Football: Oaks Christian defeats St. Bonaventure, 27-24

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Westlake Village Oaks Christian 27, Ventura St. Bonaventure 24 – Quarterback Brandon Dawkins ran in two touchdowns and passed for another as Oaks Christian advanced to its ninth consecutive division title game with a comeback victory in the Northern Division semifinal.

Oaks Christian scored three straight touchdowns after falling behind, 17-7, in the second quarter. The Lions cut into St. Bonaventure’s lead on a one-yard run by Dawkins just before halftime before taking the lead for good on a two-yard touchdown run by Carlos Mendoza early in the third quarter.

A spectacular, 37-yard catch by Jordan Payton off a deflection set up Dawkins’ final touchdown on a one-yard dive midway through the third quarter.

St. Bonaventure (10-3) tried to mount a comeback after Bryce Dixon scored on a 43-yard pass from Nick Arbuckle late in the fourth quarter. However, the Seraphs failed to score after recovering their own onside kick.

Oaks Christian (11-2) will play crosstown rival Westlake Village Westlake (13-0) on Dec. 9 in a rematch of last year’s Northern Division championship game. Westlake, which beat Oaks Christian, 35-14, earlier this season, defeated Thousand Oaks, 62-0, on Friday.

We’ll have more on this game soon at latimes.com/sports

-- Austin Knoblauch