Eric Roanhaus has "old" ties to Ventura County football.

He was the Hueneme High quarterback before graduating in 1965 and went on to play two seasons at Ventura College under coach Jim Moore. The Pirates earned the school's first Western State Conference football championship in 1965 under quarterback Chuck Williams.

Steve Tobias and Roanhaus shared quarterback duties in 1966 with Tobias (Buena and Sacramento State) missing the first four games because of a hip injury.

Roanhaus finished his college career at West Texas State.

Roanhaus, 60, coached one season at West Texas State and at nearby Canyon (Texas) High of for two seasons.

Roanhaus was coaching last Thursday night on the ESPNU game of the week against Artesia. His Clovis (N.M.) High Wildcats scored 21 points in the fourth quarter to earn a 35-21 win. He has a 272-94-5 record.

The Wildcats (5-3) have won 10 state championships and played in 18 state championship games in 29 seasons.

"We've created the monster and feed it every time," said Roanhaus. "We're the one high school in a town of 33,000.

"We can have only 11 players on the field," he said, but the opposition faces a strong crowd and tradition when it comes to Clovis.

The Wildcats lost the 2005 state championship to Mayfield 17-7. Mayfield had beaten Clovis 7-0 in the season opener. Mayfield finished 14-0 and Clovis was 12-2.

Clovis won its last state 5-A championship in 2001, defeating Mayfield 17-10. Clovis finished 13-0 and Mayfield ended 13-1.

Chad Roanhaus, who played quarterback for his dad in the 1990s, has won the last two state 3-A championships at Robertson High in Las Vegas, N.M. Chad's brother, John, is his line coach.

Eric's brother, Tom, is the boys' basketball coach at Oaks Christian High School and the athletic director at Oaks Christian Middle School.

Scoreboard watch: An alert coaching staff played a key role for a St. Bonaventure touchdown last Friday against Santa Barbara.

As its offense was set at the Santa Barbara 1-yard line for the final play of the first half, it appeared that St. Bonaventure might not start the play before time elapsed.

With three seconds remaining and the quarterback still barking signals, St. Bonaventure coaches frantically called for a timeout from the sideline.

Game officials granted the timeout. That allowed St. Bonaventure to call for a quarterback sneak. Casey Serna scored on a 1-yard run as time ran out in the quarter.

Late bloomers: The emergence of two running backs in the last three weeks has made a difference for Ventura and Pacifica.

After injuries to its top two tailbacks, Ventura turned to Brandon Dore.

In three games in the Cougars backfield, Dore has rushed for 480 yards and five TDs. In Ventura's 28-21 overtime win over Dos Pueblos, Dore gained 266 yards and scored four times.

Joe Morones was awarded his first start for Pacifica last week against Channel Islands.

Morones responded by gaining 186 yards on 32 carries.