Loughman Takes a Pass at Newbury Park, 28-14

In the end, there was nothing Newbury Park High’s football team could have done.

Nothing, perhaps short of bringing back Nick Czernek or Wayne Cook, former Panther quarterbacks.

Buena simply had too much offense and pulled away for a 28-14 nonleague victory over the Panthers Friday night at Newbury Park.

It was a case of too much Kyle Loughman, who completed 13 of 16 passes for 244 yards and three touchdowns with one interception.

And too much Brandon Faumuina. The junior tight end had three receptions and each was essential for the Bulldogs (2-1).

The first was an 18-yard touchdown that gave the Bulldogs a 7-0 lead early in the third quarter.

The second, a quick slant that Faumuina turned into a 71-yard pass play for a score, extended Buena’s advantage to 14-0 with one second remaining in the third quarter.

For good measure, he hooked up with Loughman on a 40-yard pass play that set up another touchdown. That came on an 11-yard reverse run by Freddy Keiaho that gave the Bulldogs a 21-0 lead early in the fourth quarter.

“Brandon’s maybe the fastest tight end in Southern California and when he gets the ball he can flat-out run,” Coach Rick Scott of Buena said.

Loughman, who has passed for 567 yards and six touchdowns this season, said Faumuina is the team’s secret weapon.

“That guy is just unbelievable,” Loughman said. “He hasn’t gotten a lot of attention from people but he can really do great things. He’s going to be great by next year.”

On this night, Faumuina appeared well on his way.

Newbury Park (1-2) finally got into gear in the fourth quarter.

Cameron Merrill threw touchdown passes of 21 yards to Eric Sanford midway through the quarter and eight yards to Pat DuRoss with 23 seconds remaining.

Merrill, starting his first game at quarterback after Chris Lombardo broke his leg and dislocated ankle against Paso Robles last week, had a respectable performance.

He completed 13 of 28 passes for 173 yards and two touchdowns. But most of the yards came after the outcome was determined.

Marcus Crawford of Newbury Park rushed for 197 yards in 27 carries.

Newbury Park held a 388-366 advantage in total yards, but that was the furthest thought in Loughman’s mind after the game.

“This was huge,” he said. “We lost to Westlake and we wanted to beat a good team like Newbury and tonight we did it.”