Newbury Park, CA — As he pondered a reporter’s question about potentially breaking the Ventura County career touchdown pass record earlier this fall, Newbury Park quarterback Brady Smigiel waved over a freshman leaving the practice field. Smigiel introduced quarterback Dawson Armstrong as “the future of Newbury Park football.” Friday night, as Smigiel was fighting to keep the Panthers’ season alive on a record-breaking night, the future provided a vital assist. With the game tied and Smigiel on the training table late in the third quarter, Armstrong drove the Panthers down the field with three straight completions, setting up the game-turning score. “I’m really proud of him,” Smigiel said of Armstrong. “He went out there and started doing better than me.” Smigiel’s 7-yard touchdown pass to Shane Rosenthal, set up by his freshman protégé, helped Newbury Park pull away from visiting Ventura for a 42-30 win in the first round of the CIF-Southern Section Division 5 playoffs at Hurley Field. “He did the hard part,” Armstrong said. “I did the easy part. They had no film on me.” The score was also Smigiel’s 91st career touchdown pass, which broke the Ventura County career record held by Zac Wasserman of Westlake since 1999. The record set by Hueneme’s Joe Davis in 1972, Santa Clara’s Tim Gutierrez in 1987, Simi Valley’s Eric Bennett in 1992, Newbury Park’s Keith Smith in 1993 and then Wasserman during the 1999 CIF-SS Northern Division final now belongs to No. 7. “I looked up to all these guys,” Smigiel said. “I looked up Keith Smith. I looked up to Cameron Rising. I looked up to Ben Gulbranson. All these guys with big records (who played at) big schools. “I can’t believe it, the fact that I broke the record. There’s been so many big-time names in Ventura County. It’s honestly just a blessing.” Smigiel completed 21 of 32 passes for 239 yards and four TDs and Rosenthal caught 16 passes for 197 yards and three TDs and also returned an interception 41 yards for a game-clinching score in the fourth quarter as the Panthers (8-3) advanced to play Santa Ana-Foothill (7-4) in this Friday’s quarterfinals. “It’s really just a good feeling,” Rosenthal said. “We worked our butt off all week for this. We knew it was going to be a hard-fought game. Ventura is a great team. We really battled until the end. We had a little adversity with Brady coming out and the freshman quarterback coming in. But we just battled as a team all the way to the end; ultimately we got the job done.” Rosenthal’s county-leading ninth interception of the season tied the school single-season record set by Patrick Reddick in 1995. The junior already owns the career record with 13. “It’s crazy what he’s doing on offense and defense,” Smigiel said of his top target. “My job is to get the ball to my athletes and Shane makes my job really easy.” Ventura’s season ended at 7-4, despite a big night from its own aerial combination. Sophomore quarterback Derek Garcia completed 21 of 33 passes for 292 yards, three TDs and also ran for a score. Senior speedster Makana Arndt caught nine passes for 192 yards and all three TDs. “I didn’t want to get into that type of game with them, for us to be in that style and scheme on an offense,” Ventura coach Tim Garcia said. “But we kind of had to. “We had some kids offensively step up for us tonight. Makana Arndt, they couldn’t guard him tonight. That was pretty awesome to see.” The Cougars’ approach was born out of necessity. Newbury Park held the Ventura running game to 82 yards rushing on 15 carries, 78 of which came on a single run by running back Sawyer Cline. The breakaway sprint set up the 1-yard Garcia TD sneak that tied the game 21-21 with 8:41 left in the third quarter. The Panthers’ season seemed in dire straits when Smigiel hopped to the sideline after completing a third-down pass to tight end Blake Bryce on the next possession. “I was standing next to my friend and I said, ‘Oh shoot, I’ve got to go in,’ ” Armstrong said. The backup handed his clipboard to fellow freshman Will Garrett. “No problem,” Garrett shot back. “Have fun.” Armstrong promptly fumbled the center exchange, which Bryce dove on, saving the moment. “I went in and had no idea what I was doing to start,” Armstrong admitted. “But I settled down, hit my throws and had some fun.” Armstrong went right to Rosenthal twice to move the chains. His 18-yard pass to Landon Bell pushed Newbury Park into the red zone. “We all believe in him,” Rosenthal said. “We practice with him. We trust him. We knew he was going to get the job done.” After the young passer was roughed two plays later, it was first-and-goal at the Ventura 7. When Armstrong saw a retaped Smigiel jogging back out onto the field, he briefly hesitated. “I wanted to finish the drive and score,” Armstrong said. The freshman didn’t want to leave the field. “He was (ticked off),” Smigiel said. The starter retook the keys to the Panthers offense and found Rosenthal in the corner of the end zone for the tiebreaking and record-setting score. “I’m not hurt,” Smigiel explained with a smile. “I just wanted to see Dawson get a little spotlight. I just wanted to see what he could do, get his heart beating a little bit. He looked bored on the sideline.” Rosenthal took over from there, reeling in a 41-yard scoring strike from Smigiel play and jumping in front of an out route for a 41-yard interception return to give Newbury Park a 42-21 stranglehold with 6:07 to play. “Honestly, I knew they were just trying to get out of bounds and I know that 15 (Josh Woodworth) is one of their main targets,” Rosenthal said. “I was looking at the quarterback’s eyes. He immediately looked to the out. I just jumped it and I was off to the races.” But on the night Ventura County’s current top quarterback joined its all-time greats, Smigiel needed the help of a freshman backup seeing the field in a varsity game for just the third time. “That’s why football is the greatest game in the world,” Armstrong said. Round two let's go!!!🏈