I'm in the press box at the Rose Bowl before the UCLA-Stanford game. But, according to people on the sidelines, Moorpark has beaten Santa Barbara City College 37-20 to move to 5-0 for the first time since 1988. The Raiders, along with the rest of the Western State Conference, will rest this week on its bye week, meaning they will at least last nearly midway into October unbeaten.

Tyler scores his fifth touchdown, from 1 yard out, with 8:16 left to make it 52-13.

Tyler makes it 45-7 with a 35-yard touchdown run on the first possession of the second half.

St. Bonaventure goes 80 yards on four plays to get six points back. One play after Macarena connects with Hall for a 52-yard gain, Lee carries for a 13-yard touchdown, giving him 166 yards on 24 carries.

Tyler gains 9 yards on the final play of the third quarter, giving him more than 250 yards rushing.

Oaks Christian 21 17 - - 38
St. Bonaventure 0 7 - - 7
Beginning of the second half

What a performance by Oaks Christian in the first half.

Second Quarter update:

And Oaks Christian pours it on to remove all semblance of competition from the game.

Another big Chris Potter punt return sets OC up at the Seraphs 13. A 30-yard field goal makes it 24-7 Oaks with 5;05 left in the half.

Tyler breaks loose for a 73-yard touchdown run.

But the Lions aren't finished. They call timeou after a 3-and-out to set up on more scoring chance.

An incredible 35-yard diving catch by Sean Wiser sets up a 6-yard Tyler scoring run that makes it 38-7 with 45 seconds left before halftime.

The Seraphs now understand what the rest of the county has felt like for the last seven years.

Halftime stats include:

QB Jimmy Clausen 13-of-21 passing, 206 yards, 2 TDs)
RB Marc Tyler 8 att., 146 yards, 3 TDs
WR Sean Wiser 4 rec., 76 yards, 1 TD

St. Bonaventure
QB Tony Macarena 6-of-11 passing, 69 yards, 1 TD, 2 ints.
RB Michael Lee 15 att., 94 yards
RB Patrick Hall 4 att., 25 yards, 2 rec., 50 yards.

Oaks Christian 21 17 - - 38
St. Bonaventure 0 7 - - 7
Beginning of the second half

What a performance by Oaks Christian in the first half.

Second Quarter update:

And Oaks Christian pours it on to remove all semblance of competition from the game.

Another big Chris Potter punt return sets OC up at the Seraphs 13. A 30-yard field goal makes it 24-7 Oaks with 5;05 left in the half.

Tyler breaks loose for a 73-yard touchdown run.

But the Lions aren't finished. They call timeou after a 3-and-out to set up on more scoring chance.

An incredible 35-yard diving catch by Sean Wiser sets up a 6-yard Tyler scoring run that makes it 38-7 with 45 seconds left before halftime.

The Seraphs now understand what the rest of the county has felt like for the last seven years.

Halftime stats include:

QB Jimmy Clausen 13-of-21 passing, 206 yards, 2 TDs)
RB Marc Tyler 8 att., 146 yards, 3 TDs
WR Sean Wiser 4 rec., 76 yards, 1 TD

St. Bonaventure
QB Tony Macarena 6-of-11 passing, 69 yards, 1 TD, 2 ints.
RB Michael Lee 15 att., 94 yards
RB Patrick Hall 4 att., 25 yards, 2 rec., 50 yards.

Coaches scream "We've got to stop them before we can catch them" on the home sideline.

But Tyler's 35 yard run to the Seraphs 45 makes it look like OC will run rampant all night.

But St. Bonaventure gets its much needed stop as Tyler is thrown for a 9-yard loss on third-and-9.

Clausen's punt, however, rolls dead inside the Seraphs 1.

There's a mixup in the backfield and quarterback Tony Macarena throws blindly downfield for an interception.

In the biggest play thus far, the Seraphs defense, desperate for a stop on third-and-12 from the SB 40, is burned for a 40-yard Clausen scoring strike to Chris Owusu.

It's 21-0 OC with 1:37 left in the first quarter. Clausen is 11 for 15 for 168 yards and two TDs.

In reply, Michael Lee broke a run. But a holding penalty made the drive stutter and the Lions went 91-yards in 7 plays to take a 14-0 lead.

Marc Tyler's 14 yard touchdown run and Clausen's conversion pass to Chris Potter makes it a 14-point just 7 minutes into the game

Clausen looks the real deal and Seraphs have been unable to apply any pressure. He's 6 for 9 passing for 103 yards a touchdown and a conversion.

St. Bonaventure manages just seven yards in three plays and is forced to punt, which is returned nicely by Chris Potter.

Clausen completes three of four passes, the last to Sean Wiser for a 17-yard touchdown pass on third down, for an early Oaks lead.

The point after failed.

OC 6, SB 0 9:08 1Q

While waiting for Fox Sports to allow us to kick off, I can wonder what the helicopter hovering over the stadium is doing. Unsettling.

The crowd on both sides of the stadium rise as the two teams take the field.

Fans behind St. Bonaventure unfurl a banner that reads "U ARE 20. GO2COLLEGE," referencing 19-year-old Oaks quarterback Jimmy Clausen.

St. Bonaventure wins the toss and elects to receive.

Both teams have warmed up and gone back into the locker rooms.

Bob Buttitta, overlooked yesterday in our prediction column, goes on the record with 28-24 St. Bonaventure.

"Good athletes and great system beats great athletes," said our esteemed golf writer.

