HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PREVIEW : League Turns Its Wary Eyes to Keiaho

Channel League coaches will not have to worry about George Keiaho--Buena High’s standout running back--for much longer.

Soon, those bewildered men who don headsets and hold clipboards will return to normal sleeping habits, buoyed by the fact that trying to stop, or just slow, the Bulldogs’ bulldog is no longer their problem.

Yes, Keiaho will shortly be a distant memory, like the trail of would-be tacklers he has left scattered from Santa Barbara to Hueneme over the last three years.

“He is a great player who has caused everyone a lot of problems,” Hueneme Coach Ed Knight said.

“He kills us. I’m not going to miss him too much.”

Keiaho, though, still has one go-round left.

And because of the senior’s powerful presence, Buena is the coaches’ consensus choice to win its second league title in three years.

“He ought to have an outstanding season,” Ventura Coach Phil McCune said.

“He is a great high school back. He’s been running past people for a long time.”

Said Rio Mesa Coach John Reardon: “He is just an outstanding player. When you’ve done what he’s done for as long as he has, there is no question about it.”

It might seem to some that Keiaho has been around forever. Actually, it has been three years so far, each outstanding.

Keiaho gained 1,760 yards in 242 carries (a 7.27 average per carry) and scored 22 touchdowns last season.

Accustomed to making dazzling debuts, Keiaho opened the season by logging a county-record 415 yards in 29 carries--breaking the mark of 358 yards set by Oxnard’s Laurence Burkley in 1984--with five touchdowns to lead Buena to a 42-30 nonleague win over Westlake.

For his efforts, Keiaho was named to The Times’ All-Ventura County team for the second straight season.

Keiaho, the first California freshman to rush for more than 1,000 yards in a season (1,134 in 1990), gained 1,443 yards and scored 21 touchdowns as a sophomore. He was named the state freshman and sophomore player of the year by Cal-Hi Sports.

So, what makes Keiaho so good?

“He’s strong and fast,” Reardon said. “He gets outside--quickly.”

Said McCune: “He gets to full speed immediately. And when he’s at full speed he’s faster than everyone else.”

The one coach who has enjoyed having Keiaho around has another view.

“He definitely has the speed and strength, but he also has great vision,” Buena Coach Rick Scott said.

“He’s a great cutback runner. He sees the crease and goes to it.”

Keiaho, 17, has the size and tools of the prototypical running back of the ‘90s: He is 5-9 and 200 pounds, most of which is muscle. He looks more sculpture than human.

Keiaho can bench-press almost 350 pounds and runs the 40-yard dash in about 4.5 seconds.

Scott likens him to Marshall Faulk of San Diego State and Barry Sanders of the Detroit Lions. Lofty comparisons, indeed, but try to find anyone who disagrees.

“It’s hard to get a good shot at him,” McCune said. “Even when you do, it’s hard to knock him off balance.”

There are many theories on how to defense Keiaho, none of which have been especially successful. For that matter, some figure, “Why try?”

“You really just hope he trips,” Reardon joked.

One idea is to line up in a nine-man front, hoping to deny Keiaho outside running lanes. Another is to send linebackers on blitzes, hoping to clog inside lanes.

Keiaho has heard all the stratagems.

“Teams try a lot of stuff, but I can’t tell one defense from another,” Keiaho said. “I just take the ball and run.”

Reardon believes the best defense is to try to stop whatever else Buena attempts on offense.

“The problem (with any defense) is that Coach Scott is a great coach and he will find a way (to get Keiaho open),” Reardon said. “Even if you do stop him for a while, Scott will do something else.

“You don’t defense him.”

In addition to gunning for the league championship, Keiaho has another goal: the single-season county rushing record.

Graduated Camarillo tailback Fahali Campbell rushed for 2,285 yards last season.

Keiaho might have difficulty reaching that mark because Buena is loaded with talent and is expected to build large leads throughout the season.

Because Scott’s league contemporaries say he is not the type to run up the score, Keiaho might spend more time on the sidelines than in games.

“(The record) would be nice, but I really don’t think about that too much because records are made to be broken,” Keiaho said. “What I really want is for the team to win.

“I like challenges and that is the big one.”

Looks like a few more sleepless nights for Buena’s Channel League opponents.

Channel League at a Glance

1992 STANDINGS OVERALL LEAGUE PROJECTED FINISH San Marcos 10-3 6-1 Buena Santa Barbara 8-3 5-2 San Marcos Ventura 8-3 5-2 Ventura Buena 6-4 5-2 Rio Mesa Rio Mesa 5-5 4-3 Santa Barbara Oxnard 5-5 2-5 Oxnard Dos Pueblos 1-9 1-6 Dos Pueblos Hueneme 0-10 0-7 Hueneme

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Player School Pos. Ht Wt Class Torlando Bolden Santa Barbara WR/RB 6-3 195 Sr. Caleb Brown San Marcos OL 6-4 300 Sr. Ebon Brown Ventura OL/DL 5-11 210 Sr. Ira Brown Oxnard RB 6-1 225 Sr. Alfonso Delgado Ventura RB/LB 6-0 195 Sr. Don DiDomizio Rio Mesa QB/DB 6-1 175 Sr. George Keiaho Buena RB 5-9 200 Sr. Junior Liufau Rio Mesa RB/DL 6-1 200 Sr. George Lopez Ventura RB/LB 6-0 215 Sr. Brett Phillips Buena RB/TE 6-2 220 Sr. J.T. Stone Dos Pueblos QB 6-4 180 Jr. Brian Williams Buena OL/DL 6-5 260 Sr.