Tailback Bowen Finishes What He Starts in East Win

Cory Bowen of Thousand Oaks High proved to be both Alpha and Omega on Saturday night in the 19th Ventura County Lions-Coaches all-star high school football game, beginning and ending the East attack with long touchdown runs in a 32-16 win over the West at Ventura High.

Bowen wasted little time in giving the East the lead in the first quarter, bursting off tackle through a big hole and dashing up the right sideline for a 66-yard touchdown run on the opening play from scrimmage. Bowen ended West hopes with 2 minutes 2 seconds remaining, racing 87 yards for the East’s final score. Bowen finished with 219 yards rushing in 18 attempts to win most valuable player honors.

On defense, Jose Luis Lomeli of Fillmore led the East with three of its six sacks.

The East, which took a 9-8-2 series lead, threatened to make the contest a rout early when it took the ball 97 yards in 14 plays on its second possession. Westlake quarterback Tim Kirksey hit Thousand Oaks tight end Shane Graham on a pair of 20-yard pass plays and found Eric Holcomb of Westlake for 19 yards to move the ball into West territory.

Bowen and Kirksey then ground it down to the one, where Royal nose guard Jason Evans turned into a William Perry-style fullback and smashed over for the score. When Paul Spencer missed the extra point, it left the score 13-0.

But East hopes for a blowout came crashing down when a fourth-down snap from the West 40 sailed over Spencer’s head from punt formation. He dived on the ball at the East 29 for a 31-yard loss.

The West quickly capitalized and Santa Clara’s Scott Tripp scored from two yards to make the score 13-7.

David Cox of Channel Islands rambled 44 yards on a draw play with 11 seconds left in the half to set up a 26-yard field goal by McLain Hansen.

The teams swapped touchdowns in the third quarter. Moorpark’s Ryan Huisenga tossed a 10-yard scoring pass for the East to Robert Thompson of Westlake. Ventura’s Trevor Rumsey hit Ventura tight end Jason Griffith with an eight-yard scoring strike for the West.

But the West couldn’t slow down the East attack, which balanced 227 yards rushing with 140 yards passing. Evans scored on another one-yard plunge with 9:15 remaining to make it 25-16.