Paul on the Run but Wins Race

Bryan Paul wouldn’t admit as much, but if he didn’t start running, he never would have left Ventura’s Larrabee Stadium alive Friday night.

He made it out unscathed.

The quarterback from Moorpark High passed for two touchdowns and rushed for another in leading the East to a 19-8 victory over the West in the Ventura County all-star football game.

Paul, a 6-foot-3, 195-pound senior headed for Valley College, passed for 168 yards and rushed for 51, and he helped the East get off the deck after it trailed, 8-0, at halftime, managing only 30 net yards in the first half.

“It was a team effort,” Paul said. “My receivers were catching the ball.”

Paul was clobbered in the first half, throwing only three passes while scrambling six times for a net gain of one yard.

He was sacked three times and lost three fumbles.

The source of Paul’s frustration was the West defensive line, which held the East to negative yardage on 12 plays.

The front five of Marcos and Oscar Tovar of Ventura, Blane Saipaia of Channel Islands, Damon Deck of Buena and Sam Benner of St. Bonaventure was so dominant that Paul wanted nothing to do with them by the third quarter.

So he started rolling out and it worked.

Side-stepping the rush, Paul hit DaJuan Hawkins on pass plays of 33 and 14 yards, the second coming on fourth down. He found Moorpark teammate David Burns open underneath for a 20-yard touchdown pass to close the gap to 8-6.

After a fumble by the West’s Ronney Jenkins, Paul took off on runs of 15, 16 and 22 yards as West linemen charged into the pocket. He gave the East a 12-8 lead on a three-yard run.

“They came up the middle and I’d take off,” Paul said.

Paul hit Edward Patterson on a 60-yard score that left the monsters of the West wondering what happened.

“We had way too many penalties,” said Benner, who led the West with eight tackles, two sacks and a fumble recovery. “Our defensive line was great, but Paul’s a great scrambler. He got away a couple of times.”