ORANGE COUNTY PREP SATURDAY : Leasure Leads Valencia : His 3 Touchdowns Continue Running Tradition for Tigers

Valencia High School afforded Westminster only brief glimpses of the latest in a long line of impressive running backs in the Tigers’ 24-14 victory Friday night in front of 3,500 at Westminster Stadium.

It’s not that the Tigers played Keef Leasure sparingly, it was merely that he gave the Westminster defense little chance to look at him before he was off, streaking toward the end zone.

Leasure, a 5-foot 10-inch, 190-pound junior, rushed for touchdown plays of 61, 6 and 85 yards as the Tigers overcame a 14-0 deficit.

Leasure gained 251 yards in 24 carries, a 10.5-yard average per carry. Those numbers are familiar to anyone who has watched Valencia in recent years.

Leasure is following a well-beaten path to Tiger opponents’ end zones. Last season, Dorian Estes gained 1,174 yards and two years ago Ray Pallares became the all-time state rushing leader with 5,398 yards in his three years at Valencia.

Leasure appears to have picked up the best traits of his two predecessors. He cuts and slashes his way through the defense, as did Estes. And, when called upon, he can put his head down and plow through the line, as did Pallares.

On the two long runs, Leasure went through big holes created by the offensive line, but then put on some slick moves to break into the clear.

His six-yard score was straight through the teeth of a very good Westminster defense.

Still, Valencia started slowly.

“We have a number of new players this year,” said Mike Marrujo, Valencia coach. “They were kind of apprehensive at the beginning, I think. We were standing around for about the first five minutes.”

Indeed, it seemed the Tigers and Leasure needed the Lions to show them how it’s done.

Just two minutes into the second quarter, with the Tigers trailing, 7-0, running back Brian O’Hara scored on an 80-yard run to push the lead to 14-0.

Following the kickoff, Leasure took off on a 61-yard touchdown run that was strikingly similar to O’Hara’s. Leasure broke through a gaping hole, turned to his left, eluded one tackler near midfield, then outran everyone to the end zone.

“(Leasure) had some big runs for us last year,” Marrujo said. “He had a 60-yard run on the first play of the Anaheim game last year.”

After a 22-yard field goal by Paul Rivera brought Valencia to within 14-10 by halftime, Leasure, who had 93 yards in the first half, really got going.

He carried three times on the Tigers’ 4-play, 65-yard scoring drive, gaining 31, 2 and 6 yards--his second touchdown--to put Valencia ahead for good, 17-14, with 10:22 left in the quarter.

His final touchdown run of 85 yards was perhaps the easiest.