Coming off a loss against Long Beach, the Moorpark football team bounced back with a win in their Western State Conference North Division opener against the Los Angeles Valley College Monarchs who were hungry for their first victory of the season.

The Raiders (2-1,1-0) jumped all over L.A. Valley College (0-3, 0-1) with a quick 14-0 half time lead. To cap off a quick start, wide out Toni Washington completed a spectacular play with a 63- yard touchdown reception from quarterback Cam Merrill. Merrill, a sophomore, was filling in for injured starting quarterback Cody Holland.

Holland has been the leader of this team, but it didn’t take long for Merrill to step in where Holland left off, making spectacular passes to the wide receivers.

Merrill made the most of his first start this season. Also the Raiders defense came to play stopping Valley College on many drives, and at times forcing them three and out. Valley College just could not come up with an answer to stop the Raiders offense, they also couldn’t figure out how to get past the defense of the Raiders. The Raiders then refueled their tank, gunning out into the second half with a 16 point third quarter, to bust the game wide open.

Valley College couldn’t figure out how to get past the strong Moorpark defense, which was swarming the ball. Sam Hollis, a Raider defensive back, came up with a key interception to give the ball back to Merrill and the Moorpark offense. After that key interception, Merrill connected with rising star Nick Bawden for a 41-yard touchdown reception. Both wide receivers Bawden and Washington continue to have great games when playing at home.

After the big third quarter, the Raiders used an 89-yard drive to put the game out of reach with a touchdown. Moorpark cruised in the fourth quarter to cap a 37-12 victory to open up division play.

Moorpark now looks to pull off an upset playing defending state champions College of the Canyons next week.