While Westlake's 3-0 season is one reason for head coach Jim Benkert to be happy, the smile the longtime coach has been carrying around for the first month of the season also has to do with the pleasure he is getting from coaching his current group of players. Benkert admitted after last Friday night's demolition of the Hart Indians that he's really enjoying the players he has on his 2009 roster. "They're a really fun group of players to coach," Benkert said. "I'm really enjoying being around them."

Soccer America released its Top 40 Youth Clubs today and several Cal South clubs that include Ventura County players made the list.

On the girls' side, Eagles SC, based in Camarillo, is ranked No. 19 and Real So Cal, based in Calabasas, is No. 33. The So Cal Blues and Slammers FC are ranked No. 3 and 4, respectively. San Diego Surf is ranked No. 6. The other So Cal clubs are: San Juan SC (14) and Arsenal SC (25). The Dallas Texans from North Texas were ranked No. 1 overall.

On the boys' side, Real So Cal is ranked No. 18. LAFC Chelsea is ranked No. 6 and Arsenal FC is No. 8. The other Cal South clubs are: West Coast FC (19) and CZ Elite FC (38). The Baltimore Boys out of Maryland were ranked No. 1 overall.

The rankings are based on success of the club's teams in national youth competitions over the last three years and national recognition for players from these clubs in 2009. The most important criteria, according to the publication, was the success in the US Youth Soccer National Championships from 2007-09 and the number of players who went on to U.S. Soccer National Teams and were selected to US Youth Soccer Olympic Development Program all-star rosters.

Despite winning its 14th consecutive game, St. Bonaventure (4-0) was dropped from No. 2 to No. 3 in the football state rankings by CalHiSports.com

Two seasons ago, Channel Islands was winless. From 2006-08, the Raiders' football team lost 17 straight games.

With its 21-10 win over San Marcos, Hueneme (4-0) has won four straight games for the first time since 2000, when the Vikings won seven times in an eight-game stretch en route to tying Oxnard and Camarillo for the Pacific View League title.

For the first time in school history, Camarillo has bettered the 60-point scoring milestone.

Hueneme and Channel Islands are 4-0 (Yes, you read that right 4-0). St. Bonaventure pulled out a 42-41 OT thriller. Rio Mesa has a new rushing record holder. Nordhoff has a new passing record holder. And the Marmonte League continued its dominance over the Foothill League.

Just another wild night of football in Ventura County yesterday. Here are the news, notes and highlights:

- St. Bonaventure 42, Crespi 41 (OT): The foot of Mason Kirk was the difference. Kirk's extra point in overtime provided the margin of victory as Crespi's kicker pulled his wide left in the back-and-forth affair. Quarterback Logan Meyer set up Kirk's kick with a 2-yard rollout for the tying TD. Senior RB Devon Blackledge finished with 144 yarsd on 29 carries and a "Division I player" plug by his head coach Todd Therrien.

- Oxnard 41, Buena 21: Oxnard's old-school smashmouth attack is back in full swing as the Yellowjackets ran roughshod over Buena's supposedly strong defense. Alex Gavin rushed for 193 yards and three touchdowns and Henry Fernandez scored twice, including a 53-yard punt return. Buena was held to only five yards rushing.

- Ventura 31, Royal 20: The Cougars rallied to get their first win of the season and provide a huge confidence boost. Senior running back C.J. Souter led the way with 176 yards and three touchdowns. Junior QB Keihan Gibbs had 176 yards of total offense. Ventura was down 20-10 in the third quarter before mounting its comeback to avoid an 0-3 start.

- Rio Mesa 34, Agoura 17: Senior RB Jamaal Perkins broke out in a big way with 317 yards rushing to break the school record set by Malachi Lewis (311 yards) in 2005. Perkins needed only 22 carries and scored on touchdown runs of 45 and 37 yards in the fourth quarter. Last week, Perkins had only 2 yards on 11 carries in a loss to Newbury Park. What a difference a week makes.

- Thousand Oaks 49, Canyon 28: Keep your eye on Avondre Bollar. The Thousand Oaks QB had 297 yards passing and four touchdowns in just over three quarters of play. He was a very efficient 14 of 20. RB Dillon Tunney had 85 yards rushing on 12 carries and touchdown runs of 33 and 5 yards.

- Newbury Park 41, Saugus 21: Cameron Roberson and Jake Geringer led a balanced Newbury Park offensive attack. Roberson finished with 187 yards and two touchdowns on 27 carries while Geringer was 15 of 18 for 165 yards and three touchdowns.

- Westlake 48, Hart 21: Westlake's prolific offense just keeps on churning out yards and points. RB Tavior Mowry had his third straight game with at least 100 yards rushing, gaining 153 yards on 19 carries.

- Nordhoff 42, Pacifica 21: Once the Rangers turned it on, they didn't stop. Nordhoff QB Skyler Logsdon completed 15 of 19 passes for a school-record 308 yards and five touchdowns. Nordhoff scored six unanswered touchdowns, including four in the second quarter, to recover from a 14-0 deficit. Nordhoff's defense intercepted four passes, forced three fumbles and recorded five sacks.

- Hueneme 21, San Marcos 10: One year after going 0-10, the Vikings are 4-0. And Hueneme displayed its diversity to achieve the latest victory. San Marcos lined up to stop the run, so Hueneme went to the air. QB Jonathan Barnfather completed 24 of 36 passes for 301 yards and two touchdowns. Allan Ewald caught seven passes for 115 yards.

- Channel Islands 28, Calabasas 21: Bobby Diaz scored the game-winning touchdown on a 1-yard quarterback sneak with 1:02 remaining as Channel Islands improved to 4-0. Diaz completed 16 of 27 passes for 194 yards and Albert Leon ran for three touchdowns.

- Camarillo 68, Golden Valley 0: Can you say mismatch? The Scorpions 2nd stringers got a good dose of playing time as Camarillo recorded its second straight rout. QB Jeff Mathews threw for 271 yards and five touchdowns in the first half alone. Ryan Molesworth caught four passes for 119 yards and three touchdowns. Andy Dean had two touchdown receptions.

- Santa Paula 28, Bishop Diego 21: Bishop Diego may be winless, but it gave Santa Paula all it could handle by mounting a late charge. QB Kameron Klein ran for two touchdowns.

- Santa Clara 8, Cantwell 3: This game had a score of 3-2 with less than two minutes to play. Yes we are talking about football, not soccer. But Santa Clara benefited from a bit of luck as QB Michael Laubacher's pass was tipped and deflected right to RB Dominique Yoro, who ran 60 yards for the game-winning touchdown. Santa Clara head coach Fran Fredette's view: "Chalk it up to good plain Catholic living." St. Bonaventure might agree as well.

