An introduction seemingly is in order for...

An introduction seemingly is in order for the region’s leading rusher after three games.

Oak Park junior tailback Tarik Smith has rushed for 553 yards in 47 carries (11.7-yard average) to lead the Eagles to a 3-0 start. Last season, Smith rushed for 420 yards in limited duty.

Smith (6-foot, 182 pounds), who rushed for 127 and 174 yards in his first two games, gained 252 yards and scored three touchdowns in 18 carries in Friday night’s 35-14 victory over L. A. Baptist. Smith scored on runs of 65, 38 and 88 yards, his longest run of the season.

The previous week, in a 34-22 victory over Fillmore, Smith ran for touchdowns of 68 (on the game’s first play from scrimmage), 67 and 27 yards and caught a 68-yard touchdown pass.

Smith has eight touchdowns, seven rushing.

Offense: Senior running back Jermaine Pledger of Poly is doing his best to make people forget Jonathan Campbell, last year’s City Section 3-A Division player of the year. Campbell rushed for 2,091 yards in 304 carries and scored 31 touchdowns and led Poly to a City championship. At this time last year, Campbell had carried 60 times for 284 yards and six touchdowns. Against the same three opponents this year, Pledger has carried 58 times for 328 yards and four touchdowns. . . .

Buena sophomore running back George Keiaho has amassed 416 of the Bulldogs’ 695 rushing yards (60%) and scored nine of the team’s 10 touchdowns. . . . Newbury Park receivers Leodes Van Buren (16 for 288) and Jason Toohey (15 for 317) have combined for 70% of the team’s 44 receptions.

Royal senior quarterback Ryan Fien has thrown only one interception in 62 attempts. . . . Eight players have scored for Royal. . . . Junior running back Devon Passno of Ventura has scored seven touchdowns in the past two games. . . .

Nordhoff’s Nacho Vega set a school record with five touchdowns in a 40-20 win over St. Bonaventure, breaking his record for rushing touchdowns (four).

Defense: Camp Kilpatrick held Leffingwell Christian to minus-57 yards in total offense and no first downs in a 45-0 victory last week. Peter Hollingsworth (6-1, 190), a senior middle linebacker, has three of the team’s seven sacks and leads the Mustangs with 25 tackles.

Records: The Golden League, one year after landing two teams in the Southern Section Division I semifinals, is off to a rocky start. The team with best preleague record thus far is in Ridgecrest, where Burroughs is 2-1. After that, no team has a winning record. Canyon is 1-1-1; Quartz Hill, Antelope Valley and Saugus are each 1-2; and Palmdale is 0-3. The league’s overall mark is 6-11-1. . . .

Antelope Valley Coach Brent Newcomb registered his 100th career win with a 15-7 decision over Bakersfield on Friday. Newcomb is 100-58-1. “I’ve been working on No. 100 for about three years now,” Newcomb joked. Antelope Valley was 5-15 over the past two seasons. . . .

Mid-Valley League teams (Canoga Park, Grant, Monroe and Van Nuys) are 2-7 collectively in preseason games.

Miscellaneous: Ten different players have scored touchdowns for Highland and five players have intercepted a pass. . . . Antelope Valley kicker Peter Holt has booted field goals of 52 and 50 yards. . . . Sylmar’s Justin Kelin is averaging 40 yards a punt.

Kickoff returns: Four City games that involved Valley-area teams began with touchdowns Friday. Van Nuys and Reseda scored on opening kickoff returns; Grant and Kennedy were victims of returns for touchdowns.

Regional Football

Top 10 Selected by sportswriters of The Times

Lst. Rk Wk Team League Record 1 1 Thousand Oaks Marmonte 2-1 2 2 Hart Foothill 2-1 3 9 Canyon Golden 1-1-1 4 5 Royal Marmonte 3-0 5 6 Oxnard Channel 3-0 6 7 San Fernando West Valley 3-0 7 8 Rio Mesa Channel 3-0 8 4 Kennedy West Valley 2-1 9 NR Ventura Channel 2-1 10 NR Chaminade Mission 3-0

NR--Not ranked