Royal Was a Ventura Highway in Week 3

Given the choice, Gene Uebelhardt would rather pop the game film into his oven than his VCR.

It wasn’t a pretty sight when Royal High lost to Ventura, 34-0, in the third week of the season.

The Highlanders dropped nine passes in the first half and generously allowed Tyler Ebell to romp 90 yards for a touchdown . . . with only 10 defenders on the field.

Royal gets another chance tonight, hosting Ventura in a Division IV quarterfinal.

“Hopefully we can give them a better look and make it worth their while to come down here,” Uebelhardt said. “I’d like to think we’ve improved some since then.”

The Highlanders (7-3-1) have definitely done that.

Last week, they defeated Oxnard for their first playoff victory since 1994. A victory over Ventura would put them in a semifinal game for the first time in the school’s 33-year history.

“There’s a lot of teams that would still like to be playing right now,” Uebelhardt said. “I can’t say enough about this team.”

*

Cory Miles is finally all smiles.

Miles, who missed six games because of a broken bone in his lower leg, completed all 13 of his passes for 233 yards and four touchdowns as Westlake thrashed Santa Barbara, 61-7.

His third game back from the injury was markedly better than his second game, in which he was three of 12 for 19 yards with two interceptions against Agoura. He was subsequently yanked in favor of Todd Feiereisen.

But he was flawless against Santa Barbara.

“Some of the kinks had to be worked out a bit,” Coach Jim Benkert said. “He tried to be too fine with the ball [against Agoura] and tried to be perfect. He took that extra split second and lofted it instead of throwing it.

“I’d say he looked better [against Santa Barbara].”

Top-seeded Westlake (10-1) hosts Lompoc (9-2) tonight in a Division IV quarterfinal.