- Villanova 56, Viewpoint 16: The Wildcats inserted 12 JV players in the fourth quarter. That is about all you need to  know about this game. Villanova kept to its usual game plan to get a big lead by rushing for 390 yards.

For full stories on these games, check VCSPreps.com

St. Bonaventure 42, Crespi 41 (OT)
Logan Meyer's 2-yard touchdown run in overtime helped St. Bonaventure remain undefeated.

Oxnard 42, Buena 21
Alex Gavin rushed for four touchdowns as Oxnard wins its 21st-consecutive regular season game.

Rio Mesa 34, Agoura 17
Jamal Perkins finished with a school record 317 yards rushing.

Nordhoff 42, Pacifica 21
Skyler Logsdon set a Nordhoff record with five touchdown passes and also threw for 308 yards.

Ventura 31, Royal 20
Ventura and Royal are now each 1-2.

Westlake 48, Hart 21
Nelson Spruce caught two touchdown passes to help Westlake improve to 3-0.

Thousand Oaks 49, Canyon 28
Thousand Oaks quarterback Avondre Bollar accounted for all four touchdowns.

Channel Islands 28, Calabasas 21
Bobby Diaz scored the game-winning touchdown with 1:02 remaining on a 1-yard run. Albert Leon finished with three touchdowns for Channel Islands.

Newbury Park 41, Saugus 21
Cameron Roberson finished with 187 yards and three touchdowns. Phillip Muscarella finished with 91 receiving yards and two touchdowns.

Camarillo 68, Golden Valley 0
Camarillo improves to 2-1.

Hueneme 21, San Marcos 10
Hueneme quarterback Jonathan Barnfather threw for more than 300 yards and had two touchdown passes as Hueneme improved to 4-0.

Santa Clara 8, Cantwell Sacred Heart 3
Santa Clara went ahead on a 60-yard touchdown pass off of a deflection from Michael Laubacher to Dominic Yoro. Cantwell had a chance to win with two seconds left but a potential touchdown pass was dropped.

Santa Paula 28, Bishop Diego 21
Kameron Klein had two rushing touchdowns.

Grace Brethren 22, Carpinteria 9
Blake Schafer caught two touchdown passes from Max Leffler.

Don Lugo 21, Oak Park 0
Oak Park falls to 1-2.

Villanova 56, Viewpoint 16
Villanova improves to 3-0.

After gaining 72 yards in the first two games, Royal High senior running back Thomas Garner piled up 130 yards on 10 carries in the first half Friday night at Ventura High.

After Ventura's C.J. Souter opened the scoring with a 17-yard TD run on the first play of the second quarter, Gardner struck back with five straight carries of more than 10 yards, including a 33-yard scoring run.

He busted loose for 23, 33, 14, 13 and 11 yards on consecutive carries. Following an 8-yard run, Gardner added a 18-yard TD run with 59 seconds left in the half for a 14-7 lead.

There's plenty of local football games tonight. As usual, you can get updates during the games from multiple places, including the VCS Preps homepage, our updating scoreboard, the VCSPreps Twitter, and of course this blog you're reading right now.

Tonight's games:

Royal at Ventura
Buena at Oxnard
Agoura at Rio Mesa
Westlake vs. Hart at College of the Canyons
Calabasas at Channel Islands
Saugus at Newbury Park
Thousand Oaks at Canyon
Nordhoff at Pacifica
Hueneme at San Marcos
Golden Valley at Camarillo
Santa Clara at Cantwell Sacred Heart
Oak Park vs. Don Lugo at Chino High
Bishop Diego at Santa Paula
St. Bonaventure at Crespi
Carpinteria vs. Grace Brethren at Moorpark College

Last week's victory by the Oxnard High football team over host San Luis Obispo was notable as a history-maker. The Yellowjackets have not won a game in San Luis Obispo since Mark Beckham as been the head coach.

Tonight's football matchups with The Deuce's predicted outcomes:

- Royal (1-1) vs. Ventura (0-2) at Ventura High's Larrabee Stadium, 7 p.m. (Deuce says: Ventura 14, Royal 10)

- Buena (2-0) vs. Oxnard (2-0) at Oxnard High, 7 p.m. (Deuce says: Oxnard 24, Buena 21)

- Agoura (1-1) vs. Rio Mesa (1-1) at Rio Mesa High, 7 p.m. (Deuce says: Rio Mesa 17, Agoura 10)

- Westlake (2-0) vs. Hart (2-1) at College of the Canyons, 7:30 p.m. (Deuce says: Westlake 40, Hart 26)

- Calabasas (1-1) vs. Channel Islands (3-0) at Channel Islands High, 7 p.m. (Deuce says: Channel Islands 20, Calabasas 12)

- Saugus (1-1) vs. Newbury Park (3-0) at Newbury Park High, 7 p.m. (Deuce says: Saugus 27, Newbury Park 16)

- Thousand Oaks (0-2) vs. Canyon (0-2) at Canyon High, 7 p.m. (Deuce says: Thousand Oaks 30, Canyon 17)

- Nordhoff (1-1) vs. Pacifica (1-1) at Pacifica High, 7 p.m. (Deuce says: Pacifica 34, Nordhoff 24)

- Hueneme (3-0) vs. San Marcos (1-1) at San Marcos High, 7 p.m. (Deuce says: Hueneme 14, San Marcos 7)

- Golden Valley (0-2) vs. Camarillo (1-1) at Camarillo High, 7 p.m. (Deuce says: Camarillo 38, Golden Valley 24)

- Santa Clara (0-2) vs. Cantwell Sacred Heart (2-0) at Cantwell Sacred Heart, 7 p.m. (Deuce says: Cantwell Sacred Heart 20, Santa Clara 12)

- Oak Park (1-1) vs. Don Lugo (1-2) at Chino High, 7 p.m. (Deuce says: Oak Park 16, Don Lugo 14)

- Bishop Diego (0-3) vs. Santa Paula (1-1) at Santa Paula High, 7:30 p.m. (Deuce says: Santa Paula 32, Bishop Diego 20)

- St. Bonaventure (3-0) vs. Crespi (2-1) at Crespi High, 7:30 p.m. (Deuce says: St. Bonaventure 27, Crespi 17)

- Carpinteria (0-3) vs. Grace Brethren (1-2) at Moorpark College, 7:30 p.m. (Deuce says: Carpinteria 23, Grace Brethren 14)

- Villanova (2-0) vs. Viewpoint (0-2) at Viewpoint High, 3:30 p.m. (Deuce says: He didn't predict, so it's your turn).

Two-sport standout Alani Fua of Oaks Christian will have plenty to rehash with Jake Heaps when they see each other next year at Brigham Young University.

Larry Cobos of Pismo Beach figures to have dual loyalties when the Oxnard High football team plays host to Buena on Friday night.

