Swafford Leads Ventura Past Hueneme, 48-7

It was more like a dress rehearsal than a command performance, but running back Derek Swafford and his Ventura High teammates showed they knew their roles well enough in a 48-7 Channel League football victory over winless Hueneme on Thursday night.

Swafford picked up two touchdowns and 181 all-purpose yards as the host Cougars clinched a berth in the Southern Section Division III playoffs.

Swafford finished the first half of the regular-season finale with a 38-yard punt return for a score and started the second half with a 46-yard touchdown before retiring with 108 yards rushing in six carries, 60 yards on two punt returns and 13 yards on a pass reception.

The Cougars (8-2, 5-2 in league play) did not need much else, scoring on four of their five first-half possessions to take a 27-0 lead. Ventura broke a four-way tie for second, moving a half-game ahead of Santa Barbara, Buena and Rio Mesa, and a half-game behind San Marcos (5-1).

Hueneme (0-10, 0-7) nearly jumped in front the second time it had the ball when freshman quarterback George Jones rambled 45 yards before being stopped at the Cougar one. But one play later, fullback Soloway Vainuku fumbled into the end zone and Dirk Boon fell on it to give Ventura a touchback and the ball on its 20.

Twelve plays later, Devon Passno spun off a tackler on a 10-yard jaunt to put the Cougars on top, 7-0, in the first quarter.

Quarterback Mike Ellis (four of five passing, 97 yards in the first half) sparked the next two Cougar touchdowns, scrambling five yards for a score and tossing a 34-yard strike to George Lopez for another. Ellis missed his second PAT attempt, but it didn’t matter much with a 20-0 advantage.

Ventura added two touchdowns after Swafford’s exploits on a 10-yard scamper by Jake Kochel and a 31-yard sprint by Mike Lamey.

Hueneme ruined Ventura’s bid for a shutout with 31 seconds left when Jones hit Tyrone Brown in the corner of the end zone for 10 yards on a fourth-down play.

Jones gave a workmanlike performance, connecting on seven of 16 passes for 99 yards and rushing for 58 yards in eight carries.