Hueneme’s Lee Runs Past Oilers

Two games into the season, the Huntington Beach High football team has half of its game together. The offense.

The defense? Well, that’s another story.

Huntington Beach wasted a 235-yard rushing performance by Russell Oschman in a 45-27 loss to Oxnard Hueneme Saturday afternoon at Huntington Beach.

That’s because the Oilers couldn’t stop Leslie Lee, Hueneme’s senior running back, who rushed for 293 yards and three touchdowns in 22 carries.

After giving up 332 yards rushing in a season-opening loss to Downey, Huntington Beach (0-2) gave up 344 against Hueneme, including touchdown runs of 75, 48 and 26 by Lee.

“That’s not a good sign for us,” Huntington Beach Coach Tony Ciarelli said, “especially playing in the Sunset League the way those teams run. Our quest is to find a defense.”

Oschman’s running kept Huntington Beach in the game until Hueneme scored 19 unanswered points in the fourth quarter. Huntington Beach’s final points came on a 49-yard field goal by Mike DeHart with two minutes left in the third quarter that gave the Oilers a 27-26 lead.

Hueneme (1-1) came right back, scoring on a 23-yard pass from Allan Pinedo to Dwayne Taylor. That put the Vikings up, 32-27, and Lee made sure his team wasn’t threatened after that.

With just shy of 10 minutes left, Huntington Beach took over on its 35 and tried Oschman for three consecutive runs. He gained only five yards, and Lee, from his spot at linebacker, made two of the tackles.

After a punt, Hueneme started from its 34 and was in the end zone six plays later--five of them runs by Lee totaling 61 yards. The Vikings’ score came on a five-yard touchdown pass from Pinedo to Tamar Lee, Leslie’s cousin, pushing Hueneme’s advantage to 38-27 with 5:07 left.