The USTA announced today that Thousand Oaks resident Marcos Giron will represent the United States in the Junior Davis Cup Finals, Sept. 29 - Oct. 4 in San Luis Potosi, Mexico.  The event features 16 teams from nations across the world composed of players age 16 and under. 

Giron, currently No. 5 in the USTA Boys' 16s National Standings, won the doubles title at the USTA Boys' 16s National Championships in August and reached the final of the Boys' 16s Easter Bowl in April.  He will be joined on the team by Bjorn Fratangelo (Pittsburgh) and Hunter Harrington (Spartanburg, S.C.).

The U.S. is the reigning Junior Davis Cup champions and will attempt to become the first back-to-back winners since France in 1992 and 1993.  USTA National Coach Mark Merklein will captain the U.S. Junior Davis Cup team. 

The United States won the Junior Davis Cup title twice (1999 and 2008) and reached the final on four other occasions, including a 1986 second-place finish by Jim Courier and Michael Chang.

In addition to Courier and Chang, former U.S. junior international team members include Andy Roddick, James Blake, Lindsay Davenport, Jennifer Capriati, Mardy Fish, Robby Ginepri, Jamea Jackson, Ashley Harkleroad and Lisa Raymond.

Max Preps.com and CalHiSports.com have entered the debate over whether Oaks Christian or St. Bonaventure should be the No. 1-ranked football team in the state.

Fillmore's home football game Friday night against Kilpatrick is in a holding pattern.

NORTHERN DIVISION:
1. ST. BONAVENTURE (Channel League)
2. MOORPARK (Marmonte)
3. Valencia/Valencia (Foothill)
4. WESTLAKE (Marmonte)
5. NEWBURY PARK (Marmonte)
6. OXNARD (Pacific View)
7. Atascadero (PAC-7)
8. Saugus (Foothill)
9. BUENA (Channel)
10. Hart (Foothill)
Other: THOUSAND OAKS (Marmonte)

NORTHWEST DIVISION:
1. OAKS CHRISTIAN (Tri-Valley)
2. Junipero Serra (Del Rey)
3. St. Joseph/S.M. (Los Padres)
4. Pioneer Valley (Los Padres)
5. North Torrance (Pioneer)
6. Morro Bay (Los Padres)
7. Harvard-Westlake (Del Rey)
8. Cathedral (Del Rey)
9. Don Bosco Tech (Camino Real)
10. Templeton (Los Padres)

EAST VALLEY DIVISION:
1. St. Margaret's (Academy League)
2. SANTA PAULA (Frontier)
3. Kern Valley (High Desert)
4. Brentwood (Alpha)
5. Aquinas (Christian)
6. Campbell Hall (Alpha)
7. Sierra Canyon (Alpha)
8. Ontario Christian (Christian)
9. Frazier Mountain (High Desert)
10. VILLANOVA PREP (Frontier)
Other: FILLMORE (Frontier)

Over the summer, Westlake High golfer Charlotte Gibson was visiting her father Scott in San Francisco, where he was involved with the traveling production of the Monty Python play "Spamalot." One day, Gibson's dad asked her if she would like to play golf with actor John O'Hurley, who is best known for playing the character J. Peterman in Seinfeld. O'Hurley plays King Arthur in the production. Gibson naturally jumped at the chance to play with O'Hurley and his wife Lisa, who played college golf at Baylor. Gibson said she had a tremendous time, and that both O'Hurley and his wife were extremely nice to her. O'Hurley, who is a pretty good player, struggled with his game during the round so Gibson said he was pretty quiet during the round. "John was very nice but didn't say a lot," Gibson said. "Lisa and I got along great and she encouraged me to check out Baylor as a possible place to go to school and play golf."

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.

Greg Biggins of ESPNRISE just reported on St. Bonaventure High defensive back Troy Hill's visit to Oregon this past weekend.

The visit was Hill's first of the year. He was able to watch the Ducks beat Utah.

Here is what Hill told Biggins:
"I loved it up there. It was everything I expected it to be and more. I had high expectations about the visit and Oregon went above them. Everything up there was nice, from the campus and the city but what really stood out was the opportunities provided to the players after football and after you graduate.
"The team is one big family and everyone treated me like part of the team already. Dewitt Stuckey was my host but I also hung out with Walter Thurmond and Jeremiah Masoli and a few other guys there. The game atmosphere was insane as well, it gets so loud in there and it was just a great environment to be a part of."

According to Biggins, Hill said he definitely planned to take the rest of his official visits before committing. Now he said he's considering giving some thought about ending the recruiting process early.
"I'll be honest, I got a little tempted to go ahead and commit," Hill told Biggins. "It was such a good trip and I love all the opportunities Oregon can provide if I don't go pro but I had to hold off. I still want to compare Oregon to other schools so I'm going to take my visits to Washington and Arizona before making a decision."

Northern Division

St. Bonaventure 42, Los Angeles Jordan 21: Meyer leads Seraphs by David Lassen in Los Angeles.
Moorpark 31, Ventura 7: Rohach singled out for Moorpark by Loren Ledin in Moorpark.
Channel Islands 28, Santa Clara 7: CI uses sizeable advantage by Derry Eads in Oxnard.
Oxnard 30, San Luis Obispo 14: Oxnard rallies by staff reports

Northwest Division

Oaks Christian 28, Skyline (Wash.) 25: Oaks wins battle by Mason Kelly, Seattle Times
Fillmore 27, Bishop Diego 25: Big plays lift Fillmore by Barry Punzal in Santa Barbara
Nordhoff 14, Santa Ynez 12: Nordhoff hangs on by Ted Cotti in Ojai

Some news, notes and highlights from Friday night's games:

Oaks Christian 28, Skyline 25: The Lions took a big step toward a bowl berth by passing their toughest test of the season on the road in Washington. Oaks (3-0) jumped out to an early 14-0 lead, and managed to hold off a late Skyline charge. Malcolm Jones (19 carries, 133 yards) scored the game-winning touchdown on a 48-yard run in the fourth quarter, and Max Napolitano clinched the win with an interception in the waning seconds. Playing in the state he will soon reside full time, Oaks quarterback Nick Montana, a University of Washington commit, completed 21 of 32 passes for 258 yards and three touchdowns to hand Skyline QB Jake Heaps his first high school loss. But the most pressing question of the night might have been how many times ESPNU showed Joe Montana and his wife on the split screen. Can you say overkill?

Moorpark 31, Ventura 7: Moorpark (3-0) employed a single-QB offense with Brody Rohach taking all the snaps and Brian Blechen being used as a receiver and defensive back. Rohach passed for 177 yards and touchdowns of 50, 42 and 23 yards. Should we expect this to continue? Ever-coy Moorpark coach Tim Lins wasn't telling. Ventura (0-2) cut down on its turnovers, but its offense couldn't generate much against Moorpark's strong defense.

