit over two minutes left. Serra was unable to score on the final possession of the game after that.

Laberge was 2 of 3 on field goals for the Lions, with his only miss coming on a 46-yard attempt that hit off the crossbar in the first half.

Benjamin also had a solid contribution on offense, finishing the game with five catches for 78 yards.

Oaks Christian will have a bye next week before beginning Marmonte League play in against Oxnard Pacifica. Serra will travel to take on Los Alamitos next week.