Running Solo

Russell Patton’s speed often allows him to break away from other players on the football field.

But the Channel Islands High wingback would have preferred to be running with the pack at this stage of his football career.

When Patton graduated from junior high school in 1995, he and several of his youth football friends intended to play at the same high school, building their chosen program into a powerhouse and themselves into college prospects.

It just hasn’t turned out that way.

While his friends have gained some acclaim playing for mostly successful Oxnard teams, Patton has performed rather anonymously for losing teams at Channel Islands.

“I’m really stuck in the middle,” Patton said.

But Patton is rarely stuck in low gear. At the Ventura County scouting combine in May, the 6-foot, 175-pound senior ran the 40-yard dash in 4.47 seconds, the fastest time of the day.

And if he turned the heads of any recruiters that day, then he surely has managed to hold their attention by averaging 136 yards rushing per game for 0-3-1 Channel Islands, despite never playing running back before this season.

Patton, a converted receiver, rushed for 232 yards and had touchdown runs of 64 and 76 yards on consecutive plays in a 27-27 tie with Calabasas on Friday.

“He’s been a pleasant surprise,” Channel Islands Coach Jack Willard said. “We changed things up and force-fed him at running back. He didn’t have a choice of position if he wanted to play offense.”

Patton said his choice of high school came at the urging of Channel Islands coaches, who assured him that many of his youth football teammates would take a similar path. Another influence was Patton’s older brother, Chris, who also played football for the Raiders.

Patton, whose family lives in the Oxnard High attendance area, requested an intradistrict transfer to attend Channel Islands.

Although neither school boasted a winning football team when Patton left junior high, Oxnard has enjoyed more success than Channel Islands in subsequent seasons. Senior players at Oxnard have won 19 varsity games the past three seasons, not counting forfeits. Channel Islands has won four games in the same span.

Patton inquired about transferring to Oxnard after the 1996 season, but was told he would have to sit out a year of athletics because it would be his second intra-district transfer.

“I would have loved to have been on the Oxnard team last year, those were all the guys I played with in [youth football],” Patton said. “Desmond Davis, Chad Pierson, John Fleener, Jacob Rogers--they tell me I should have gone there.”

Pierson received a football scholarship to USC, Davis signed with Utah and Rogers has committed to USC. Patton was contacted by Wisconsin, but hasn’t heard from the Badgers in months.

Despite his misgivings, Patton has tried to make the best of his situation at Channel Islands.

Last season, he intercepted two passes against Camarillo, returning one 100 yards for the winning touchdown. For the season, he led the team with 20 catches for 354 yards and a touchdown.

After last season, Willard switched the Raider attack from a more conventional offense with several receivers to the run-oriented double wing-T.

As a result, Patton not only had to get used to taking handoffs and more hits, but to running between the tackles and waiting for blockers.

“I’d take the ball and just leave without waiting for [blockers],” Patton said. “Then I’d wonder why I was getting hit so much.”

Said Willard: “He has to realize that sometimes getting four yards is a good play. But he’s taken some four-yard runs and made them 15- to 20-yard runs, and he has the speed to make them 60 yards.”

Patton wonders why Channel Islands, with an enrollment of more than 2,500, fields a football team of only 25 players.

“There’s a lot of guys who have really good size and who are eligible, but they say it’s not for them,” said Patton, who also competes in varsity basketball and track. “They say, ‘You guys don’t get done with practice until [6 p.m.] and you don’t even win.’ I say we need more people to come out before we can win.

“The 25 guys out here are doing their hardest and I try to be a leader. The tempo’s starting to pick up. I just hope it doesn’t pick up too late.”