Channel Islands 28, Santa Clara 7: Raise your hand if you had Channel Islands and Hueneme both starting the season 3-0. Didn't think so. But CI used its passing attack to improve to 3-0 for the first time in 19 years. QB Bobby Diaz was 13 of 20 for 209 yards and one touchdown. Santa Clara committed four turnovers to fall to 0-2.

Nordhoff 14, Santa Ynez 12: Nordhoff held off the Santa Ynez comeback when Logan Crow intercepted a pass with 40 seconds remaining. The Rangers led 14-0 behind touchdowns from Cody Burgess (117 yards rushing) and Crow. Santa Ynez failed on a two-point conversion to tie the game on its second score with 7:38 to play. Nordhoff QB Skyler Logsdon was 10 of 20 for 133 yards.

St. Bonaventure 42, L.A. Jordan 21: Friday night lights was Friday afternoon sunlight for the Seraphs (3-0) as they played a day game. Senior QB Logan Meyer had his best statistical performance of the season, completing 18 for 25 for 312 yards and three touchdowns in just three quarters. Meyer started 7 for 7 for 187 yards and two touchdowns.

Fillmore 27, Bishop Diego 25:  The Flashes rallied for their first win when Zach Golson caught a pass from Corey Cole on 3rd-and 11 and sprinted 85 yards down the right sideline for the game-winning touchdown. Bishop Diego opened the game by scoring a touchdown on the very first play from scrimmage - a 72-yard scamper by Brandon Gonzalez - and led 13-0 at one point.

Oxnard 30, San Luis Obispo 14: That long bus ride was much more pleasurable thanks to those 20 points Oxnard scored in the fourth quarter to rally for the win. The Yellowjackets trailed 14-10 entering the final quarter, but Henry Fernandez ran for three touchdowns. Fernandez compiled 103 of his 166 yards rushing in the fourth quarter. Alex Gavin had 103 yards rushing.

Thacher 52, Cuyama Valley 6: QB Austin Krause threw for 143 yards and three touchdowns for the Toads in an eight-man road victory.   
  

Check VCSPreps.com for full stories on these games.

Oaks Christian 28, Skyline 25
A Max Napolitano interception with 0:49 left at the 25-yard line sealed the win for Oaks Christian. Both teams are nationally ranked, the game was played in Sammamish, Wash.

Moorpark 31, Ventura 7
Brady Rohach threw for three touchdowns as Moorpark improves to 3-0.

Channel Islands 28, Santa Clara 7
Channel Islands is off to its first 3-0 start since 1990. Quarterback Bobby Diaz threw for 209 yards.

Oxnard 30, San Luis Obispo 14
Henry Fernandez ran for three touchdowns in the fourth quarter to help Oxnard turn 14-10 deficit into a 30-14 win, the Yellowjackets' first ever win at San Luis Obispo. Fernandez ran for 166 yards, 103 of them came in the fourth quarter.

Nordhoff 14, Santa Ynez 12
Logan Crow's interception with 30 seconds left sealed the win for Nordhoff (1-1).

Fillmore 27, Bishop Diego 25
Fillmore holds on to get its first win of the season.

Thacher 52, Cuyama Valley 6
Quarterback Austin Krause threw for 143 yards and three touchdowns. Morgan Krey had 10 tackles and four sacks for Thacher in its season opener.

Places to check for updates during the games include this Preps Plus blog, our updating scoreboard, on Twitter at VCS Preps and our main VCSPreps.com homepage.

One final from the afternoon:

St. Bonaventure 42, Jordan 21
Logan Meyer finished 18 for 25 with 312 yards and 3 touchdowns.

At Halftime:
Oaks Christian 21, Skyline (Wash.) 17
This game is being televised on ESPNU. Alani Fua scored on a 25-yard run in the second quarter.

Channel Islands 14, Ventura 7
Bobby Diaz has both thrown and run for a touchdown.

Nordhoff 14, Santa Ynez 7
Justin Burgess scored on a 3-yard run and Skyler Logsdon threw a 13-yard pass to Logan Crow for Nordhoff's other touchdown.

At the end of the third quarter:

Moorpark 31, Ventura 7
Brody Rohach has three touchdown passes.

One thing that stuck out in Thursday night's prep football results was the collective performance by the Pacific View League, which went 3-1 against the Marmonte League.

The only PVL loss was Rio Mesa's loss at Newbury Park and there were times in the first half in which the Spartans looked like eventual league champions.

On the other hand, the Marmonte League was a disappointing 2-5 Thursday night, including Thousand Oaks' loss at Buena in one of the night's key interconference showdowns.

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. 

 

Check VCSPreps.com for full stories on all of these games.

Westlake 42, Saugus 20
Westlake improves to 2-0 as Tre'shon Wilson scored two touchdowns.

Pacifica 56, Simi Valley 27
Pacifica gets its first win as quarterback Max Mondol threw four touchdown passes in the first half.

Hueneme 33, Calabasas 0
Trashaun Nixon ran for 269 yards on 16 carries and had three touchdowns.

Chaminade 33, Royal 14
Royal's two touchdowns came on passes from Zach Collins to Connor Wollcott.

Morro Bay 28, Oak Park 13
Oak Park falls to 1-1, suffering its first loss of the season.

Check VCSPreps.com for full stories on all of these games.

Buena 27, Thousand Oaks 20
Buena improves to 2-0. Matt Arve scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Newbury Park 34, Rio Mesa 6
Newbury Park's Jake Geringer had two touchdown passes and also ran for a score.

Camarillo 49, Agoura 14
Ryan Molesworth caught three touchdown passes.

Santa Paula 23, Golden Valley 13
Santa Paula improves to 1-1.

Buena 14, Thousand Oaks 7
Kendrick Mathis scored on a 35-yard run to give Buena a 14-0 lead. With 14.7 seconds left in the half, T.O.'s Avondre Bollar scored on a fourth-down 1-yard run.

Camarillo 49, Agoura 0
Ryan Molesworth caught three touchdown passes in the first half.

Rio Mesa 6, Newbury Park 0
Rio Mesa led 6-0 at the half behind 152 yards rushing on 24 carries. Thomas had 93 yards on six runs. Newbury Park RB Cameron Roberson to 55 yards on seven carries at the half.

Pacifica 42, Simi Valley 20
Pacifica quarterback Max Mondol completed 11 of 12 passes for 154 yards and four touchdowns in the first half. Two of the touchdowns went to Frankie Espanol.

Hueneme 7, Calabasas 0
On the last play of the half, Hueneme's Jon Barnfeather scored on a quarterback sneak.

Westlake 21, Saugus 6
Tre'shon Wilson has two touchdowns, one reception and one rushing.

