Preps Plus

Gary Fabricus must agree with Bill Belichick. On his first possession of the postseason, the Newbury Park head coach elects to go for it on fourth and 1 from the Panthers 29.

Running back Cameron Roberson gets a yard and the first down and six plays later, Newbury Park takes a 7-0 lead on Jake Geringer's 16-yard scoring strike to Fadi Nassar with 6:12 left in the first quarter.

Righetti, which went three and out on the opening possession of the game, immediately answers with Michael Hale's 64-yard touchdown run, pulling even 7-7 with 5:17 left in the quarter.

Newbury Park needs just four plays to reclaim the lead, 14-7, on Roberson's 32-yard touchdown run with 3:25 left first quarter.

Geringer has completed 7 of his first 9 passes for 108 yards, three and 60 of which to Nassar. The Panthers have 153 yards of total offense on its first 15 plays from scrimmage.

It's chilly and drizzly tonight in Santa Maria, which means perfect weather for a CIF-SS Northern Division football game between two ends of the Northern Division.

Cameron Roberson, Phillip Muscarella and the Newbury Park High football team have their work cut out for them against a Righetti team that has won seven straight games behind 1,000-yard rusher Michael Hale and quarterback Dylan Jones.

"They are definitely a big and physical group of kids," said Newbury Park coach Gary Fabricus.

The Warriors swept through the Pac-7 League for the first time since 1984.

Newbury Park (8-2) only suffered losses to Westlake and Moorpark

It's the opening week of the playoffs tonight, with 14 games involving local teams. For updates on these games, check our scoreboard with highlights, the VCSPreps.com homepage, and the VCSPreps on Twitter.

Northern Division
*Thousand Oaks (5-5) at Valencia (10-0)
Atascadero (7-3) at Buena (8-2)
Arroyo Grande (7-3) at Camarillo (9-1)
Canyon (2-8) at Moorpark (9-1)
Ventura (5-5) at Westlake (10-0)
*Hueneme (7-3) at Hart (7-3)
*Newbury Park (8-2) at Righetti (8-2)
*Oxnard (7-3) at St. Bonaventure (9-1)

Northwest Division
*Santa Ynez (6-4) at Oaks Christian (10-0)
*El Segundo (6-4) at Nordhoff (8-2)
Oak Park (4-6) at Serra (10-0)

East Valley Division
Santa Paula (6-4) at St. Margaret's (9-1)
*Yucca Valley (3-7) at Fillmore (7-3)
*Grace Brethren (5-5) at Sage Hill (7-3)

*means 7:30 p.m. start, all other games are at 7 p.m.

Those of you with Direct TV can watch former Ventura High running back Tyler Ebell in the CFL playoffs Sunday morning.

Ebell returns kicks and punts and also backs up starting running back DeAndre Cobb for the Hamilton Tiger-cats. He wears No. 15.

Hamilton play the British Columbia Lions Sunday morning in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. The game will be shown live on MSG+, which is DTV channel 635.

With the CIF-Southern Section postseason football brackets set to be released on Sunday, expect to see a reshuffling of the top four seeds in the Northern Division.

The game was a monster -- the undefeated Moorpark and Westlake highs football teams locking up for the Marmonte League championship -- and so was the crowd.

Check VCSPreps.com for full stories about these games. Rankings are the Star's Top 10. Notes compiled from staff reports.

#4 Westlake 38, #2 Moorpark 14
In the first ever Ventura County matchup between 9-0 teams meeting up for a league title, Westlake prevailed. Nick Isham ran for threw touchdowns and threw for one as well.
Records: Westlake 10-0, 7-0 Marmonte League; Moorpark 9-1, 6-1.

#7 Buena 14, Ventura 10
Buena wins the cross-town rivalry game for the first time since 2003. The game was close throughout, and on the final play of the game, Ventura's C.J. Souter caught a screen pass and ran 35 yards, but was tackled at the Buena 15-yard line. Buena's Robert Munoz threw two touchdown passes.
Records: Buena 8-2, 4-1 Channel League; Ventura 5-5, 3-2.

#5 Camarillo 20, Rio Mesa 14 (OT)
Camarillo trailed 14-0 in the third quarter, but came back to win to finish Pacific View League play unbeaten and eliminate Rio Mesa's postseason hopes. Camarillo's Jeff Mathews 1-yard run with 2:13 left in the fourth quarter tied the game up. After Rio Mesa didn't score in overtime, Mathews threw a screen pass to Ossie Toc who ran 25 yards for a touchdown for the win.
Records: Camarillo 9-1, 5-0 Pacific View League; Rio Mesa 5-5, 2-3.

#1 Oaks Christian 56, Nordhoff 6
In a game for the Tri-Valley League title, Oaks Christian got out to an early 42-0 lead after the first quarter and never looked back. Oaks Christian's defense forced four turnovers in the first quarter.
Records: Oaks Christian 10-0, 5-0 Tri-Valley League; Nordhoff 8-2, 4-1.

