Burning Issue for Ventura Players: Safety

Ventura tailback Jeramie Jackson can move. He’s proven that by rushing for 812 yards this season.

But he can’t outrun fire.

The dancing flames of a wind-fueled brush fire came within a block of Ventura High during a Channel League game Friday night against Hueneme, and Jackson felt like moving, all right.

In the opposite direction.

“It was a nervous experience,” he said. “Some guys were telling the coach to let them leave because their houses were right where the fire was, but the cops wouldn’t let us go.”

Fire officials halted the game with 4 minutes 12 seconds to play and Ventura leading, 55-0. Ventura’s homecoming dance was canceled because of the fire, which came within 50 feet of homes.

Twenty strike teams, 100 trucks and 500 firefighters battled the blaze, which authorities said was started by an arsonist about 7 p.m. at nearby Grant Park.

Offensive lineman Andrew Pinkstaff’s home was in danger, a fact he was aware of while he played.

“By the second quarter we could actually see the flames through the smoke,” Pinkstaff said. “After the game somebody came into the locker room and told me, ‘Sorry but your house might have already caught on fire.’

The locker room scene didn’t resemble a fire drill. It was a fire drill.

“The cops were telling everyone to hurry up and leave,” Jackson said. “Everybody got dressed faster than they ever have before.”

*

No. 1 pick: Camarillo scored to take a 33-29 lead over Westlake with 7:30 to play Friday, but no one believed those would be the torrid game’s last points.

A diving interception by 5-foot-8 defensive back Justin Howe at the Camarillo 16-yard line with three minutes to play stopped Westlake’s last drive, however.

“I’d been beat a couple times and I’d made a couple plays,” Howe said. “That was the time to make a play, that’s for sure.”

Following the interception, Camarillo rattled off six first downs to run out the clock.

*

Sheer determination: Losing star running back Sedric Hurns to a knee injury last week was tough, but that’s the only losing No. 1-ranked Taft (7-0) plans to do.

Just ask tight end Alex Sheer.

“We know we can do it,” he said. “Sedric is our man, but it doesn’t matter who is in the backfield.”

Sheer caught a six-yard touchdown pass with two minutes to play to cement Taft’s 28-18 victory over San Fernando on Friday. Sheer had seven catches for 83 yards.

Sophomore Marquis Brignac and junior Larry Jones spelled Hurns, who might return for the playoffs. But quarterback Nick DiPadova turned out to be Taft’s strongest running threat, setting up the scoring pass to Sheer with a 41-yard scramble.

Taft only needs DiPadova to find the end zone the way he has for seven weeks, and plenty of points will be generated. The 6-foot senior has passed for 17 touchdowns and rushed for 11.

*

Monster masher: Jess Ortiz, a 6-foot-6, 350-pound senior lineman with Division I potential, is one very large reason Rio Mesa (6-1) is off to its best start in many years.

Ortiz’s birthday is on Halloween, which is noteworthy for two reasons.

One, his nickname is “monster.”

Two, he will be 17, meaning he is young for his grade, still a baby monster.

“On the field, Jess intimidates people with his size,” said running back Carl Richardson, who has scored 19 touchdowns with Ortiz as an escort. “He’s worked really hard this year and has gotten quick. Our line is the biggest reason we’ve improved so much.”

*

Join the crowd: It’s a wonder even 30 players brave the brutal August sun and biting October wind to play football at Antelope Valley.

Not so long ago, the numbers were much higher, 50 or 60 weather-toughened players carrying on a rich winning tradition begun even before Brent Newcomb took over the program 19 years ago.

But the openings of Littlerock, Lancaster and Vasquez highs have gradually eroded Antelope Valley’s enrollment.

Easing overcrowding is a plus for practically everyone at the school besides Newcomb, who finds himself suiting up fewer players than many of the teams he schedules. Compton Dominguez and Long Beach Poly, two of the Antelopes’ nonleague opponents this year, had double the players of Antelope Valley.

“This is a problem we’re just now getting used to,” Newcomb said. “Eight of our kids have never played football. Some days, we have just enough players to scrimmage.”

Yet lack of depth will not cause the Antelopes to sink in the Golden League standings, not if Friday’s 35-6 victory over Littlerock is an indication. The Antelopes snapped Littlerock’s six-game winning streak convincingly, as if to emphasize that their domination of the league isn’t over.

Antelope Valley’s players must assume expanded roles, like Tony Walker, a preseason All-American. For three seasons the team’s premier defensive back, receiver and kick returner, Walker moved to tailback a few weeks ago. He rushed for 178 yards and three touchdowns against Littlerock.

“We’ve got to get the ball in Tony’s hands,” Newcomb said. “He neutralizes our depth problems, any problems, really.”