Carr Drives Buena Past Oxnard, 24-20

Who says quarterbacks are supposed to throw the ball? Or even hand it off?

It was on the feet of a quarterback that Buena High beat Oxnard, 24-20, in a key Channel League game Friday night. And it was almost on the feet of another quarterback that Buena nearly lost.

The Bulldogs’ Chris Carr, who lined up at quarterback sporadically throughout the game, scored on a one-yard plunge with 1:21 left, giving Buena its first lead.

Carr, who gained 104 yards in 11 carries, mostly at quarterback, was smiling at the end but his team was nearly outperformed by Oxnard quarterback Taj Lewis, who ran for 129 yards and two touchdowns.

Buena (6-1-2 overall, 4-0-2) has a chance to win the league title with a victory at San Marcos next week. San Marcos lost to Dos Pueblos Friday night and fell to 4-2 in league play.

Oxnard (5-4, 4-2), which led, 20-3, at halftime, had a chance to put the game away in the fourth quarter when the Yellowjackets drove deep into Buena territory with a 20-18 lead.

Lewis threw a 10 yard touchdown pass to Ross Randolph on fourth and nine, but the play was nullified because of an illegal receiver downfield.

Oxnard Coach Neil Kazmierezak elected to go for the touchdown on the next play from the 15, but Lewis’ pass fell incomplete.

Then Buena drove 85 yards for the game-winning touchdown, 52 yards coming on a run by Carr.

Oxnard’s last-ditch possession ended when a fourth-down shotgun snap sailed over the head of Lewis, who was not expecting the ball, and was recovered by Buena’s Bobby Sentinella at the Oxnard 20.

Buena quarterback Glenn Dudley, who took most of the snaps, completed nine of 16 passes for 116 yards.

Lewis completed three of 10 for 16 yards, doing most of the damage with his feet, particularly in the first half.

The 5-11 senior gained 130 yards in the first half and scored on runs of 11 and 23 yards. He finished the second scoring run by high-stepping into the end zone.

Lewis was at his best when able to ad-lib, as he did on fourth and seven from the Buena 22 in the closing seconds of the first half. Lewis, lined up in the shotgun, dropped the snap but picked up the ball and squirted through Buena’s defense for a 20-yard run.

Oxnard took the lead on Gabe Roman’s 63-yard interception return in the first quarter. Buena had a chance to take the lead in the second quarter, but a 10-yard scoring pass from Dudley to Josh Frost was called back because of a holding penalty. The Bulldogs had to settle for a 32-yard field goal by James Hammer.

Buena has not lost since a 38-7 setback to Westlake in its season opener.