Kemp, Thousand Oaks football team ready for big challenge in showdown with Newbury Park

There are football players who perform with dedication, with commitment, with passion.

Silas Kemp has all of that. Then add pure joy.

“I love the game. I love competing,” says the Thousand Oaks High football team’s senior wide receiver/cornerback. “It’s like I’m a little lost when I’m not playing football. I wouldn’t know what to do with myself.”

The Lancers know the feeling. They would certainly be lost without the versatile Kemp.

That’s not going to happen. Kemp will be front and center and in the middle of everything when Thousand Oaks plays what might be its most important game of the regular season Friday night.

It’s rivalry week, and the defending Canyon League champion Lancers (3-2, 1-0) will take on host and rival Newbury Park (3-1, 1-0). Kickoff is 7 p.m.

It’s Brady Smigiel and the high-octane Panthers offense matching up with a stellar Lancers defense.

It’s Thousand Oaks sophomore quarterback Jackson Taylor and Co. trying to dent a Newbury Park defense motivated to take a giant step forward.

It’s a rematch of last season’s classic contest won by the Lancers in double overtime, 41-38.

“It’s rivalry week and certainly a date we had circled on the calendar in the summertime,” said Talon Gold, Newbury Park’s senior middle linebacker. “We certainly know how important this game is. We’re excited and ready for the challenge.

“We understand that we just need to play our game. Everyone needs to do their job.”

Kemp said the Lancers are excited but guided by perspective.

“To be honest, we’re looking at this as just another game,” he said. “We love the challenge, but we’re trying to get better week by week. This is another step along the way.”

Both locked-in coaches remain focused on the same priority. Amid big-game week, the most important goal is improvement by their teams.

“The big thing for us is getting better every day,” said Thousand Oaks’s first-year coach Ben McEnroe, the former Cal Lutheran University head coach. “This is an opportunity to go up against a great opponent and hopefully continue our growth and improvement.”

Ditto, said Newbury Park coach Joe Smigiel.

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“This is really about us,” he said. “We need to be a little better, starting every day in practice. We’re looking to take a step forward in every game we play. I think we’ve been able to do that.

“We know we’re playing a very good team with a great defense, but we’re not that much concerned beyond getting ready for their schemes. We’re very much a work in progress, but I have confidence in our players. They’re learning that everyone needs to do their job and play together.”

Newbury Park can score points. Lots of them.

The uber-gifted Smigiel has already thrown for 1,299 yards and 23 touchdowns with just two interceptions.

Wide receiver Shane Rosenthal has caught 37 passes for 500 yards and six TDs.

But the Panthers have also yielded 49 points in a win over Golden Valley and 63 points in a loss to Santa Maria-St. Joseph.

Gold, the leader in the middle, said the defense accepts responsibility.

“We know that how we play is so important as to what happens this season,” he said. “If we play well, we can go a long ways in the playoffs.”

Newbury Park, coming off a bye week, had time to shore up its defense.

“If everyone stays on the same page and does their job, we’ll be fine,” said Gold, who has 31 tackles, including 18 solos. “We’re still confident. We have the players to be a very good defense.”

Kemp impacts both sides of the football for Thousand Oaks.

The 5-foot-11, 170-pounder has grabbed 18 receptions for a team-best 358 yards and five touchdowns while also notching 23 solo tackles, two interceptions and one sack on defense.

He loves the challenge of matching up with opposing wide receivers, but there’s something special about playing offense.

Kemp is a natural playmaker.

“I love catching the ball. I love scoring touchdowns,” he said. “I’m always trying to make a move and break away. My goal is always to get into the end zone.”

Kemp started playing as a fifth-grader on a flag football team, then opted to take time off when he reached eighth grade.

“I needed a break,” he said. “I actually started playing golf, and had a lot of fun with it. But, really, I soon realized how much I missed playing football. I knew I had to get back to it.”

Kemp was a running back as a youth player, but switched to wide receiver as a Thousand Oaks freshman. There was plenty to learn.

“For me, there were two things I needed to work on: catching the ball and route running,” he said. “I had too many drops, I had to learn how to run different routes. It helped that being a receiver is a lot like being a running back. I had experience handling the football.”

His coach is among his biggest fans.

McEnroe said Kemp is much more than a stellar player.

“He’s so much fun to be around,” McEnroe said. “I saw him five minutes ago, and he had a big smile on his face while hanging out with a couple teammates.

“He’s friends with everyone and not just the high-profile kids. He’s just a natural leader that everyone wants to follow.”

Kemp figures to be ultra busy Friday.

Not only will he seek to unleash big plays on offense, he‘ll be mixing it up with Newbury Park’s sterling cast of receivers on defense.

“It’s a challenge, but it’s also fun,” Kemp said. “They’re a great passing team. We need to mix it, but we’ll also play a lot of man defense. We’ll be ready to go.”

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Kemp, Thousand Oaks ready for big challenge in Newbury Park