Oxnard and Pacifica aren't just playing for bragging rights tonight. The winner clinches a CIF playoff berth.

On the second play from scrimmage, Henry Fernandez raced 58 yards for a touchdown for a 7-0 Oxnard lead.

Pacifica evened the score at with 9:14 left in the first quarter on Jose Garcia's 3-yard run after the Tritons recovered a fumbled punt on the Oxnard 22-yard line.

But the Yellowjackets came right back with a 9-play scoring drive highlighted by Alex Gavin's 21-yard run and capped by Gavin's 4-yard touchdown run.

Following a Pacifica fumble, Tiai Salanoa rises for a highlight-reel 24-yard touchdown catch from Billy Ceja for a 21-7 Oxnard lead with 3:11 left in the first quarter.

UPDATE: Gavin breaks the 100-yard mark with a 45-yard touchdown run to put Oxnard up 42-13 with 3:05 left in the half. He has 136 yards on 13 att.
Hernandez returns an interception 42 yards for his fourth score of the first half to push Oxnard ahead 49-13 with 2:35 left in the half.

For the second time in three weeks, the Camarillo High football team scored the last two touchdowns to turn a double-digit deficit into a come-from-behind win.

Quarterback Jeff Matthews hit Chase Tackett for a 12-yard touchdown and running back Ossie Toc ran in the winning score from 4 yards away with 5:36 to play as Camarillo opened Pacific View League play with a 27-23 comeback win over host Pacifica Friday night.

"Just believe," said Toc. "We all have heart on this team."

Camarillo (5-1, 1-0) has outscored its past four opponents 50-6 in the final quarter, all victories.

"We've done it before," said Matthews, who threw two touchdowns in the final 2:53 to beat Ventura 26-25 on Oct. 2. "We have confidence in each other."

Toc ran for a career-high 183 yards and two touchdowns on 27 carries. Matthews completed 13 of 16 passes for 220 yards, including a pair of timely 53-yard strikes to tight end Andy Dean, and two touchdowns.

Camarillo trailed 17-7 with 4:16 left in the third quarter and 23-14 with 10:56 to play.

Henry Pineda's 21-yard field goal and Max Mondol's 4-yard scoring strike to Pierre Gutter, following a 44-yard interception return by defensive lineman Mark Samoa, gave Pacifica a 17-7 lead over Camarillo with 4:16 left in the third quarter.

Jeff Matthews pulled Camarillo within 17-14 with a 25-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Molesworth along the right sideline, set up by a 53-yard strike to tight end  Andy Dean on third and 17.

But Pacifica pushed the lead back out to nine points on Jose Garcia's 4-yard touchdown run with 10:56 to play, which capped off a 6-play, 65-yard scoring drive, which included a 30-yard Mondol pass to Frankie Estanol. 

UPDATE: Camarillo pulls within 23-21 on Matthews' 13-yard strike to Chase Tackett with 8:28 to play, capping a 7-play, 66-yard scoring drive.

Camarillo answers with a 9-play, 79-yard drive on the legs of running back Ossie Tac, who breaks three long runs before finishing the march from 3 yards out with 2:01 left in the half.

Tac has already rushed for 88 yards and the score on 12 carries, including runs of 13, 12, 12, 12, 14 and 11 yards.

Pacifica recovered a punt on the Camarillo 23 with six seconds left in the half, but two incompletions later, the teams go to the half tied at 7.

Tight end Jaime Razo pops a rocket screen and lopes 70 yards for a Max Mondol touchdown pass, which gives Pacifica a 7-0 lead with 4:19 left in the first half.

The Pacific View League opened slowly until until Pacifica LB Marqus Williams' jarring hit on Camarillo QB Jeff Matthews, which popped off the QBs helmet on a third down play late in the first quarter.

Both quarterbacks combined to complete 15 of their first 18 passes.