Morro Bay 7, Oak Park 0
Sam Grizer scored on a 56-yard run.

Chaminade 26, Royal 0
Andrew Azzarello caught a 42-yard pass from Jake Basmagian for a touchdown.

With three minutes left in the game:
Santa Paula 23, Golden Valley 7

After dominating play in the first half on the ground, Rio Mesa fell behind midway through the third quarter at Newbury Park because of a turnover and some poor punting.

The Spartans fumbled on third and four from their own 10 yard line. Senior linebacker Drake Exstrom recovered and, three plays later, the Panthers scored on Jake Geringer's 1-yard quarterback sneak.

Kevin Kircher's point after kick gave the Panthers a surprise 7-6 lead with 8:25 left in the third quarter.

Rio Mesa went three and out on its subsequent possession and, following a 9-yard punt, Geringer immediately went down the seam for a 37-yard touchdown pass to Sean Garry for a 14-6 lead. 

Four plays following a 10-yard Rio Mesa punt, Geringer broke free for a 16-yard touchdown run and a 21-6 Newbury Park lead.

Rio Mesa's option offense piled up 16 carries through the first 15 minutes at Newbury Park High. But the Spartans took the lead on their fourth pass of the game.

Quarterback Enrique Thomas, who had piled up 72 yards rushing on four carries, completed his first pass of the season on third and 16 down the left sideline for a 32-yard scoring strike to senior Steven Cristobal.

Rio Mesa leads 6-0 at the half.

Places to check for updates during the games include this Preps Plus blog, our updating scoreboard, on Twitter at VCS Preps and our main VCSPreps.com homepage.

Tonight's games, rankings are the Star's top 10:

No. 8 Rio Mesa (1-0) at No. 5 Newbury Park (1-0)
Agoura (0-1) at No. 10 Camarillo (0-1)
No. 6 Thousand Oaks (0-1) at No. 9 Buena (1-0)
Royal (1-0) at Chaminade (1-0)
No. 4 Westlake (1-0) vs. Saugus (1-0) (at College of the Canyons)
Santa Paula (0-1) vs. Golden Valley (0-1)  (at Canyon High)
Calabasas (1-0) at Hueneme (2-0)
Morro Bay (1-0) at Oak Park (1-0)
Simi Valley (0-2) at Pacifica (0-1)

We're here for Rio Mesa at Newbury Park. Kickoff is immenent, and so are updates.

It's 45 minutes before the start of the Westlake and Saugus football game at College of the Canyons here in Santa Clarita but the temperature at 6:15 is still hovering near 100 degrees. Assuming it does not cool down drastically, the heat might play a role in tonight's game, especially in the second half when both teams will be searching for some extra gas in the tank.
Westlake did have last week off, so that should help their legs be fresh, at least early on.
Looking forwward to seeing what Nelson Spruce does tonight. Last game his first four catches went for scores.

The Oaks Christian-Skyline game is getting plenty of national and local attention. The nationally-ranked teams square off on Friday night in Sammamish, Wash. The game will be televised on ESPNU.

It's hardly surprising that more than a few stories have focused on Oaks Christian's star-laden roster. USA Today talked with Coach Bill Redell about the celebrity factor on the field and on his staff.

Not to be outdone, the Seattle Times led with a famous hockey dad whose son plays for the Lions. And the paper's high school blog wonders if a landing pad will be needed near the field.

The Moorpark High football team will be dedicating Friday¹s game against
Ventura in memory of 1995 graduate Dr. Robert Floyd Bigley.

Bigley was a defensive lineman on the 1993 and 1994 Moorpark teams. The 1994
team won the Frontier League championship.

"Robby was instrumental in helping lay the foundation of our current program
and was a big part of winning the league title in 1993,"  said Moorpark
athletic director Rob Dearborn.

Bigley was killed Sunday in a in an elite skydiving training exercise. He
won two national titles last year in formation jumping. He had completed
more than 6,000 jumps.

He was married two weeks ago to Alana Marie Fulvio. His parents, Bob and
Elly, who still live in Moorpark, helped build the Moorpark stadium.

Looks like the Ventura and Buena girls' volleyball teams are on the upswing this season.

Both recorded impressive wins last night with Ventura sweeping Oak Park and Buena beating La Reina in four games.

Ventura has put together an impressive coaching staff. First-year coach Jared Godinez is a former volleyball standout for the Cougars and his assistants are Maurice Shimabaku, Debbie Litten and Melissa Yeto.

Shimabaku once led Hueneme High to a state title, Litten is Ventura's former successful head and Yeto was an assistant at Ventura College.

Buena and Ventura compete in the always-tough Channel League and will have to contend with the powers up North, especially Dos Pueblos. Ventura hasn't made the playoffs since Litten was at the helm.

Oaks Christian sold 400 tickets to Friday's football game against nationally ranked Skyline (Wash.)

After not being mentioned among the state's top 25 football teams, Moorpark made a huge move this week.

Oaks Christian remained at No. 6 and St. Bonaventure moved up two spots to No. 16 in this week's USA Today Super 25 high school football rankings.

Oaks Christian, which hammered Muir 51-0 last week, plays at No. 17 Skyline of Sammamish, Wash. on Friday.

St. Bonaventure beat Long Beach Poly 27-7 last week, and plays Los Angeles Jordan in broad daylight on Friday at 3 p.m.

Nothing changed for either team in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25. Oaks Christian remained ranked No. 10 and St. Bonaventure is ranked No. 23. Skyline is ranked No. 12.

It's apparent Josh Fankhauser has recovered from his summer arm injury.

Although Fankhauser is still wearing some colorful tape for protection, the Ventura High water polo goalkeeper didn't let it impede his ability to block shots.

Fankhauser made 16 saves against Palos Verdes on Saturday to help lead the Cougars to the Conejo Classic title at Cal Lutheran's pool.

The senior came up with his biggest blocks in the third quarter as Ventura, ranked No. 6 in Division I, took a lead it wouldn't surrender.

"Wow," Ventura High head coach Matt Cherrie said when informed of Fankhauser's save total. "He was great today for us. He made some really big saves."

Fankhauser is "not exactly sure what he did" to his arm this summer.

"It was a ligament injury of some sort," he said. "But I was out for about eight weeks. This is my third week back in the cage."

Sporting new uniforms, Hueneme tied a 49-year-old school record by scoring 61 points Friday in its 61-7 non-league football win over Santa Clara.

Some news, notes and highlights from Friday night's game, which featured five shutouts:

- St. Bonaventure 27, Long Beach Poly 7: Senior running back Devon Blackledge continues to pile up the yards and touchdowns. Blackledge rushed for 291 yards and three touchdowns against Poly to push his two-game touchdown total to an eye-popping eight. Blackledge has scored on runs of 4, 5, 14, 14, 1, 80, 1 and 57 yards.

