Lewis, St. Bonaventure Step Up

Whitney Lewis ran wild in his final high school game Friday, scoring five touchdowns and rolling up 359 yards of offense to lead Ventura St. Bonaventure High to a 40-14 victory over Westlake Village Westlake in the Southern Section Division IV championship before 8,000 at Moorpark High.

The 6-2, 218-pound senior, an electrifying receiver and running back headed for a high-profile Division I college, had touchdown runs of 16, 80 and 38 yards, and scored on 52-yard pass play as the Seraphs (13-1) ran up a 33-7 halftime lead.

He added a 21-yard touchdown reception the first time he touched the ball in the third quarter. Breaking tackles throughout the game, Lewis rushed for 192 yards in nine carries and caught seven passes for 167 yards.

After the game, he signed autographs and posed for photos with youngsters.

“In the next few weeks, I’ll be able to focus on next year and college,” Lewis said. “Tonight, I just wanted to focus on winning a championship, and that’s what we did.”

St. Bonaventure, three-time Division XI champion, has won 55 of its last 56.

“What this means is that the other three championships before were all very special,” St. Bonaventure Coach Jon Mack said. “But we would have competed at any level the last four years.”

Lewis’ 16-yard run capped St. Bonaventure’s opening drive and a 38-yard run by Matt Lee late in the first quarter put the Seraphs up 12-0.

Westlake (11-3) cut the margin to 12-7 on the final play of the first quarter with an eight-yard pass from Erik Vose to Michael Stuart, but the Warriors’ efforts to stop Lewis were futile.

Lewis grabbed a slant pass and raced 52 yards to give St. Bonaventure a 19-7 lead. Five minutes later, on the next play after an end zone interception by David Brunner, Lewis swept left and ran 80 yards untouched.

“We see it every day in practice,” Mack said of Lewis. “The only guy who can cover him is David Brunner, and he plays for us.”