Hueneme Keeps It Simple, 25-22

Its normally potent offense stymied by injuries and a disciplined opponent Friday, the Hueneme High football team bulled its way down the middle and through San Marcos for a 25-22 victory Friday night in a Southern Section Division IV quarterfinal at San Marcos High.

Hueneme (7-4-1), the Pacific View champion, entered the game averaging 40 points and 400 yards. The Vikings, who gained 436 yards Friday, advance to face San Luis Obispo in a semifinal.

Hueneme, which last qualified for the playoffs in 1987, has not lost on the field since its opener but forfeited three victories for using an ineligible player.

Hueneme wingback Donald Thompson, the region’s leading rusher and scorer, fought for 114 yards and a touchdown in 26 carries, but the Viking heroes were fullback Henry Otineru and the offensive line.

Trailing, 14-6, at halftime, Hueneme eschewed its sweep plays and went primarily with a straightforward attack. Otineru, who rushed for 72 yards and a touchdown in 17 carries, had 11 of the carries and 45 yards in the second half. Hueneme held an overwhelming edge in time of possession in the final two quarters.

“We couldn’t go in the tank,” Otineru said. “We knew we had to cut it up inside because they were blocking us when we went outside.”

Otineru’s one-yard touchdown plunge with 1:09 to play gave Hueneme a 25-14 lead and capped a 19-0 scoring run by the Vikings.

The comeback started with Hueneme’s first possession of the second half, a 17-play, 85-yard drive that ate up eight minutes and ended with Thompson’s four-yard touchdown run.

The Vikings got the ball again with 48 seconds to play in the third quarter and drove 85 yards in 11 plays, taking an 18-14 lead on an eight-yard run by Michael Nurse.

A turning point came two plays earlier, when Bradlee Van Pelt of San Marcos (4-8) stripped Thompson of the ball at the Royals’ eight-yard line and headed for the Viking end zone. But officials ruled Thompson had already been down.

Van Pelt, also the San Marcos quarterback whose efforts spurred a defeat of Westlake last week, was again outstanding on both sides of the ball.

Van Pelt completed only five of 13 passes for 76 yards and a 40-yard touchdown to Randy Moharram with 17 seconds to play. However, he rushed for 83 yards and two touchdowns in nine carries and made tackle after tackle at free safety.

Hueneme quarterback Jeff Garcia completed five of 12 passes for 157 yards including a 56-yard touchdown to Thompson in the first quarter. Two of Garcia’s passes were intercepted.

Nurse ran for 59 yards and a touchdown in seven carries.