- Newbury Park 30, Camarillo 17: Newbury Park used a diversified scoring attack. Phillip Muscarella returned a punt 85 yards for a touchdown and caught two passes for 93 yards. Notre Dame-bound running back Cameron Roberson rushed for 85 yards on 21 carries and two touchdowns. Quarterback Jake Geringer completed 11 of 14 passes for 168 yards.

- Valencia 39, Thousand Oaks 36: The teams combined for 1,008 yards of offense. Valencia's  Steven Manfro rushed 20 times for 200 yards and caught seven passes for 114 yards. Despite the loss, it was a promising varsity debut for T.O. quarterback Avondre Bollar, who completed 13 of 19 passes for 191 yards. Running back Rickey Minyard looked strong in replacing John Lister's lost yardage to graduation. Minyard rushed for 145 yards on 14 carries before leaving the game in the third quarter with a shoulder injury.

- Agoura 12, Ventura 0: Ventura fumbled the ball seven times, losing three. Agoura defensive back Sam Bradley scored the lone touchdown by scooping up one of those and sprinting 85 yards for the score. Kicker Daniel Schlorf had field goals of 32 and 38 yards.

- Buena 34, Simi Valley 0: Buena's defense forced five turnovers with four interceptions and one fumble recovery. Drew Jacobs kicked a 50-yard field goal. Buena quarterback Bobby Munoz finished 11 of 18 for 168 yards and Chase Smith had three catches for 92 yards.

- Oaks Christian 51, Muir 0: The Oaks Christian defense sacked Muir quarterback Jarron Williams four times, forced two fumbles, tipped six passes and allow just four first downs. Oaks quarterback Nick Montana threw for 159 yards and four touchdowns in a little more than two quarters of play. Malcolm Jones rushed 12 times for 129 yards.

 - Oxnard 28, Santa Barbara 0: Running backs Alex Gavin and Henry Fernandez combined for more than 200 yards on the ground.

- Rio Mesa 23, San Marcos 3: Jamaal Perkins rushed for 133 yards and three touchdowns. Devon Hall had 77 yards on 10 carries.

- Hueneme 61, Santa Clara 6: Jonathan Barnfather completed 14 of 22 passes for 232 yards and four touchdowns. Leonard Baker caught three touchdown passes and returned a kickoff 89 yards for another score.

- Whitter Christian 37, Santa Paula 30: Whittier Christian's Garrett Fullbright rushed for 229 yards on 28 attempts and three touchdowns. Santa Paula's Esteban Magana had three interceptions, including two returned for touchdowns.

- Oak Park 40, Grace Brethren 12: Oak Park turned three interceptions into touchdowns and scored 30 unanswered points. Cody Bathke started things off in the second quarter by picking off Blake Schafer at the 45-yard line and running it in for the score. Grace Brethren quarterback Max Lefler injured his ankle and did not return.

- Royal 36, Golden Valley 0: Royal's defense held Golden Valley to just 143 yards of total offense as the Highlanders gave Kevin Flye a victory in his Royal head coaching debut. Kyle Gauthier finished with 85 yards on 13 carries.

- Templeton 46, Pacifica 7: Quarterback Max Mondol threw for 135 yards in his Pacifica debut. Jamie Razo had five catches for 80 yards.

For full stories, check our VCS Preps homepage. Follow the Ventura County Star's preps Twitter as well.

St. Bonaventure 27, Long Beach Poly 7
Devon Blackledge ran for 291 yards and three touchdowns.

Oak Park 40, Grace Brethren 12
In the second quarter, Oak Park's defense returned three interceptions for touchdowns and also forced a safety.

Royal 36, Golden Valley 0
Royal wins its season opener.

Whittier Christian 37, Santa Paula 30
Santa Paula's Esteban Magana had two interceptions and returned them for touchdowns.

Pioneer Valley 38, Nordhoff 12
Nordhoff loses its season opener.

Templeton 46, Pacifica 7
Pacifica loses its season opener.

For full stories, check our VCS Preps homepage. Follow the Ventura County Star's preps Twitter as well.

Oaks Christian 51, Muir 0
Nick Montana threw four touchdown passes. Malcolm Jones caught a touchdown and ran for another. Trevor Gretzky threw two touchdown passes.

Newbury Park 30, Camarillo 17
Shane Geringer had a touchdown pass and Cameron Roberson ran for a touchdown.

Valencia 39, Thousand Oaks 36
Valencia scored a touchdown with 1:14 left to take the lead. Thousand Oaks' Rickey Minyard and Bobby Mullaney each scored two touchdowns.

Agoura 12, Ventura 0
Agoura's Sam Bradley recovered a fumble and ran 85 yards for a touchdown.

Buena 34, Simi Valley 7
Buena forced five turnovers with four interceptions and one fumble recovery to register a season-opening win.

Hueneme 61, Santa Clara 6
Hueneme starts its season 2-0.

Oxnard 28, Santa Barbara 0
Alex Gavin and Henry Fernandez each ran for a touchdown.

Rio Mesa 23, San Marcos 7
Jamaal Perkins ran for three touchdowns.

For the latest scores and updates of tonight's games,  you can also check our VCS Preps homepage or this page with scores and highlights. Follow the Ventura County Star's preps twitter page as well.

After three quarters:

Rio Mesa 7, San Marcos 7
Jamaal Perkins scored on a 32-yard run for Rio Mesa.

Buena 34, Simi Valley 0
Esteban Mejia returned an interception 16 yards for a touchdown as part of a 21-point second quarter for Buena. Kendrick Mathis has two touchdown runs. Drew Jacobs made field goals of 50 and 27 yards.

Agoura 9, Ventura 0
Sam Bradley recovered a fumble and ran 85 yards for a touchdown.

Oxnard 28, Santa Barbara 0
Alex Gavin scored on an 8-yard run and has 96 yards on 14 carries in the first half. Henry Fernandez scored on a 1-yard run.

At halftime:

Oaks Christian 33, Muir 0
Nick Montana has three touchdown passes, two of them to Malcolm Jones.

St. Bonaventure 20, Long Beach Poly 7
Devon Blackledge scored on runs of 80 - the first play of the game - and 1 yard. Long Beach Poly had kickoff returns of 75 and 74 yards. Blackledge had 158 yards rushing in the first quarter. Mason Kirk kicked a 26 yard field goal with 5:31 left in the half.

Newbury Park 16, Camarillo 3
Shane Geringer threw a 13-yard pass to Christian Hutson for a touchdown. Cameron Roberson scored on a 10-yard run.

Thousand Oaks 14, Valencia 14
Rickey Minyard has two touchdowns, one on a 28-yard run and the other on a 3-yard pass from Avondre Bollar.