Northern Division

Buena 27, Thousand Oaks 20: Buena passes big test by Derry Eads in Ventura.
Newbury Park 34, Rio Mesa 6: Newbury Park adjusts well by Joe Curley in Newbury Park.
Pacifica 56, Simi Valley 27: Mondol, Pacifica roll past Simi Valley by Sean Ceglinsky in Oxnard.
Camarillo 49, Agoura 14: Camarillo clicks against Agoura by Jeffrey Dransfeld in Camarillo.
Hueneme 33, Calabasas 0: Hueneme blanks Calabasas by Ted Cotti in Hueneme.
Westlake 42, Saugus 20: Isham powers Westlake over Saugus by Bob Buttitta in Santa Clarita.
Chaminade 33, Royal 14: Chaminade too much for Royal by David Lassen in Los Angeles.

Northwest Division

Santa Paula 23, Golden Valley 13: Santa Paula earns first win by Steve Pratt in Canyon Country.
Morro Bay 28, Oak Park 13: Morro Bay holds off Oak Park by Lance O'Fallon in Oak Park.

Thanks to the Jewish New Year - Rosh Hashanah, which begins tonight at sundown - we get two nights of high school football this week.

Here are the news, notes and highlights from last night's games:

Buena 27, Thousand Oaks 20: It was only a matter of time before Cliff Farrar turned the Buena program into a winner again. But this quick? Wow. In Farrar's second season at the helm, the Bulldogs recorded their biggest win in several years. Buena QB Robert Munoz completed 15 of 19 passes for 218 yards as Buena improved to 2-0 against a Thousand Oaks team that played Valencia down to the wire last week. The Lancers were without the services of RB Richard Minyard.

Camarillo 49, Agoura 14: On the same day the school conducted tryouts for its loudest students, Camarillo gave them plenty to scream about. Ossie Toc - could there be much better of a name? - rushed for 155 yards and two touchdowns. Ryan Molesworth caught three touchdown passes from Jeff Mathews in the route. If you espouse the Kevin Bacon theory, Ventura might be in for a handfull tonight against Moorpark. The Cougars lost to Agoura 12-0 in the opener last week.

Newbury Park 34, Rio Mesa 6: The Panthers scored 34 unanswered points and held Rio Mesa to just 37 yards of total offense in the second half. Newbury Park QB Jake Geringer threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more.

Westlake 42, Saugus 20: Nick Isham knows what perfection feels like. The Westlake QB finished an eye-popping 16 of 16 for 153 yards and four touchdowns. If that wasn't enough, Isham also caught four passes for 27 yards and returned an interception 75 yards for a touchdown as the Warriors posted 42 points for the second straight game. Tavior Mowry rushed 13 times for 103 yards. 

Pacifica 56, Simi Valley 27: This game was over by halftime as QB transfer Max Mondol completed 9 of his first 10 passes, including four touchdowns. Mondol finished the game 13 of 15 for 190 yards and his second incompletion of the game didn't come until less than 10 minutes remained in the fourth quarter.

Chaminade 33, Royal 14: Chaminade led 33-0 before Royal finally put together a few scoring drives. Royal QB Zach Collins completed 24 of 43 passes for 270 yards and Connor Wolcott had 11 receptions for 166 yards.

Hueneme 33, Calabasas 0: Sure the Vikings haven't played the toughest schedule, but 3-0 sure feels good after not winning a single game last season. Speaking of that, Calabasas can relate to losing streak. The Coyotes have had a few of their own over the years. Senior RB Trashaun Nixon had a stellar performance for Hueneme, rushing for 269 yards on 16 carries and scoring three touchdowns. Nixon broke off TD runs of 76 and 93 yards in the fourth quarter.

Morro Bay 28, Oak Park 13: The Eagles had to dig deep to find a starting QB last night. Brad Taylor was out with headaches and his backup Connor Hill was out with a hernia. Oak Park turned to WR-turned-QB Dereck Deakin, who completed 3 of 8 passes, including a 66-yard touchdown pass to Aiki Zapati (another classic name for the vault).

Santa Paula 23, Golden Valley 13: Santa Paula registered its first win behind Ivan Ledesma. The senior returned a kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown and went 69 yards on a screen pass thrown by sophomore Kameron Klein for another touchdown. Ledesma finished with five catches for 125 yards. 

 

Pacific View League girls' basketball co-MVP Keiana Vines has transferred from Pacifica High to Santa Clara, where she joins cousin Dajyanah Vines.

