VALLEY / VENTURA COUNTY SPORTS : Taft Opener Has Familiar Ring : City: Banning can’t take away section title but routs Toreadors in opener for second consecutive year, 49-19.

Banning High trounced Taft, 49-19, Thursday night in a City Section nonleague opener, but what does it prove?

Last year Banning shot out of the chute with a lopsided victory over the Toreadors and 13 weeks later Taft beat the Pilots for the City Championship.

“Taft will be a diamond in the rough, just like last year,” Coach Ed Lalau of Banning said. “We don’t want to see them later on.”

Taft defenders certainly would prefer not to see running back Chris Howard of Banning again. The senior showed why he is one of the premier backs in the nation, rushing for 230 yards and three touchdowns in 20 carries.

Howard also returned a kickoff 85 yards for a score late in the third quarter to finish off Taft.

The Toreadors had scored on a 23-yard pass from Brandon Hance to Lee Marks to make the score 28-12, but Howard got the points back by picking up the kick near the sideline, faking one defender, slicing across the field and outrunning the rest.

“Big plays won it for us,” Lalau said.

Howard had five runs from scrimmage of at least 20 yards, including touchdowns of 54 and 20 yards in the second quarter.

After several runs, he gestured to the Toreador bench, prompting Coach Troy Starr of Taft to smile and point to the fat championship ring on his finger.

“We’ll get ours this year,” Howard yelped.

Rashawn Dukes produced the first big play for Banning, racing 67 yards with a punt late in the first quarter for a 6-0 lead.

“I don’t think we can get any worse,” Starr said. “We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us.

“We got our butts kicked in the first game last year too, but we aren’t nearly the team we were a year ago.”

Banning’s blitzing defense confounded Hance, who completed 19 of 38 passes for 235 yards and ran for two touchdowns.

Hance passed for four touchdowns in the City final.

Marks rushed for 105 yards in 16 carries and had three receptions for 70 yards.

Receiver Gerard Jones, a transfer from Reseda whose eligibility was granted Thursday morning, had six catches for 55 yards.