BACK OF THE YEAR / RONNEY JENKINS : New Math: 3 Plays = 2,152 Yards

Who says football is a complicated game? Not Ronney Jenkins of Hueneme High.

Three simple plays accounted for Jenkins’ county-high 2,152 rushing yards this season.

Three simple plays enabled him to rush for a national record 619 yards in his final game, a 52-34 victory over Rio Mesa.

Play No. 1: a pitch to Jenkins on which both guards pulled and he ran around end.

Play No. 2: a counter gap on which Jenkins started one way before cutting back off tackle.

Play No. 3: a dive on which Jenkins followed the block of fullback Saipole Vainuku.

In the last game of Jenkins’ four-year career, he gained the record yardage in 30 carries, scoring seven touchdowns. Four of his runs were for 79 yards or more. He also kicked a field goal and an extra point for a total of 46 points.

Jenkins (5 feet 11, 175 pounds) had 27 touchdowns and averaged 7.7 yards a carry this season. He ended his career with 4,317 rushing yards and 43 touchdowns.

“It is fitting Ronney went out with a blaze of glory,” Coach Larry Miller said. “He hung in there for four years on a team that could never get to the playoffs. He is a model kid who has set a great example for our program.”

Since the record-setting performance, Jenkins has been showered with accolades. Hueneme held a “Ronney Jenkins Day,” he will be the grand marshal of the Ventura Harbor Parade of Lights on Saturday and he appeared in the Faces in the Crowd section of Sports Illustrated magazine.

“The attention has been unbelievable,” Jenkins said. “I didn’t know what to think of it at first, but I’m kind of used to it now.”

Nearly every school in the Pacific 10 Conference and many other prominent universities are hot on Jenkins’ trail.

His grade-point average is close to 3.0. However, he has yet to achieve a qualifying score on the Scholastic Assessment Test.

Jenkins’ grandmother, Jean Cox, has raised him despite arthritis and a degenerative disk in her back.

Although the pain was excruciating the day her grandson set the record, she attended the game.

“I think about her all the time,” Jenkins said. “I played that last game for her. I really did.”