Hueneme Tries to Get Back on the Map

Hueneme High is looking forward to its nonleague game Thursday night against Ventura at Hueneme as an opportunity to establish itself as a Ventura County power and a Southern Section Division IV playoff contender.

“It’s a big game,” said Tony Pinedo, Hueneme’s offensive coordinator. “We’re looking at it as five playoff games for us, and this is the first one.”

Behind UCLA-bound Tyler Ebell and his area-best 3,102 yards and 43 touchdowns, Ventura (8-1, 3-1 in the Channel League) is ranked No. 6 in The Times’ regional poll while Hueneme (7-2, 3-1 in the Pacific View League) is unranked.

But the Vikings are hoping three backs will be better than one.

The Vikings’ wing-T offense returns top rusher Leslie Lee, who had a bruised knee. He rushed for 198 yards and three scores and caught a 48-yard touchdown pass in a 41-0 victory over Channel Islands last week and has 1,020 yards and 12 touchdowns in 109 carries.

Other keys to Hueneme’s fortunes are versatile Dwayne Taylor and Tamar Lee. Taylor has 618 yards and eight touchdowns in 91 carries and is Hueneme’s leading receiver with 34 catches for 804 yards and 11 scores.

Tamar Lee has gained 380 yards in 51 carries, a 7.5-yard average, with three touchdowns, has 13 receptions for 227 yards and four scores, and often serves as a lead blocker.

Last year, Ebell scored on a 20-yard run with 2:31 to play and Ventura rallied from a 26-14 fourth-quarter deficit and won, 29-26. A pass in the end zone to Keary Colbert of Hueneme, now at USC, fell incomplete on the Vikings’ final possession.

Two years ago, the teams tied, 32-32, when Jeff Garcia hit Colbert on a two-point conversion pass with 2:12 left after a one-yard touchdown run by Donald Thompson.