Keiaho Schools Newbury Park With 3 Scores

His helmet was off, but Freddy Keiaho was ready to don a different, more metaphorical type of headgear.

That of a professor.

Never mind that he had just run for 141 yards and three touchdowns on a drizzle-slickened field. Keiaho was in the mood to dole out grades.

In fact, Keiaho, the best player on the Buena High football team, gave his teammates a surprisingly strange grade. An ‘F.’

“For freakin’ great job,” he said, smiling.

Keiaho could afford a joke or two.

He had just led Buena to a 28-9 nonleague victory over Newbury Park on Friday night at Ventura High, a performance that allowed him to forget an embarrassing 21-point loss against Westlake two weeks ago.

“34-13 had stayed in my head,” Keiaho said. “Us coming out here and having a good showing really gives us a good feeling.”

The Bulldogs (2-1) can also feel good about their quarterback situation.

Midway through the week, Coach Rick Scott decided to start junior Andrew Paulson in place of converted linebacker Paul Johnsonbaugh.

Not exactly a giant with a rocket arm, the 5-foot-11, 160-pound Paulson threw accurate, short passes and kept the Newbury Park defense at bay with an array of play-fakes and bootlegs.

Paulson completed 12 of 16 passes for 105 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

“He makes people play us honest,” Scott said. “You can’t put eight guys in the box to stop Freddy.”

Keiaho was especially effective in the fourth quarter, putting the game out of reach with a 32-yard touchdown run with 7:47 to play. The run, which gave Buena its final margin of victory, came on the heels of a 30-yard burst by Keiaho.

It also helped the Bulldogs gain a small measure of revenge--they were upset by Newbury Park last year in the Southern Section Division IV quarterfinals.

The Panthers (1-2) were ineffective in all facets.

With the exception of their opening drive--they moved 65 yards in 3:34 and took a 7-0 lead on a nine-yard run by Marcus Crawford--the Panthers were far from efficient.

Crawford finished with 43 yards in 21 carries. Ryan Lombardo completed nine of 24 passes for 151 yards and two interceptions.

They won’t get any hometown help for a while, either--the game marked the second of five consecutive road games for the Panthers.

“Those white jerseys are going to be pretty ragged by the time we get home,” Newbury Park Coach George Hurley said. “They’re especially ragged after tonight. [Buena] played very physical football.”

Good enough to merit the newly defined ‘F.’