Thesis Statement: The 1984 Channel Island Raiders were destined to bring home the school’s first CIF championship title.
Topic Sentence #1: Home Games
A. The 1983 Channel Islands defense was one of the strong points in keeping fans in the stands. The defense was full of players that put all their energy into every game. Play hard was our motto.
B. Keeping opponents to scores under double digits was pivotal to their #1 ranking in the state. We had the “all for one and one for all” spirit that it took to be champions.
C. Only one loss at home and most painful due to it being the homecoming game was a loss to Camarillo High School, the final score was 10-9. This just made the defensive that more determined to shut down any other opponent we may have faced. Topic Sentence #2: Away Games
A. I was the Defensive Signal Caller and Captain. On the field for most plays when one game, the backup signal caller and myself were pulled from a game, that we were beating the opponent by a pretty large margin. The Defense coach was upset and I had to remind him there were only two people whom knew all the defensive signals and we were standing right next to him.
B. I was able to reenter the game at a position I had not played at for over 2 years, at defensive end, but I was athletic enough that there was no drop off on defensive performance. Being a signal caller I knew all the positions and where everyone needed to line up.
C. We finished the regular season away games a perfect 5-0. We knew we can win at home and win away, but this was the first time that any of us ever played in the playoffs.
Topic Sentence #3: Playoffs
A. The first game was at home and you can feel the electricity in the air, Channel Islands High School had not been to the playoffs in 4 years, and they never had a #1 ranked defense.