Last year's game was for credibility, pride, respect, bragging rights and a leg up for a berth in the CIF-State Division III championship game.

This year's game is for credibility, pride, respect, bragging rights and a leg up for a berth in the Division III championship game.

Yes, not much has changed. Except for the hype. And some notable star power.

Last year's ballyhooed matchup between the St. Bonaventure High and Oaks Christian School football teams reaped national media attention, an early sellout and a live television broadcast.

This year, nearly 3,000 tickets remained on sale by Thursday afternoon for tonight's 7:30 kickoff at Ventura High's Larrabee Stadium. The contest will be shown tape-delayed by Time Warner Cable.

"There's not nearly the hype, not nearly the media interest we saw last year," said St. Bonaventure athletic director Mike Gianelli. "It's definitely a lot different from last year."

What's left, apparently, is one compelling showdown between two proud programs with plenty at stake. St. Bonaventure (3-0) and Oaks Christian (2-0) each enter the game undefeated and driven by familiar expectations.

The key prize could be a berth in the CIF-State Division III Championship Bowl Game set for Dec. 15 at the Home Depot Center. Oaks Christian earned the spot last year and posted a 27-20 victory over Santa Rosa Cardinal Newman.

If tonight's winner goes on to win a CIF-Southern Section title, then it likely would represent SoCal in the state championship.

"If we both win out from here, then the winner of this game has to be considered the favorite for the state bowl game," said Oaks Christian coach Bill Redell. "But you still have to win a Southern Section championship. Otherwise, this game won't matter."

After all the pregame brouhaha a season ago, Oaks Christian's team-for-the-age turned out to be as advertised and romped to a 59-13 victory that was all but decided in the first quarter.

And tonight? It certainly looks to be a tossup, at least heading into the kickoff.

After losing to Hart High in last year's playoff quarterfinals, St. Bonaventure lost its longtime head coach but added a superstar.

After 17 seasons, Jon Mack — with seven CIF-SS championships and 108 wins in the last 113 games — departed for Ventura College.

The new coach is former defensive coordinator Todd Therrien. The new star running back is Darrell Scott, who transferred from Moorpark High after rushing for 3,146 yards and 46 touchdowns as a junior.

The player widely considered the top running back in California has rushed for 581 yards and six touchdowns in two games.

Still smarting, perhaps, from last year, St. Bonaventure has adopted a bunker siege mentality this week. Team practices are closed to the media.

"We're trying to do our thing and not have a 60 dropped on us," said Therrien.

Oaks Christian, which ended up 15-0 a year ago with its fourth successive CIF-SS title and a victory in the first CIF-State Division III Bowl Game, has graduated no less than 11 athletes now on Division I scholarships. Jimmy Clausen is the starting quarterback at Notre Dame. Marc Tyler is at USC, etc.

The sequel is still a pretty darned good football team, led by wide receiver turned quarterback Chris Potter and sophomore phenom Malcolm Jones.

For last year's game, the Lions were amped up to validate their status as an elite squad.

"I think we've pretty well proven that we have one of the best programs anywhere," says Redell. "Last year, people were thinking that we hadn't plenty anybody. Walking into the stadium for the kickoff, some guy was yelling at me, You're not playing the Sisters of the Poor tonight,' I didn't say anything. But I didn't see him around after the game."

Still, these Lions are out to prove it wasn't a fluke.

"We need to win this game to show that we can do it two years in a row," said Jones, a running back/linebacker. "It's still a huge game for us. We want to show everybody what kind of team we have."

Then there's that matter of a streak to protect.

With victories over Lompoc and Muir at the top of this season, Oaks Christian owns the CIF-Southern Section record for consecutive football victories with 48.

For Oaks Christian — as with any St. Bonaventure opponent — the No. 1 item tonight is "containing" Scott.

"You're not going to stop him," said Redell. "We've got to contain him. If it becomes a high-scoring game, we're going to lose it."

For his part, Redell said he had hoped that Scott would remain at Moorpark for his senior year.

"I wish he had stayed there," said Redell. "I know the coaches at Moorpark do a great job. But at the same time, I'm not privvy to why (Scott) transferred. It's really his decision."

Redell and his defensive coordinator, former NFL linebacker Clay Matthews, may not unveil any fancy defenses to curtail Scott.

Instead, they need their athletes to stay disciplined.

"For example, (Scott) got one touchdown off Canyon when the linebacker left the gap. Nobody was there. We can't have those kind of mistakes and expect to win."

The Seraphs have opened with wins over Santa Margarita and Canyon, but are battling injuries. Linebacker Ryan Panapa is expected to miss the game with a broken foot.

Quarterback Tony MacArena has completed 35 of 50 passes for 524 yards. Blayne Lewis has five receptions for 158 yards.

For Oaks Christian, Jones has rushed for 284 yards on 27 carries. Potter has completed 10 of 16 passes for 206 yards and four touchdowns, and has rushed for 57 yards on seven carries.