Buena Bottles Up McCann in 14-9 Victory

VENTURA — It may have been the don’t-die defense, the new home uniforms or the fact that, on this night, Ryan McCann . . . couldn’t.

Whatever it was, Buena High defeated Agoura for the fifth consecutive time, 14-9, on Friday night at Ventura High.

The Bulldogs contained McCann, a 6-foot-4, 205-pounder who is considered the top quarterback recruit in the region.

McCann completed 16 of 32 passes for 205 yards, with a touchdown and an interception, but with the game teetering in favor of Buena, he couldn’t create magic.

With under a minute left, and Agoura facing second and 14 at the Buena 27-yard line, McCann was sacked for a 10-yard loss.

He followed with two incomplete passes and the Bulldogs (2-0) had beaten their second consecutive upper-echelon opponent.

“We couldn’t put the puzzle pieces together tonight,” McCann said. “Nothing was fitting tonight.”

Last week, Buena had seven sacks and allowed minus-24 rushing yards in an upset of Westlake.

The Bulldogs sacked McCann three times and stuffed Agoura running back Chris Poling, who had 49 yards in 16 carries.

Agoura (1-1), the No. 6 team in The Times’ regional poll, wasn’t bad on defense, but allowed two fourth-down conversions as Buena kept a drive alive just before halftime.

Facing a fourth and seven on the Buena 49, punter Albert De La Rocha paused for a couple seconds and sprinted around the right side for a 14-yard gain.

Four plays later, on fourth and six from the Agoura 33, Kyle Loughman hit tight end Kurt Probasco in the right flat for a 25-yard gain.

Aaron Kleefisch, who had 135 yards in 23 carries, scored from the six for a 14-6 Buena lead.

In the first half, Loughman, a sophomore, was the sharper left-handed quarterback on the field. He completed seven of 11 passes for 122 yards, several of them on safe sideline routes, and set up the Bulldogs’ first touchdown with a 23-yard completion to David McAlpine at the Agoura three-yard line.

Loughman finished nine of 18 passes for 131 yards for Buena.

“Someday, [college scouts] might be talking about him the way they talk about [McCann],” Buena Coach Rick Scott said.

“Nobody wrote about us, talked to us or interviewed us [before the season]. Keep us in the weeds. Please don’t talk to us.”