Medicine Ball at Westlake Practice

Two days before Westlake High’s showdown against Royal, the Warriors’ football practice was hardly perfect.

Seven players sat out practice Wednesday because of bumps, bruises, breaks and otherwise.

Quarterbacks Todd Feiereisen and Corey Miles, running backs Kasey O’Brien and Jon Contos, and offensive tackles Mark Manning and Armin Najafi were out with various injuries, and receiver-defensive back Dan Catalano did not practice because he felt ill.

Westlake (6-1, 3-0 in Marmonte League play) and Royal (5-2, 2-1) are essentially playing for the league championship tonight at Royal.

“I could pick a lot of other weeks to play this big game,” Westlake Coach Jim Benkert said. “Maybe we could play it next week. Can you call Royal and see if they’ll postpone it?”

With Feiereisen (shoulder) and Miles (leg) nursing more serious injuries, third-string quarterback Kent Sowell will again start for Westlake, ranked No. 1 in the region by The Times.

Sowell completed 10 of 25 passes for 132 yards with two interceptions and no touchdowns in a 26-14 victory over Irvine Woodbridge last week.

Westlake has won the last eight games against Royal.