Channel Islands and Rio Mesa will play an All-Oxnard CIF soccer final Saturday as the two teams win Tuesday. Meanwhile, the St. Bonaventure boys and Oaks Christian girls were eliminated.

BOYS

Division IV

Channel Islands 1, North Torrance 1  (Channel Islands advances 7-6 after nine rounds of penalty kicks)
Rio Mesa 3, Pacifica 1

Division VII
Rosamond 3, St. Bonaventure 2: Aaron Glover twice set up Derek Kirk for equalizers. Kirk finished with eight goals in four postseason games.

GIRLS

Division V

South Torrance 1, Oaks Christian 0

Division II

Agoura 25, Bell Gardens 2
Royal 12, Villa Park 8 (OT)
Palos Verdes 23, Newbury Park 12

Division IV

Santa Ynez 10, Pacifica 8
Burbank 18, Oxnard 6
Rio Mesa 6, Temple City 3

Division VI

Elsinore 21, Oaks Christian 4
Malibu 16, Rowland 6

Division I-AA
Long Beach Wilson 65, Oxnard 49

Division I-A
No. 5 Ventura 73, Hawthorne 47
Ventura will visit No. 12 Los Osos, 66-43 winners over California, Friday
Lancaster 63, Pacifica 49

Division II-AA
No. 1 Thousand Oaks 69, Canyon Country-Canyon 41
Buena 61, Walnut 59
Thousand Oaks will host Buena Friday

Division II-A
No. 6 Simi Valley 66, Compton 62
Simi Valley will visit Rowland, 50-41 winner over No. 11 Sunny Hills, Friday night
Mayfair 64, Camarillo 39
No. 16 Santa Barbara 58, Westlake 52

Division III-AA
Arroyo Grande 69, No. 7 Agoura 58
St. John Bosco 63, Rio Mesa 55
No. 6 North Torrance 102, Moorpark 56

Division IV-A
No. 5 Oaks Christian 75, Morro Bay 62
Oaks Christian will play Banning, 51-43 winners over Fairmont Prep, Friday
No. 6 Santa Clara 80, Santa Ynez 43
Santa Clara will play No. 11 Cerritos Valley Christian, 64-52 winners over Costa Mesa, Friday
Fillmore 59, Carpinteria 53
Fillmore will host No. 2 Price,  73-45 winners over Whittier Christian, Friday
Crespi 70, Nordhoff 45

Division IV-AA
St. Francis 57, Santa Paula 41

Division V-A
No. 14 Pilibos 41, Thacher 38

Division VI-AA
No. 13 Newbury Park Adventist 66, Cuyama Valley 44
Newbury Park Adventist  will play Hesperia Christian, 57-31 winners over Desert Chapel, Friday.

The CIF-Southern Section released the playoff pairings for basketball today. Here are just a few highlights from the girls side of things. The first round is scheduled for Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

- Buena is the No. 2 seed in Division II-AA and hosts Glendale - an at-large selection from the Pacific League.

- Agoura is seeded No. 2 in Division III-AA and hosts San Marcos in the first round.

- Ventura is the No. 5 seed in Division I-A and hosts Aliso Niguel - an at-large team from the South Coast League.

- Newbury Park is seeded No. 6 in Division II-A and hosts Glendora - an at-large from the Serra League. Simi Valley and Westlake both received at-large bids in II-A and Calabasas received an at-large bid in IV-AA.

- Thousand Oaks is the No. 5 seed in Division II-AA and hosts Burbank.

- If No. 13 Royal wins on the road against Century in Division II-AA, the Highlanders would likely meet No. 1 Brea Olinda in the second round.

- Pacifica will have its hands full in the very-tough Division I-AA bracket. The Tritons received the No. 11 seed and host Redlands East Valley.

- Rio Mesa received a No. 9 seed and a rematch in Division II-A. The Spartans host Dos Pueblos, which they beat in their own tournament earlier this season.  In another Pacific View-Channel showdown, Camarillo plays at Santa Barbara.

