Make Booker On It

Lorenzo Booker will be counting the yards, Jon Mack will be counting the days and the St. Bonaventure High football team will be counting the victories.

In Ventura County, the Seraphs will again be the team to beat and the team to hate next season.

The small Catholic school has built an empire in the back yard of the big schools in the Channel League.

“When you have success, one of two things is going to happen,” said Mack, St. Bonaventure’s coach of 11 years. “People will either try to emulate you or people will try to bring you down.”

Mack’s team is 28-0 with two Division XI championships in the last two seasons.

Booker is the centerpiece, a Division I prospect who has 5,543 yards rushing in his career, only 1,841 yards short of running down the career rushing mark set last season by his childhood friend, Tyler Ebell of Ventura High.

But success has its price.

Critics have said the Seraphs’ achievements are insignificant because they compete in the small school, Division XI Tri-Valley League and have racked up victories against inferior competition.

“They just don’t play a real schedule every week,” Hueneme Coach Larry Miller said. “Until they start playing the Notre Dames instead of the Fillmores, they will always be in their own little world.”

The Seraphs outscored opponents, 662-111, last season.

“They’re cutting through our league and our divisional playoffs with ease,” Oak Park Coach Dick Billingsley said. “To me, that’s an indication that they are ready to test themselves on a regular basis against higher divisions.”

St. Bonaventure will get that chance against Division III power Hart in a nonleague showdown next season.

The Indians, winners of three consecutive Southern Section championships, will be St. Bonaventure’s toughest challenge to date.

“Until they jump out into the real world, they’re not legitimate,” Miller said. “Hart is a good first step.”

But Mack insists the game will not be a barometer of his program.

“This is not a do-or-die situation,” he said. “It’s not a playoff game. This is a nonleague game. Benchmark wins happen in [Southern Section] championship games.”

Mack contacted Hart Coach Mike Herrington, who was happy to oblige.

“We have a difficult time getting games, too,” Herrington said. “I called teams like Bishop Amat and Esperanza. I’ve never even seen [St. Bonaventure] on tape.”

The game presents a unique opportunity for Booker and St. Bonaventure to show that the school with an enrollment of 750 can compete with the big public schools. Hart has about 2,500 students.

“That will be the biggest game in this school’s history,” said Booker, who has played in two Division XI championship games. “I think Hart showed [guts] to accept the game. Some of the teams on our schedule we kill because no one else will play us.”

Booker rushed for 3,103 yards and 45 touchdowns last season.

Ebell set the season national record with 4,494 yards. Ebell had 401 carries to Booker’s 233.

The two have maintained a friendly rivalry dating to their days in Pop Warner football. They first faced each other when Booker was a sixth grader.

“I’m not going to rush for less then 3,000 yards [next] season,” Booker said. “I know that for a fact. To get Tyler’s season record, [St. Bonaventure] would need to go deep into the playoffs again.”

Booker, who rushed for a career-high 363 yards in the Division XI championship victory over Orange Lutheran, will have the advantage of running behind right tackle James Bonelli, a 6-foot-5, 285-pound three-year starter being courted by Division I college programs.

Mack has heard the whispers that Booker’s numbers don’t compare to Ebell’s because he plays in a lower division.

“That’s ignorance,” Mack said. “The division Lorenzo plays in has nothing to do with his ability. He’s the premier player in the country, bar none.

“Don’t you think there are Division I kids who think Tyler Ebell’s record is cheap because it’s Division IV?”

Next season, St. Bonaventure and Booker hope to silence the critics.

“You know, all that really matters is winning,” Booker said. “I’ve said all along, my goal is to go 42-0 in this uniform. That’s what I’m here to do. Like it or not, win is what we do at St. Bonaventure.”