VALLEY / VENTURA COUNTY SPORTS : INSTANT REPLAY : Taft, still feeling the glow of its City Championship, would like to start over the way it finished against Banning.

An odd mix of nostalgia, revenge, nonchalance and urgency will accompany the City Section opener tonight between Taft and Banning highs.

The game is a rematch of the City Championship game last season, a 41-29 Taft victory that avenged a season-opening loss to the Pilots.

The Pilots admittedly underestimated Taft and paid dearly last time. Whipping Taft on its own field can’t pull the championship rings off the Toreadors’ fingers but it would make for a sweet counterpunch.

Taft’s approach is to treat the game like any opener. It’s the first of five nonleague games, and few will remember the outcome when the playoffs begin in 10 weeks. The Toreadors point to their early 41-13 loss to Banning a year ago as evidence.

Nevertheless, both sides are anxious to quickly reestablish their place among City powers, past and present.

Taft finally won a title after losing in the final three times in seven years under Coach Troy Starr. Another championship or two and the program could rank among the best ever in the City and the region.

Banning, along with Carson the City’s dominant program during the 1970s and ‘80s, has returned to glory after going 0-10 as recently as 1996. The Pilots want to prove they are here to stay.

“I think we are talking about big-time revenge on their part,” said Brandon Hance, the Taft quarterback who passed for four touchdowns in the final last year.

“It wasn’t a fluke and we will prove it again.”

Coach Ed Lalau, first-year coach at Banning who was an assistant last season, senses conflicting emotions in his players as they prepare for the game.

“Our guys still have a bad taste in their mouth,” Lalau said. “But we are using the preseason to get ready for our league. It’s only the opener, but we can’t get away from the fact we are playing Taft again.”

Banning’s victory last year was a blowout from the opening kickoff, which Chris Howard returned for a touchdown.

Howard, a 6-foot-1 190-pound senior, is one of the nation’s top running backs. He rushed for 2,505 yards and 31 touchdowns last year, and despite talk that he would transfer to Long Beach Poly or Dorsey, he returned to Banning stronger, faster and more mature.

“He’s a little wiser and we expect better things from him,” Lalau said.

Containing Howard is possible. Stopping him won’t happen.

“They have other good players out there,” Coach Troy Starr of Taft said. “They have a good coach. They are more than Howard. Banning is a formidable team.”

Starr can’t wait for game time. He has a slew of eager, talented new starters on both sides of the ball and it’s time to let them loose.

“We are a long way from being able to challenge to go to the Coliseum again,” he said. “Our program is about being good in December.

“From our standpoint, Banning can’t get it back. This is a different year, a different team. Regardless of what happens, it won’t detract from what we accomplished.”

Lalau admits Banning learned a lesson about respecting a previously vanquished opponent.

The Pilots had a pile of championship T-shirts sitting in their locker room that nobody wanted after the game.

Said Lalau: “I can guarantee we will have much respect for Taft, whether it’s the first game, the last game or one in the middle.”