Oxnard Knocks Off Raiders

Channel Islands High was both unbeaten and impressive heading into its nonleague football game against Oxnard on Friday.

The Raiders’ running game had been nearly unstoppable, and the team had averaged 30 points and 275 rushing yards in wins over Rio Mesa and Hueneme.

But, after dropping a 36-14 decision to Oxnard at Oxnard High, the beaten Raiders aren’t very impressive, either.

Tailback Renard Carn, who had rushed for 243 yards in the first two games, was on the bench because of a stress fracture in his left foot. And Arturo Hernandez, one of the top defensive ends in the Marmonte League, also was sidelined, because of a hip injury.

And the Raiders’ woes continued with blocked punts, costly penalties and turnovers. Those mistakes overshadowed Lamont Pearson’s 104 rushing yards in nine carries.

“We just didn’t look very good at all,” Channel Islands Coach Joel Gershon said. “We didn’t even look like a football team.”

Channel Islands’ mistakes made a good Oxnard (2-1) team look even better. Oxnard turned four critical Channel Islands errors into four touchdowns and the Yellowjackets finished with 233 rushing yards and 313 total.

“We played about as good as we can play,” Oxnard Coach Jack Davis said. “But I also think that we caught (Channel Islands) on a bad night.”

Channel Islands’ troubles began when Oxnard, leading 6-0 on John Lewis’ two-yard run, blocked a Raider punt.

Eric Gutierrez smothered Juan Vargas’ kick at Channel Islands’ 26 and Oxnard’s Nathan Stephens recovered the ball at the 15.

Three plays later, Kenyon Lewis (150 yards in 18 carries) scored on a 27-yard run and John Lewis’ two-point conversion gave Oxnard a 14-0 lead with 8 minutes 34 seconds left in the half.

“After that blocked punt, we really had the momentum,” Davis said.

Channel Islands’ next mistake was a personal foul, during an Oxnard punt, which gave the Yellowjackets a first down at Channel Islands’ 32. Quarterback Larry Bumpus hit Kenyon Lewis for a 26-yard gain to the 10, and Bumpus scored on a six-yard run.

Dan Duchai’s point-after extended Oxnard’s lead to 21-0 with 3:09 left in the first half.

“We made some critical mistakes,” Gershon said.

Channel Islands finally reached the end zone on an 11-yard pass from quarterback Pharoh Milner to Ricky Rodriguez with nine seconds left in the half. Milner added the conversion run to cut Oxnard’s lead to 21-8 at halftime.

But Oxnard took advantage of a pair of Channel Islands fumbles in the second half to turn the game into a rout.

First, Milner fumbled at the Raiders’ 39, and Oxnard capitalized, scoring on a 17-yard touchdown pass from Bumpus to Brooke Johnson. Kenyon Lewis’ conversion run extended Oxnard’s lead to 29-8 with 11:51 remaining.

Then another fumbled by Milner resulted in a 32-yard pass from Bumpus to Johnson that gave Oxnard a 36-8 lead with 9:45 left. Bumpus completed four of six passes for 80 yards and two touchdowns.

Channel Islands concluded the scoring when Milner, who rushed for 72 yards in 14 carries, scored on a three-yard run with 2:43 left.