It's still more than 60 minutes before the start of the 99th meeting between Fillmore and Santa Paula but the place is packed. Even the press box is filled, including folks from The Star's web site and Time Warner cable. For the second straight year, the game looks like it will decide the Frontier League champion.
There's very few games in the county where fans from the two sides are as passionate and that passion brings a buzz that few high school games can match.

A win over Foothill League program Golden Valley was enough to bump defending Frontier League champion Santa Paula from ninth to second in the East Valley Division football poll.

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. 

 

CIF-SS Division II playoffs, first round

Cypress 11, Buena 10

CIF-SS Division IV playoffs, first round

St. Bonaventure 6, San Marino 5: Strikeouts by Nolan Rodarte left the bases loaded in the sixth and seventh innings as the senior recorded his school-record 10th save of the season and guided the Seraphs into the second round for the fifth straight season. Senior J.J. Lasalle picked up the win in relief to improve to 6-2. Senior catcher Mike Marrietta was 3 for 4 with two RBIs and two runs scored. St. Bonaventure faces La Quinta Tuesday.

St. Paul 2, Oaks Christian 1 (8 inn.): Nick Pann went 2 for 3 with a double and an RBI, Drew Hacker scored a run and had a stolen base and Travis Radke pitched seven innings, allowing two earned runs with three strikeouts, for the Lions (12-9).

Palm Desert 6, Oak Park 0

CIF-SS Division VI playoffs, first round

Santa Paula 6, Rio Hondo 0: Allen Gwynn went 2 for 3 with two runs scored, a home run, double and an RBI for the Cardinals (20-8). Gwynn also threw a shutout with 12 strikeouts. C.J. Castaneda went 3 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored. Justin Macias had two RBIs, a run scored, a double and a hit.

Nordhoff 9, Kern Valley 1: Tom Quackenbush went 3 for 3, including a two-run double that was part of a five-run second inning, and Dan Stoner scattered nine hits while allowing just one run in a complete-game effort. Nordoff (9-10) picked up its eighth win in 10 games.

Poly/Pasadena 8, Grace Brethren 4

Santa Paula, Grace Brethren and Nordhoff finished the Frontier League baseball season tied for first place with 6-2 records.

Santa Paula High baseball player Allan Gwynn has left his mark on the 2009 season as a pitcher and batter.

Division I

San Clemente 2, Thousand Oaks 1

Division V

Oaks Christian 4, Torrance 0
Valley Christian 2, La Reina 1 (2OT)
La Canada 1, Oak Park 0

Division VI

Malibu 3, Linfield Christian 0
St. Margaret's 3, Santa Paula 0

Division VII

St. Paul 2, Thacher 0

Here are the top 10 high school sports stories for Ventura County for the week of Feb. 16-22, not in any particular order:

Division I

Thousand Oaks 3, Peninsula 0
San Clemente 2, Buena 1
Trabuco Hills 3, Agoura 2
Mater Dei 1, Ventura 0

Division IV

St. Joseph of Santa Maria 3, Camarillo 0
Santa Ynez 2, Rio Mesa 0

Division V

Oak Park 6, Crossroads 0
Oaks Christian 7, Windward 1
La Reina 2, Campbell Hall 1
South Torrance 1, St. Bonaventure 1 (South advances via shootout, 5-4)

Division VI

Santa Paula 2, Bishop Union 0

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.

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

Santa Paula handed Fillmore its first Frontier League boys' basketball loss of the season Friday night. Anthony Del Rio and Andrew Jimenez had 13 points each as Santa Paula won 57-53 at home.

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 stories in high school sports for last week, in no particular order:

Ivan Sanchez set up Jose Nuno's goal as the host Channel Islands High boys' soccer team improved to 4-0-2 with a 1-0 win over Malibu Tuesday afternoon.

Down 2-0 inside 15 minutes, the Pacifica High boys' soccer team (4-0) needed a hat trick from senior Raul Yepez to stay unbeaten.

Omar Espinosa, Adolfo Varga and Edel Rivera picked up assists and goalkeeper Jose Villalobos also saved a penalty kick in Pacifica's 3-2 win over Carpenteria.

Also,Monique Orocio scored twice and high-flying Yadira Toraya scored her sixth goal in five matches as the Pacifica High girls' soccer team improved to 4-1 with a 4-2 win over Santa Paula (4-1).

Santa Paula senior Maricruz Magana set up younger sister and freshman Lupita Magana to give the Cardinals the lead after 10 minutes.

An hour before Santa Paula's game with Grace Brethren, Cardinal fans had already packed the stands in anticipation of Friday night's game. It's been a few years since Santa Paula has had a chance to win an outright league title and it's evident by the buzz in the stands that fans and students are eager to see if their team can accomplish that goal. Regardless of what happens tonight, fans are excited about seeing their team compete in this year's CIF-SS playoffs.

For only the third time in 36 years, Santa Paula has won a league football title.

With one game left on its regular-season schedule, the Fillmore High football program still has an outside shot of claiming a share of the Frontier League title.

We're working on a table of contents that will give readers, as we grow Preps Plus, the ability to call up only posts from the sports, league or school about which they care. More to come.