Mike Herrera, head coach of the St. Bonaventure junior varsity, knew his team's game tonight against the Oaks Christian JV would be special the moment he heard that the Larrabee Stadium gates would open at 3 p.m.

Fans arriving early to ensure good seats for the "Game of the Century" nightcap would be captive for the preliminaries featuring Herrera's Seraphs and an Oaks Christian team unbeaten for three years.

The stands were nearly full and by the time the junior Seraphs took a 16-0 halftime team, prompting linebackers coach and former St. Bonaventure star Dave Garza to wonder if the Larrabee Stadium atmosphere late Friday afternoon beat the three CIF finals he experienced as a player.

The credential requests finished at 112 requests, according to Thom Simmons of the CIF, including requests by Sports Illustrated and ESPN.

It's just past 4 and the cars are already lined down Poli Street for blocks and blocks. According to co-workers, the parking lots filled between 2 and 3 p.m. And that's not the only traffic crunch. The stands already seem full from outside the stadium. And there isn't a hint of dusk yet in the sky.

In the TV timeout before Patrick Hall goes 38 yards with a seam pass for a touchdown, St. Bonaventure coach Jon Mack yells "This should go to the house" to his players.

Hall jukes Marshall Jones out on his way to the end zone.

The St. Bonaventure offense isn't designed for a shootout, so the Seraphs go back to hammering away with the running game.

With 9:45 left in the half, Lee has 66 yards on 11 carries and Patrick Hall has 25 yards on three carries.

Oaks looks as incapable of stopping the run as St. Bonaventure is of stopping Clausen's arm.

Although I know which one I'd pick in my arsenal.

Couldn't find any current St. Bonaventure video (go to our big game page for video of last year's CIF Division IV title game), but I did find this video of former Seraph Lorenzo Booker fine run for Florida State at Notre Dame.

This Oaks Christian team is reminscent of Booker's St. Bonaventure teams in so many ways (immensely talented small school program, dominant in Division XI, so many questions about the ability to stand up to a bigger opponent). Those teams dearly wanted to play against one of the bigger schools locally, like Westlake and Ventura. Interesting that it took St. Bonaventure growing its program to the Division IV level for Oaks to have a bigger school that would play them.

There are a ton of Jimmy Clausen videos out there. Here are a few to get everyone ready for tonight.

Football doesn't end on Friday night for these kids, especially those being recruited by so many Division I-A football programs.

Although I didn't see them on the sidelines or in the locker room after the game, WeAreSC.com reported that USC commits Marc Tyler and Marshall Jones were at the Coliseum for Saturday's USC-Nebraska game.

I wonder what Oaks Christian quarterback Jimmy Clausen, who was in South Bend for Michigan's beating of Notre Dame Saturday according to the Chicago Tribune, thought of his future teammates last weekend:

"Quarterback Jimmy Clausen, the nation's top-rated prospect who is headed to Notre Dame, was in the stands on a recruiting visit. Alongside him was fellow Californian Malcolm Smith -- the brother of USC wide receiver Steve Smith -- and Gary Gray, a cornerback from South Carolina who committed to the Gamecocks, then reopened his recruiting."

Interesting that Clausen was there but not St. Bonaventure defensive back Michael Williams, who is being recruited by both the Irish and the Wolverines. Williams told me after practice Monday that he watched the game at home.

It seems teammate Blaine Irby, the Texas committ, took him to Austin last week to see Ohio State's prime time slaying of the defending national champions.

"It was nuts," said Williams.

According to the Star's notebook on Page C7, fans began filling in Larrabee Stadium almost three hours before the 1999 game between 9-0 Ventura and 8-1 Buena.

Big crowd of 9,000 doesn't come late

By David Lassen and Derry Eads
Staff writers

By 4:45 p.m. there were already dozens of people in the Larrabee Stadium
stands staking out space with blankets. By 5:45 the number was in the
hundreds and the choice top-row seats on the tiny visitors' bleachers -- the
only row in the small seven-row stands with a real chance of seeing over
those on the sidelines -- were already spoken for.

And when the two teams took the field an hour before the game the stands
were virtually full. The roar when they came out was louder than anything
you'd hear during some games.

"They say it seats 6000" said Buena coach Rick Scott. "But I know we've had
some games here with about 9000 people."

Thursday's crowd may have exceeded that figure.

"We come out for warmups and the stands are full" said Ventura coach Phil
McCune. "It's just great. Our kids are really enjoying this."

There is a sense of trepidation among those of us on the Star's sports staff in advance of Larrabee Stadium's big event on Friday. It'll be interesting to see how the old venue holds up to the mass of humanity expected. Both St. Bonaventure and Oaks Christian have sold 4,000 tickets.

The only recent regular season game which would offer up any sort of comparison is the 1999 game between 9-0 Ventura and 8-1 Buena. Buena won, 49-21, in front of an attendance of 9,000 fans, as reported by the Star and Times.

Buena rolled up 382 yards and seven touchdowns to end Ventura's nine-game winning streak. St. Bonaventure and Oaks Christian have won a combined 60 games entering Friday.

Star staff writer Derry Eads' game story from that night at Larrabee Stadium follows:

Switching gears to Ventura County's prep football "Game of the Century," which has been sold out more than a week in advance of Friday's 7 p.m. start at Larrabee Stadium....

A big game is a big game. I've covered the Rose Bowl and the World Cup final this year and, it may be a completely different level and sport, but I feel similar excitement for Friday's event. In many ways, 92,000 in Pasadena and 74,000 in Berlin equals 8,000 at Larrabee Stadium.