The Truth About Buena Is Numbers Lie

Check the statistics and you’d figure Buena is lurching through a subpar season.

The Bulldogs surrender 308 yards per game and gain only 253.

Yet Buena is 6-2 overall after knocking off Westlake and Agoura in nonleague games, and is 4-1 and tied for second place in the Channel League. The only losses are to Newbury Park and Oxnard.

Kyle Loughman, Buena’s sophomore quarterback, has completed only 44% of his passes and has thrown for seven touchdowns while having nine passes intercepted. But he has made his best throws in the fourth quarters of close games.

Aaron Kleefisch averages 4.4 yards per carry and rarely breaks a long gain. But he is second in the region with 193 carries, and his second effort produces key first downs when the Bulldogs are protecting a lead.

“We are in a down cycle in terms of athletes, but these kids have really pulled together,” Coach Rick Scott said. “This is a fun team to coach.”

Underachieving: When El Camino Real lost its first football game last month, Conquistadore players called a team meeting to halt the slide.

It worked for a half.

The Conquistadores outscored Kennedy, 22-0, before holding onto an eight-point victory. The last two weeks have brought losses to Birmingham and Cleveland, the latter to a team that had one victory and was last in the Northwest Valley Conference.

When the conference season began, the Conquistadores seemed to be a favorite to unseat Taft as conference champion. Now they are struggling to qualify for the 4-A playoffs. El Camino Real might need an upset victory over the Toreadors next week to avoid the 3-A playoffs.

“We thought about having another team meeting,” said quarterback Aaron Fredette. “But if people didn’t realize we’ve got to step up after losing to Cleveland, a meeting isn’t going to do any good.”

Poly-sci: Strange as it sounds, Poly (2-6 overall, 2-3 in Valley Pac-8 Conference play) could make the City Section football playoffs by winning one of its last two games.

Poly, which has knocked off North Hollywood and Grant the last two weeks, could slip into the fifth-place spot with a victory over Monroe or Van Nuys.

If it’s not one thing . . . : The Harvard-Westlake football team (3-5, 1-2) is unlikely to make the playoffs, has had nine touchdowns nullified by penalties and is missing its top six defensive backs due to injury.

“I’ve never had a season like this,” Coach Dave Bennett said.

Last Friday, receiver-defensive back Bethuel Mbugua was lost for the season with a knee injury.

Likely to miss a Mission League game at Chaminade Friday is leading rusher Justin Logan, who has a sprained ankle. Other likely observers will be defensive backs Matt Thayer, who has an injured knee, and Jake Young, who has a broken finger and lingering effects from a concussion.

Looking for a bright spot? Since returning from a shoulder injury, senior Brent Pantell has caught 18 passes for 263 yards and a touchdown in three games.

Strapless: Leave it to St. Francis Coach Bill Redell to take quick action. Against Harvard-Westlake last week, St. Francis linebacker Corey Lee was stuck on the sideline because of a broken chin strap. The equipment manager had to go to his car for a new chin strap.

When Redell learned why Lee wasn’t in the game, he yelled to his players, “Quick, somebody give him their chin strap.”

Redell said later: “I was so mad I couldn’t see straight.”

More than a stand-in: Nordhoff’s Isi Guzman, thrust into a bigger role last Friday against Calabasas, rushed for a game-high 108 yards in 10 carries to help the Rangers to a 14-10 victory.

Guzman, a 5-9 junior, got his chance because Kevin Zielsdorf is out for the season after suffering his third concussion in three years.

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GOLF

Decisions, decisions: Flintridge Prep golfer Russell Surber, who committed to Texas on Tuesday, said he had a hard time deciding until his dad woke him up Wednesday with a bit of news.

David Gossett of Germantown Tenn., and John Klauk of Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., had committed to Texas. Gossett is No. 1 and Klauk is No. 2 in Golfweek magazine’s boys’ national rankings.

“That’s when I decided,” said Surber, who is ranked 14th.

Surber also considered USC and Texas Christian, and said calling those coaches to inform them of his decision was the hardest thing about the entire recruiting process.

“It’s not an easy phone call to make,” he said.