Santa Paula 27, Whittier Christian 14
Santa Paula's Esteban Magana had two interception returns for touchdowns. Santa Paula scored on a blocked punt recovered in the endzone by Randall Hernandez.

At the end of the first quarter:

Oak Park 7, Grace Brethren 6
Grace Brethren forced a fumble on the opening kickoff and scored on a 2-yard run by Max Lessler. Oak Park's Gilad Klibanov scored on a 6-yard run. .

For the latest scores and updates of tonight's games,  you can also check our VCS Preps homepage or this page with scores and highlights. Follow the Ventura County Star's preps twitter as well.

At halftime:

Rio Mesa 7, San Marcos 0
Jamaal Perkins scored on a 32-yard run.

At the end of the first quarter:

Buena 7, Simi Valley 0
Matt Arve scored on a three-yard touchdown run.

Newbury Park 9, Camarillo 0
Shane Geringer threw a 13-yard pass to Christian Hutson for a touchdown.

Agoura 6, Ventura 0
Sam Bradley recovered a fumble and ran 85 yards for a touchdown

Thousand Oaks 7, Valencia 0
Rickey Minyard caught a 3-yard pass from Avondre Bollar for a touchdown.

Oxnard 7, Santa Barbara 0

Before Friday night's game with Ventura, Agoura High honored the victims of the 9/11 attacks with a moment of silence.

Today marks the first time Sept. 11 falls on a Friday since the attacks at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in 2001.

Friday is obviously associated with high school football, and some schools across the country are planning commemorations before kickoff tonight at their games.

In talking to the local athletic directors yesterday, no schools have any big plans to honor Sept. 11. If anything is done, most said it would be a moment of silence to honor the victims.

St. Bonaventure is having a Marine Corps color guard take the field for the national anthem before its game with Long Beach Poly at Larrabee Stadium.

The Oaks Christian football schedule includes such tough pre-league matchups as Alemany, Muir and Washington state power Skyline. But coach Bill Redell doesn't think the program's critics will be impressed.

After losing two of his top three players to graduation, Westlake High golf coach Dave Costley thought this might be a down year for his girls' golf team. But then freshmen Lauren Diaz-Yi and Sophia Chen showed up. Diaz-Yi won a top junior event at River Ridge over the summer and consistently shoots under par. Chen is capable of shooting near par as well.

The tryouts are over. The scrimmages are done. Today marks the first full slate of fall sports in the area.

There are 9 tennis matches, 9 volleyball matches and 6 golf matches scheduled (and likely a few more the coaches forgot to tell us about).

Looking ahead a bit, the Seaside Invitational will be run on Friday for area cross country teams and the Conejo Classic will take place on Friday and Saturday in boys' water polo. It's a good chance to get an early look at some of the talent across the county.

Marc Tyler is not convinced this year's Oaks Christian football team is better than the 2006 version.

Tyler, a USC redshirt sophomore tailback, recently read an article in the L.A. Daily News that questioned if this year's Oaks squad would overtake the 2006 team as "the best in region history."

The 2006 team went undefeated and won the inaugural CIF-State Division III bowl title. Nine seniors earned Division I scholarships, including Jimmy Clausen (Notre Dame), Marshall Jones (USC), Duke Lemmens (Florida) and Tyler (USC).

This year's Oaks team features Nick Montana (Washington), Malcolm Jones (UCLA or Stanford), Erik Kohler (Washington), Cassius Marsh (LSU, Oklahoma or Cal) and Zac Stout (BYU).

"I read the paper yesterday so I watched their game last night," Tyler said after USC's win over San Jose State on Saturday. "I think Kohler said this offense is more explosive, but I didn't see that. I didn't see that. Our line was bigger and our backfield was better. They might have us at the receiver spot because they have some good, young receivers. But other than that - nah. I didn't see that explosive offense."

It's likely the jury will be out and arguments will be made for both sides until the end of the year. Even then, there could be some questions about a final verdict. 

Nine area girls' volleyball teams made the CIF-Southern Section preseason rankings.

Westlake High's Nelson Spruce had one of the best receiving days in state history.

In ending a 10-game losing streak, the Hueneme High football team was stellar on defense in a 10-8 win over visiting West Ranch.

Four Ventura County cross country teams have been accepted as sweepstakes entries for the Woodbridge Invitational Sept. 19 in Irvine.

Grace Brethren 32, Big Bear 30
With 13 seconds left, Grace Brethren's Mark Miller caught an 11-yard pass from Max Lessler to take the lead.

St. Bonaventure 34, St. John Bosco 10
Devin Blackledge finished with 168 yards and all five St. Bonaventure touchdowns.

Oaks Christian 28, Alemany 17
Malcolm Jones ran for 277 yards on 38 carries and rushed for three touchdowns.

Final: Moorpark 28, Eastlake 27 (OT)
Moorpark scored first in overtime on a Brady Rohach 8-yard pass to Vern Lins with a successful extra point. Eastlake followed that with a 1-yard touchdown run by Tony Jefferson, but attempted a two-point conversion for the win and failed.

Final: Hueneme 10, West Ranch 8
With 44 seconds left, Oswaldo Valladolad kicked a 25-yard field goal to give Hueneme the lead. Hueneme went 0-10 in 2008.

Final: Westlake 48, Paso Robles 26
Nelson Spruce caught four touchdown passes for Westlake.

Final: Channel Islands 26, Fillmore 15
Alfredo Raya and Albert Leon had touchdowns for Channel Islands.

Final: Burbank 32, Simi Valley 6
A highlight for Simi Valley came in the fourth quarter, when Andrew Rohrback returned an interception for 49 yards.

Moorpark and Eastlake are headed to overtime at 21-21. Eastlake tied it up on a 4-yard touchdown run from Daniel Diaz and a Tony Jefferson run for the two-point conversion.

After four straight three and outs, St. John Bosco follows with its opening first down of the season, a 17-yard pass from Brandon Gaeta to Jarrell Brown. Two more Gaeta passes move the Braves to the Seraphs 10-yard line.

But St. Bonaventure holds, forcing a 27-yard Austin Jimenez field goal.

The Seraphs' momentum only stems for a moment. They move the length of the field in three plays -- Meyer passes of 15 yards to Blackledge and 38 yards to Higbie.

After a 15-yard Bosco penalty, Blackledge scores for the fourth time in the first half from 14 yards away. St. Bonaventure leads 27-3 at the half.

Devon Blackledge sprints 14 yards  through a massive hole on the left side of the offensive line for his third touchdown of the first half and a 20-0 Seraphs lead. The conversion run fails.

At halftime:
Burbank 26, Simi Valley 6
Burbank's Ulises Ochoa has rushed for three touchdowns. Michael Acuna scored Simi Valley's touchdown, catching a 14-yard pass from Jake Maranto.

