Smith, Van Buren Work Their Magic : High school football: Newbury Park seniors team for three touchdowns in 43-28 victory over Buena.

Power football is fine if that’s your thing, but Keith Smith would just as soon beat you with a little flash and excitement.

So the Newbury Park senior went out Friday night and completed 23 of 33 passes for 365 yards and five touchdowns to lead Newbury Park to a 43-28 nonleague victory over Buena.

“This was a good win for us,” said Smith, who also rushed for a touchdown. “Buena has a really big team and this showed we can play with teams bigger than us.”

Newbury Park--ranked first in The Times’ regional and Southern Section Division III polls--improved to 3-0. Buena dropped to 1-2.

Standout Buena running back George Keiaho, the power in the Bulldogs’ power running game, rushed for 247 yards and three touchdowns in 39 carries.

Newbury Park senior receiver Leodes Van Buren caught five passes for 125 yards and three touchdowns. Jason Tucker caught seven passes for 108 yards and a touchdown.

Smith secured the victory in the third quarter with his third and fourth touchdown passes.

After a botched Buena punt gave the Panthers the ball at the Bulldogs’ 36-yard line, Smith guided Newbury Park to the end zone in five plays to give the Panthers a 30-14 lead.

Smith put the game out of reach about four minutes later when he and Van Buren combined for their third touchdown, which covered 23 yards. The Panthers went to halftime ahead, 22-14--but not without a struggle.

Newbury Park grabbed the lead with only 1:03 remaining before intermission. Smith and Van Buren combined for their second touchdown of the half, a nifty 62-yard catch and run by Van Buren down the left sideline.

Smith completed 11 of 16 passes for 191 yards and two touchdowns in the half. Keiaho rushed for 125 yards and two touchdowns in 23 carries.

Newbury Park looked as if was going to dominate the game, taking a 14-0 lead with about 12 minutes to play in the first half.

The Panthers opened the scoring with 6:09 left in the first quarter on a one-yard sneak by Smith through the middle of the Bulldogs’ defensive line. The play capped a five-play, 54-yard drive following a Buena punt in the game’s opening possession.

Smith and Van Buren hooked up for their first touchdown with 11:53 left in the second quarter. Smith hit Van Buren in the back of the end zone for 17 yards.

However, Buena did not scare. The Bulldogs took the ensuing kickoff and drove 68 yards in nine plays, the final two covered by Keiaho. Marty Kemslent’s kick made the score 14-7.