NOTEBOOK : SAT Worries Isaacs More Than 99-Yard Victory Drive

When he led Buena High on a length-of-the-field scoring drive earlier this season to beat Oxnard in the final seconds, quarterback Jason Isaacs earned the nickname, “Jason 99.”

Now Isaacs will have to pull off another last-minute stunt to continue his football career through the college ranks.

Call him Jason Come Lately.

Isaacs, who passed for 1,971 yards this season, is a Division I prospect, but he may miss an opportunity to receive a scholarship because he hasn’t taken the Scholastic Aptitude Test. He needs to score at least a 700 to satisfy Prop. 48 requirements.

It’s fourth down and only four tests remain before the signing period in April.

The next test will be held Dec. 2.

“I’m not sure I’ll take that test or not,” Isaacs said. “I’ll probably regret waiting this long to take the test. But I haven’t had the time.

“It’s hard to play football, work, keep up with my homework, and study for this test. We usually play on Friday and it’s difficult to get up the next morning and take the SAT.”

Isaacs, who has set three school records for career passing, doubts he will even receive a scholarship offer despite being contacted by more than 15 Division I schools. On Tuesday, Washington State assistant coaches requested game films of Isaacs.

“My chances of getting a scholarship are slim,” said Isaacs, who is also an excellent baseball pitcher. “You never know if a school really wants you until they offer you a letter-of-intent. I’ve received letters, but so have half of the kids in the world.”

Add Buena: Buena was the only Ventura County team to lose in the first round of the playoffs last Friday and Coach Rick Scott was embarrassed by his team’s performance.

“It was a tough loss because we made so many mental mistakes,” said Scott, whose team fell to Leuzinger, 10-6. “Five times we had the wrong number of players on the field. It looked like we weren’t well-coached because we were terribly unorganized. That loss hurt more than either of the two shutouts.” Thousand Oaks and Newbury Park had both blanked the Bulldogs in nonleague games.

It also didn’t help that Tony Williams, Buena’s leading receiver, was hampered by a sprained right ankle. Williams, who suffered the injury in a Channel League finale against Hueneme, played only five downs.

Playoff prediction: Scott picks Channel League rival Santa Barbara to win the Division II championships with Canyon and Thousand Oaks also deserving consideration.

“I have a feeling about Santa Barbara,” Scott said. “Boy, they’re a good team. Probably the best balanced team in the division. They pass and run well and they have a great kicking game. Their only weakness is that their kids don’t have any playoff experience.

“Canyon is probably the most physical and Thousand Oaks has such a good defense they can shut out everyone it plays.

In search of: Coach Joe Vaughan called nine different schools before ending his search near Fresno for an opponent to play in the Buena High girls’ basketball fund-raiser game.

Buena will play CIF-Central Section champion Hanford on Feb. 10.

In the past four fund-raiser games, Buena has played Lynwood three times and perennial Orange County power Brea-Olinda last season.

“It was quite a hassle,” Vaughan said. “I called the top teams from Southern California, including Morningside, Point Loma and Washington, and no one wanted to play us.”

Who can blame them?

It’s a long drive to Ventura County and Buena makes losers of most opponents.

Last season, the Bulldogs were 22-4 overall and lost to Southern Section 5-A Division champion Hart in the semifinals.

Bowl bound: With a 17-0 victory over L. A. Southwest on Saturday, the Moorpark College football team tied for the Western State Conference title, won the Northern Division outright and earned a berth in the Orange County Bowl, formerly the PONY Bowl. Moorpark (9-1, 8-1 in conference play, 5-0 in division play) will meet Rancho Santiago College (9-1) on Dec. 2 in a rematch of the 1988 PONY Bowl, which Rancho Santiago won, 17-10.

Moorpark will play at 1 p.m. at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa in the first game of a bowl double-header. The evening game will match a pair of unbeaten teams, Riverside City College and El Camino College.

The Moorpark defense recorded its fifth shutout of the season and allowed only 82 points in 10 games.

Tickets for the Orange County Bowl are available at the Moorpark business office.

Impressive debut: Tony Walker, formerly of Ventura College, started at point guard in Loyola-Marymount’s season-opening, 102-91 loss to top-ranked Nevada-Las Vegas.

Walker, who fouled out with 18:30 left, had five assists.

Honored hitters: Moorpark College outside hitter Julie Piantek was named to the 10-women All-Western State Conference first team in volleyball.

Outside hitter Jennifer DeMontes was a second-team pick, and Kellee Roe and Monique Henga were honorable mention.

Strong match-up: Two of USA Today newspaper’s top 20 men’s junior college basketball teams will meet Saturday when Ventura College plays host to L. A. City at 7:30 p.m.

There were no rankings; the teams were listed in alphabetical order.

Ventura (3-1) is ranked fourth in the state and third in the Southland by the JC Athletic Bureau.

The Pirates finished second in the Cypress Tournament last weekend when host Cypress erased a seven-point deficit in the final minute to win, 70-69.

L.A. City (2-2), ranked seventh in the state and fourth in the Southland, is led by Chris Small. Small, a 6-foot-1 guard who averaged 21 points a game last season, is one of USA Today’s top players in the country.

Oxnard (3-1) will travel to Porterville on Friday. Randy Carter, a 6-4 sophomore forward, is averaging 25 points a game.

Joe Daughrity, a 6-1 guard, scored 31 points on 11 of 14 shooting from the field and had 10 assists in an 85-79 win over L.A. City on Saturday.

Cardinals defeated: The Ventura Cardinals lost, 8-3, to the Orange County Rhinos in the semifinals of the High Desert Football League playoffs at Oxnard High on Sunday.

The Rhinos will meet West L.A., a 17-10 winner over the Orange County Cowboys, for the title. Ventura finished 11-2.

Pirate update: Former Ventura College star Cedric Ceballos began his senior season at Cal State Fullerton in vintage form in a 97-91 exhibition win over East Melbourne, Australia, last Friday.

Ceballos, 6-7, scored a game-high 29 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. He was 13 of 21 from the field, including a three-point basket, and had four assists and four steals.

Rick Fluckey, who played for the Pirates last season, started at small forward for New Mexico State in the Lobos’ 91-53 win over Simon Fraser on Monday.

Fluckey, 6-6, had three steals and scored three points. He was one for six shooting from the field, all from three-point range.

Jeff Riley and staff writer Brendan Healey contributed to this notebook.