Westlake 35, Paso Robles 12
Nelson Spruce has caught four touchdown passes from Nick Isham.

Hueneme 7, West Ranch 0
In the first quarter, Hueneme's Allan Ewald recovered a fumble in the end zone for a touchdown. The Hueneme defense had three sacks and intercepted a pass in the first quarter.

Oaks Christian 21, Alemany 10
First Quarter: Oaks Christian's Malcolm Jones has two touchdown runs. Nick Montana threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Blair Holliday with 18 seconds left in the half.

St. Bonaventure 27, St. John Bosco 3
Devin Blackledge has four touchdowns in the first half. Meyer is 10 of 15 passing for 176 yards at the half. The Seraphs defense has did not allow a first down on Bosco¹s first four possessions of the game.

Channel Islands 14, Fillmore 7
Alfredo Raya had a 50-yard touchdown reception for Channel Islands. Fillmore's Johnny Golson scored on a 9-yard run in the first quarter.

Big Bear 20, Grace Brethren 12
Grace Brethren's Max Lessler has two touchdown passes, one to Quinn Sellis and the other to Zach Hogan. Big Brother's Craig Hall threw two touchdown passes and also has 85 rushing yards in the first half. Aaron Gibbons added a 6-yard touchdown run.

At the end of the third quarter:
Moorpark 14, Eastlake 13
Moorpark's Brady Rohach threw a 17-yard pass to Chad Kendall for a touchdown. Austin Edmonson has a 17-yard touchdown run for Moorpark. 

The season begins with a pair of three-and-outs, before Logan Meyer catches fire.

The senior quarter completes four straight passes, including 25 yards to Austin Higbie, 33 yards to Daniel Wakam and 19 yards to Christian White.

A pass interference call gives St. Bonaventure a first down inside the Braves 5-yard line. Tailback Devon Blackledge punches it in from there.

Following Bosco's second straight three-and-out, Blacklege picks up 17 yards on a middle screen, Meyer picks up a 3rd and 5 with a 6-yard hook to White and Blackledge spins through a tackle and cuts against the grain to set the Seraphs up with first and goal at the Braves 5.

He runs in his second straight touchdown run on the next play to make it 14-0 St. Bonaventure with 1:44 left in the first quarter.

We're here live at Father Frank Ribotta Field in Bellflower for the St. Bonaventure High football team's opening game of the 2009 season.

St. John Bosco, 7-3 a year ago, finished fourth in the powerful Trinity League. It was defending Trinity League champion Servite that took apart Long Beach Poly yesterday.

Warmups are over. We're moments from kickoff, which St. Bonaventure will receive. We're about to see what the Seraphs will do with their receiving corps, having lost its top six receivers to graduation and a key sophomore to injury.

On his way up to the third floor of the press box, one St. John Bosco coach just told the clockkeeper to "keep the clock running." Not sure if he was joking or not.

West Ranch sustained a pre-game injury when one of its cheerleaders was hurt on a grass area adjacent to the field at Hueneme High. She was taken off the field on a stretcher and sent to a hospital.

That hyped rematch between St. Bonaventure and Long Beach Poly next week isn't looking quite as intriguing after last night's results.

Poly, which returns no starters on defense, lost its season opener to Servite 30-7 at Long Beach Veterans Stadium.

It was the second-worst defeat for Poly during Raul Lara's nine seasons as coach.

Servite happens to be coached by Troy Thomas, who was the defensive coordinator at Westlake when the Warriors won the Southern Section title.

St. Bonaventure opens its rugged schedule tonight at St. John Bosco before preparing to get revenge against Poly next week. That prospect is looking a bit brighter now.

The Fillmore High football team faced a unique obstacle in its preseason preparations this year.

It's a sad season for county football fans who grew to love watching replays of Time Warner Cable's "Game of the Week."

Time Warner decided not to produce games during the regular season, although there is a chance the broadcast might return for the playoffs.

I spoke with announcers Tom West and Dave Wheeler earlier in the week, and they said Time Warner has decided to put its resources behind a new weekly sports show.

"High School Sports Rewind" will be a 30-minute weekly highlight show hosted by sportscaster Randy Kerdoon. The show, which will be Tuesday at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m., will feature action from L.A., Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties.

That likely means the VC portion will not be very extensive and probably skew towards the big dogs like Oaks Christian and St. Bonaventure. The show is supposed to have interviews with players, coaches and viewer submitted highlights.

And, you can only find it on Channel 101.

The St. Bonaventure High football team opens an uneven schedule Friday at St. John Bosco in Bellflower. The tough test at the Trinity League school will be the first of seven road games on the 10-game regular season schedule.

"It's not set up for success," said St. Bonaventure coach Todd Therrien of the schedule Wednesday. "But we're going to try to make it that way."

The schedule is softened of course by "road trips" to Buena and Ventura, the two venues in which the Seraphs host games.

September is an important month on the football calendar when it comes to playing and recruiting.

Yesterday was the first day since the end of the spring evaluation period that college coaches were allowed to begin calling prospects. Coaches can make one call per week to each recruit until Dec. 21.

Coaches are also allowed to start evaluating prospects, which most often occurs at high school games or practices. Coaching staffs have a maximum of 42 days they can evaluate recruits between Sept. 1 and Nov. 30. They are allowed to visit each individual prospect just once in those 42 days, and coaches from the same college can't see the same prospect more than once during the fall.

The last recruiting transition for September allows coaches to extend scholarship offers to juniors.

St. Bonaventure and Oaks Christian are ranked No. 1 in the Northern and Northwest Divisions, respectively, in the CIF-Southern Section preseason football polls.

The Ventura High football team was supposed to have its new locker rooms ready by the start of the season, but the construction process has been delayed.

The school is having a new building with two locker rooms built next to the visiting stands at Larrabee Stadium. It will also include a training room with an ice machine.

The construction started last Novemeber, and the money was allocated before the state budget went in the tank. Athletic director Dave Hess anticipates the locker rooms will be done at some point this season and did not know the reason for the delays.

"We have no complaints at all," Hess said. "Our locker room now is so antiquated and we are just happy to be getting this done no matter how long it takes."

But spectators should arrive earlier than usual for home games because much of the lower parking lot along Poli Street is boarded off for the construction.

- An interesting note: Any construction done at Ventura High takes a while to get approved because there are several seismic fault lines that run along Poli Street. The location must be trenched and the buildings have to be erected a certain amount of feet from the fault lines. Ventura was lucky that the locker room building was within the guidelines.

A memorial service for former Hueneme High athletic director and 1984 Olympic shot put bronze medalist Dave Laut will be held Saturday at 2 p.m. at the school.