For Ventura County football programs, it's game on — and they couldn't be more excited

Cody Hoffman didn't have to look far to know all has changed, and for the better.

"I could see the looks on my teammates' faces," says Channel Islands High's standout junior tight end. "Everyone was so happy, super excited. I saw the smiles and I knew everything was good."

Newbury Park football coach Jason Klein shared an identical viewpoint, and from the simplest of tasks.

"I was handing out the pads and I could see the smiles on all the players' faces," said Klein. "It made me feel so good at the end of everything we've gone through.

"Some of us have lost loved ones. We've been sequestered apart from everyone forever. It has messed with their education. I'm just so happy that the players finally get the chance to play the game they love."

It's been an arduous journey through an insidious pandemic, but football players and coaches throughout the area can appreciate what perseverance has wrought.

Ventura County's high school football teams will be back in action Friday and Saturday night, a full 16 months after Pacifica appeared in the last game played by a county squad in December 2019. It is seven months after the 2020 campaign would have started in a normal school year.

It's been anything but normal of course. The COVID-19 crisis shut down all schools in the county, state and nation last March, taking high school sports with it.

Only, thankfully, does a downward trend in virus cases and a revision of state guidelines allow high school football to be played once again in the county and state. The abbreviated five-game schedule for county teams begins this week, including a number of esteemed rivalry contests.

More:The COVID pandemic shut down high school sports for a year. Has it altered them forever?

Simi Valley will visit Royal and Nordhoff takes on Santa Paula on Friday night. It's Thousand Oaks at Newbury Park, Oak Park at Agoura and Westlake at Oaks Christian on Saturday night.

Six coaches will make their debuts with their teams this week: Jon Mack for Hueneme; Charlie Weis for Fillmore; Evan Yabu for Thousand Oaks; Christian Dearborn for Royal; Joe Goyeneche for St. Bonaventure; and Cary Harris for Calabasas.

Agoura's Dustin Croick, guiding a Los Angeles County school, made his coaching debut last week in his team's resounding 56-6 victory over El Camino.

What rings true for new coaches, returning coaches and all players has been their ability to outlast a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic. There have been months and months of uncertainty, no real answers in a great unknown and fits and starts for teams hoping that a season really would be played.

"We started and had to shut down our practices six times since last July," said Nordhoff coach Lance Wiggins.

There's one reality that coaches and players all share as they get ready to participate in their first games. Through all the difficulties, setbacks, challenges and ups and downs — yep, it's all been worth it.

Is everyone thrilled to be back? Does Patrick Mahomes throw a tight spiral?

"I'm so excited for the players," said Yabu. "It's amazing what they've learned just from the chance to play a game. Perseverance does pay off, and that's an invaluable lesson for the rest of their lives. They put in all this work, never knowing what was going to happen, and now it's going to pay off."

Camarillo coach Jack Willard easily pinpoints what matters most to him with his team back in action.

"To me its simply the chance for kids to put the pads back on and play games," he said. "What else is more important? They get to practice, they get to play.

"There has been so much stress for them through all these months. They've still come out to put in the work to be ready. The kids finally get something, finally get a reward for all that. They get a chance to feel normal."

Rio Mesa coach Jim Bittner totally agrees.

"The kids get a chance to play, and that's the most important thing about this," he said. "They'll get a chance to be on the field again with their teammates. They'll compete again. They can create memories, which is really what high school sports is all about."

Players, of course, concur.

"It's just the greatest feeling to have this chance to play," said Simi Valley junior quarterback Travis Throckmorton. "We've really been getting ready for this moment since July of 2020. There has been so much time, effort and energy spent. I honestly don't know what it would have done to us if it turned out we couldn't play.

"We tried to stay positive. Coach (Jim Benkert) always told us to keep believing, that we would have a season. So now it is happening, and there's such a sense of relief. You can just feel it in practice. Everyone is just so happy."

Christian Middleton, Newbury Park's senior wide receiver, seconds that sentiment.

"Just to play again means everything to us," he said. "We're all so happy, since the team is together again and everything we've gone through has been worth it. I'm a senior, so I'm especially happy. I can't imagine what it would have felt like if I couldn't play this year."

Coaches point out the not-so-little things they've been missing with the sport shut down.

"So many of the sounds we're used to on Friday nights will be back," said Oak Park coach Casey Webb. "The cheering, the fan noise, the excitement from the players. It's something we've all missed, and it's such a big thing for a football team to experience."

Ditto, said Ventura coach Tim Garcia.

"Just hearing the kids and their excitement and happiness at being back at practice is something I appreciate. The pandemic has taken away so much from us. It's affected so much these past several months," he said. "The kids are back on the field and they're back in their safe zone. This is an escape for them and they can be happy."

Nordhoff's Wiggins acknowledges that's football's return is about more than players and coaches.

"This goes way beyond those of us on this team," he said. "This is for the community, because football on a game night is a huge deal for almost everyone who lives here. It brings everyone together. It creates unity. The sights and the sounds of a football game is something our entire community has grown to love."

Wiggins said he had his we're-really-back moment at last week's intrasquad scrimmage.

"I turned and said to one of my assistants — 'This is awesome,' " he said. "To be back and field and hear those sounds you're used to hearing is really special."

Two of the area's most veteran coaches know that Friday nights will make all the challenges and obstacles worth it.

"It's like I told my players, this is for the seniors," said Channel Islands coach Gary Porter. "It's just about getting back out there and getting physical again. Just moving around.

"I think that's good for not only my players, but my coaches as well, getting back out there and doing it. We had our doubts, quite honestly. A lot of us were kind of doubting it was going to happen.

"I told them it's a win. It's already a win just getting out there."

Hueneme's Mack, who amassed notable success at St. Bonaventure and Oxnard, can appreciate the value of finally playing. He got hired in January 2020 and has waited and waited and waited to finally put his new team on the field.

"We got a week of lifting, maybe two, before the lockdown," he said. "Then we did Zoom calls. I didn't really know the guys. I didn't have any idea what position anyone was going to play.

"It was crazy. I have to congratulate our guys. We've been on and off again since last summer. They've done a great job staying focused and staying involved."

Loren Ledin is the Prep Editor for The Star. He can be reached at loren.ledin@vcstar.com or 805-437-0285.