- Oaks Christian is the No. 5 seed in Division IV-A and hosts Louisville. Andre Chevalier should be familiar with Mission League opponents having formerly coached at Reseda Cleveland.

- Fillmore is the No. 7 seed in IV-A and hosts Santa Ynez. The Flashes lost to Santa Ynez three years ago in the second round of the playoffs at Santa Ynez.

- Santa Clara reached the second round without even playing a game. The Saints are the No. 3 seed in V-A and received a bye. They will host the winner of No. 10 Desert-No. 11 Mojave on Saturday.

Here are The Star's top 10 high school sports headlines for the week of Feb. 2-8:

Here are The Star's Top 10 stories for the week Jan. 26-31.

With their fathers looking on, Pacifica High senior Annabel Davis and Camarillo High freshman Samantha McCarthy both scored six points Tuesday night in Pacifica's 47-26 win at Camarillo.

Moorpark College men's basketball coach Remy McCarthy and Moorpark College athletic director Howard Davis have spent much of the last decade working together, first on the Raiders' coaching staff, then in the Raiders' athletic department.

Keiana Vines had 20 points as the Pacifica High girls basketball team (15-6) stayed perfect in Pacific View League play with a 47-26 win over visiting Camarillo Tuesday night.

Dajyanah Vines completed a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds as the Santa Clara High girls basketball team (16-3) improved to 5-0 in the Frontier League with a 77-27 win over Grace Brethren

The Channel Islands and Pacifica High boys' soccer teams improved to 5-1 in Pacific View League play Tuesday afternoon.

Luis Hernandez scored twice, David Torres had a goal and an assist and Miguel Tellez had two assists as the Channel Islands (12-2-3) scored three second-half goals to avenge its only PVL loss of the season, 3-0, over visiting Rio Mesa (8-5-3, 2-4) Tuesday afternoon.

Rogelio Salinas and Raul Yepez scored first-half goals as Pacifica (15-4-1) eased by host Camarillo, 2-0.

Moises Orozco scored twice and Andres Negrette added another as Oxnard (6-3, 4-2) stayed a game back by scoring three times in the final 15 minutes with a 3-2 win over Hueneme, which led 2-0 midway through the second half.

Macey Herrera set up Nika Nelero's goal and Megan Erskine set up Riley Ridgik's goal as the Buena High girls' soccer team (14-7-1) improved to 5-0 in Channel League play with a 2-0 win over host San Marcos Tuesday.

Adrinna Nunez scored four times and Diana Leon scored twice as the Santa Paula High girls' soccer team (10-1-1) improved to 4-0 in the Frontier League with a 8-0 win over host Santa Clara Tuesday.

But the Pacifica High girls' soccer team (13-3-3, 5-0-1) did not stay perfect in the Pacific View League. Amber Pimley opened the scoring for Camarillo (6-7-2, 4-1-1) in the 24th minute off Briana Leriviere's throw-in as the Camarillo High girls' soccer team handed Pacifica its first league draw.

Sabrina Munoz's free kick in the 60th minute kept the Tritons unbeaten in league play.

Here are The Star's top 10 high school sports stories for Jan. 12-18, not necessarily in order of importance:

Omar Espinoza poked home a loose ball off a corner kick in the final minute as the Pacifica High boys soccer team improved to 2-0 in Pacific View League play with a 3-2 win over visiting Rio Mesa Tuesday afternoon.

A pair of Jerry Ponce 12th and 13th goals of the season had pushed the Spartans (7-2-3) within moments of surviving an opening gaunlet of Channel Islands (8-2-3) and Pacifica (12-3-1) undefeated.

Elsewhere in the PVL, Jose Nuno scored in the 67 th minute to push Channel Islands past Hueneme, 1-0, and goals by Ignacio Coronel and Moises Orozco led Oxnard over Camarillo 2-0.

Updated Pacific View League boys' soccer standings: 

• Team PVL Overall 
• Pacifica 2-0 12-3-1  
• Oxnard 2-0 4-4-3
• Rio Mesa 1-1 7-2-3  
• Channel Islands 1-1 8-2-3  
• Hueneme 0-2 2-4-2  
• Camarillo 0-2 1-10-1