Oilers, Mustangs on the run

The scoreboard lightbulbs at Santa Ana Stadium are still hot from the

workout administered last week by the Huntington Beach Oilers.

The numbers kept turning as the Oilers (3-1) kept churning in

their nonleague encounter with host Century, whom Huntington

annihilated by a 75-7 score.

Tonight, Huntington hopes to flip the switch again as it hosts

Trabuco Hills in a 7 p.m. nonleague game at Sheue Field.

In the victory over Century, the Oilers raced out to a 28-0 lead

after one quarter and extended their advantage to 41-0 at the half.

They amassed 432 yards rushing and finished with 572 yards of

total offense.

Their scoring machine featured Stephen Gabbard rushing for one

touchdown and returning a second-half kickoff 90 yards for another

score; Mitch Roemer and Eric Jaso each scoring three times; Ryan

Tully rushing for two touchdowns; Nick Gordon rushing for one; and

quarterback Curtis Crandell throwing four touchdown passes.

Huntington coach Mike Groscost had his starters play only the

first three downs of the second half -- the Oilers’ junior varsity

players played the remainder of the game.

Tully, who scored the Oilers’ final two touchdowns, is a

sixth-string tailback.

The Oilers defense was as stingy as the offense was potent,

limiting Century to just under 140 yards of total offense.

“It was one of those games where everything went right for us and

nothing went right for them,” said Groscost, who believes the 75

points are a school single-game scoring record.

What prolonged the game in the second half was Century turning to

its passing attack in an attempt to play catch-up. The Centurions

passed on nearly every down in the second half.

“We didn’t throw a pass in the second half, but they passed all

the way until the end of the game,” said Groscost, whose team won its

third straight game. “We absolutely weren’t trying to set a school

scoring record. We had our JV team in there the entire second half,

and you can’t tell those kids not to run hard when they are getting a

chance to play. We tried to milk the clock as much as possible.”

Tonight’s meeting with Trabuco Hills (2-2) could be another

high-scoring affair -- much like last year’s game, when Huntington

held off the Mustangs, 42-37. In that win, the Oilers rushed for more

than 500 yards.

Trabuco Hills, which lost last Friday to Aliso Niguel, 33-24, has

one of the county’s top rushers in P.J. Vallier. In last week’s loss,

Vallier rushed for 233 yards and a touchdown.

“We need to contain him if we want to win this football game,”

Groscost said.

“For us, offensively, we just need to stay within our game and

continue to do what we’ve been doing. We’ve done a nice job of mixing

the run with a good passing attack. We’re not just a one-dimensional

team anymore.”

Friday’s games:

Magnolia (2-2) vs. Ocean View (0-3-1)

(at Ocean View High, 7 p.m.)

Ocean View celebrates homecoming with a nonleague game against

Magnolia.

Last week, Ocean View opened up Golden West League play and was

shut out by Santa Ana, 28-0. The Seahawks have been shut out in

consecutive games (they also lost, 7-0, to Century) and have scored

just 26 points in four games.

Magnolia has alternated wins and losses over the first four weeks

of the season. The Sentinels had a bye last week, and their most

recent outing was a 41-13 loss to Garden Grove Santiago on Sept. 22.

Last year, the teams did not meet.

Marina (0-4) vs. Paramount (3-1)

(at Paramount High, 7 p.m.)

Marina enjoyed a bye last weekend after having played a tough

four-week stretch that included games against Los Osos, Capistrano

Valley, Newport Harbor and Mission Viejo.

The Vikings have had two weeks to prepare for a Paramount team

that is coming off a 26-14 victory over Verbum Dei.

One of the key offensive cogs for the Pirates, a senior-laden

team, is running back Clifford Ross, who has had a couple of 200-plus

rushing performances this year.

Last year’s score: Pirates 27, Vikings 21

Bye this week: Edison (4-1)