#3 St. Bonaventure 48, Dos Pueblos 0
St. Bonaventure wins its final Channel League game, going 40-0 over the past eight years. Devon Blackledge rushed for 118 yards on just nine carries as St. Bonaventure led 41-0 at halftime.
Records: St. Bonaventure 9-1, 5-0 Channel League; Dos Pueblos 4-6, 1-4.

#6 Newbury Park 28, #8 Thousand Oaks 17
Phillip Muscarella's 43-yard gain on a fake punt from Newbury Park High's 28-yard line set up the clinching score as Newbury Park rallied from a 10-point deficit. Both teams advance to the postseason, but the win gave Newbury Park a third-place finish while Thousand Oaks fell to fourth.
Records: Newbury Park 8-2, 5-2 Marmonte League; Thousand Oaks 5-5, 4-3.

#9 Hueneme 61, Channel Islands 16
The win gives Hueneme a tie for second place and a spot in the playoffs only one season after finishing 0-10.
Records: Hueneme 7-3, 3-2 Pacific View League; Channel Islands 5-5, 0-5.

Oxnard 56, Pacifica 13
Oxnard wins the Gonzales Grudge match and clinches a spot in the postseason. Seniors Henry Fernandez and Alex Gavin combined for 335 yards rushing and seven touchdowns.
Records: Oxnard 7-3, 3-2 Pacifc View League; Pacifica 4-6, 2-3.

Grace Brethren 36, Santa Paula 34
Grace Brethren trailed in the fourth quarter with starting quarterback Max Leffler out of the game with a concussion and Grace Brethren needing a victory to reach the postseason. Backup quarterback Blake Schafer not only led Grace Brethren on the final drive to score a 12-yard touchdown run with 57 seconds left to tie the game, but also threw a pass to Jack Gilliland on the two-point conversion to give Grace Brethren the win. Santa Paula has to wait and see if they get an at-large bid to get into the postseason.
Records: Grace Brethren 5-5, 2-2 Frontier League; Santa Paula 6-4, 2-2.

Oak Park 35, Bishop Diego 10
Oak Park clinches a postseason berth as Brad Taylor passed for 101 yards and two touchdowns.
Records: Oak Park 4-6, 3-2 Tri-Valley League; Bishop Diego 1-9, 1-4.

Royal 28, Simi Valley 7
Royal wins the cross-town rivalry game, led by Kyle Gauthier's 224 yards on 36 carries with three touchdowns.
Records: Royal 4-6, 3-4 Marmonte League; Simi Valley 1-9, 1-6.

Agoura 35, Calabasas 7
Kevin Beams threw four touchdown passes and Benn Reider returned an interception for a touchdown for Agoura.
Records: Agoura 3-7, 2-5 Marmonte League; Calabasas 1-9, 0-7.

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.

It's the final week of the regular season, with several big games tonight. For updates on these games, check our scoreboard with highlights, the VCSPreps.com homepage, and the VCSPreps on Twitter.

Rankings are the Star's Top 10:

#1 Oaks Christian (9-0, 4-0) at #10 Nordhoff (8-1, 4-0)
#2 Moorpark (9-0, 6-0) at #4 Westlake (9-0, 6-0)
Dos Pueblos (4-5, 1-3) at #3 St. Bonaventure (8-1, 4-0)
Rio Mesa (5-4, 2-2) at #5 Camarillo (8-1, 4-0)
#6 Newbury Park (7-2, 4-2) at #8 Thousand Oaks (5-4, 4-2)
#7 Buena (7-2, 3-1) at Ventura (5-4, 3-1)
Channel Islands (5-4, 0-4) at #9 Hueneme (6-3, 2-2)
Royal (3-6, 2-4) at Simi Valley (1-8, 1-5)
Calabasas (1-8, 0-6) at Agoura (2-7, 1-5)
Pacifica (4-5, 2-2) at Oxnard (6-3, 2-2)
Santa Paula (6-3, 2-1) at Grace Brethren (4-5, 1-2)
Villanova (3-5, 0-3) at Malibu (2-6, 1-2)
Bishop Diego (1-7, 1-2) at Oak Park (3-6, 2-2)

Ventura County had two teams play in Monday's CIF-SS Girls' Golf Team finals. The Marmonte League was the only league to have two teams make the finals, a tribute to both players and coaches from Westlake and Royal. Scores for the top teams were amazing, including a 368 team score by champion Torrance. It shows how far girls' golf has come in the dozen or so years that it has been around. When they started, there was no way most players could come near par. Todat, players like Westlake's Danielle Kang are routinely under par. Kang, who will play for Pepperdine next Spring, is the best female player to come through the county. She has great natural talent, but more importantly, she is focused on one thing, winning. She takes aim at winning the CIF Individual title on Thursday. Others in that competition are Lauren Diaz-Yi from Westlake, Katherine Liu from Agoura and Shannon Holden of Royal. Diaz-Yi and Holden are freshmen, another indicator of just how good female players have gotten.