Halfway to Perfection

Well before halftime of Righetti High's Homecoming football game Friday night, the only suspense concerned whether or not the Warriors would shut out Santa Barbara and who would be crowned Homecoming Queen.

Righetti did not quite get the shutout - the Dons' Nick Solakian swept left end for a 61-yard touchdown run against Righetti's reserves with 7:43 left to play in the Warriors' 34-7 rout of Santa Barbara at Warrior Stadium. Meanwhile, senior Courtney Moore was crowned Righetti's 2002-3 Homecoming Queen at halftime.

By then the Warriors (5-0) had a 28-0 lead on the Dons (0-5) and were well on their way to the first 5-0 start in school history, according to Righetti coach Greg Dickinson.

"We'd never even started out 4-0 before," Dickinson said. Righetti accomplished that by beating Dos Pueblos 27-7 last week.

The perfect start, Righetti's players and coaches believe, means nothing now. The Warriors open PAC-5 League play next Friday at 7:30 p.m. against Atascadero at home.

"We don't care about the past....the PAC-5 League is what counts," said linebacker Luke Deras after he and fellow 'backer Noah Winkles had spent a lot of time either knocking down Santa Barbara quarterback Kevin Dunn on pass plays or helping Righetti stuff the Dons' running game.

"The PAC-5 League is the toughest league on the Central Coast," Deras said.

"If we play our game," Winkles said, "We think we can be PAC-5 League champions."

It didn't figure going in that the Warriors would have much trouble against the Dons, and they didn't.

Righetti went three plays-and-out its first offensive series, but then the Warriors embarked on an 80-yard touchdown drive that took 5:33.

Quarterback Josh Thomas finished the march with a 10-yard run with 3:22 left in the first quarter. Santa Barbara linebacker Fernando Ybarra hit Thomas at the 3, but Thomas took Ybarra into the end zone.

Righetti's offensive line of center Andrew Jagoda, guards Clayton Rios and Chris Spence, and tackles Kris Elliott and Eric Murcheson did a nice job of creating space for the Warriors' running backs and protecting Thomas on pass plays.

"Our line did a nice job of figuring out the different blitzes they were running," Dickenson said. "They were putting eight, nine men on the line, so we wanted to loosen them up a little bit."

Central Coast rushing leader Ryan Mole did most of his damage early - he carried the ball just once, for five yards and Righetti's last touchdown, in the second half.

Before that, he ran through a good hole his line created and showed some good moves on a 49-yard touchdown run that made the score 13-0 with 2:09 left in the first quarter.

Just 33 seconds later, Thomas laid out a good long pass for Ryan Gonzales, who made a nice running catch and sprinted in for a 37-yard scoring play.

The Warriors' touchdown in the second quarter came on Mole's 3-yard run 55 seconds before halftime. Mole had 11 carries for 119 yards on the night. He has 697 yards rushing and 13 touchdowns this year.

Righetti kicker Lafe Vicker had a big night. All of his six kickoffs made the end zone. He did miss one of his five extra-point kicks.

As for the Warriors' defense, the unit had a handle on most everything the Dons tried. Linemen Greg Shibata and Josh Thornton, and linebacker Scott Keighley helped lead Righetti's charge against the running game, and the Warriors' secondary covered receivers well again.

"We really had Santa Barbara broken down on film," said Deras. He said nothing the Dons tried surprised the Righetti defense.

That is, except for Dons punter Martin Montes's 24-yard pass to Fernando Ybarra for a first down from punt formation in the first half. Other than Solakian's touchdown run, that was Santa Barbara's biggest play from scrimmage.

Winkles was not perturbed that Righetti's defense did not get a shutout. He correctly figured, "It was a shutout for the first string defense."

St. Joseph 21, SY 20 (OT)

Santa Ynez's Nelson Nash missed the extra point in overtime, and the Knights (1-0, 1-4) came away with a win at Al Maguire Field in their Los Padres League opener. Santa Ynez is 0-1, 0-5.

The game was 14-14 after regulation. Nick San Juan scored on a 25-yard run in overtime, then Michael Priestman kicked the winning extra point.

Santa Ynez countered with a 25-yard touchdown pass by quarterback Josh Kinnear, but then came the missed extra point.

St. Joseph outgained Santa Ynez 320-188. However, the Pirates scored first on a 55-yard interception return in the second quarter. The Knights tied the game on Tim Savey's 8-yard run and Priestman's extra point.

Santa Ynez re-gained the lead on Kinnear's 6-yard pass to A.J. Tevis. Nash followed with the extra point. The Knights answered on Savey's 39-yard run and Priestman's kick with 8:55 left to play.

Savey rushed for 98 yards, and San Juan had 91. Santa Ynez plays a non-league game next Friday at 7:30 p.m. at San Luis Obispo.

Lompoc 48, Atascadero 20

ATASCADERO -- The Braves (3-2), rolled to their second straight win, this time over the Greyhounds (3-2).

The game was the final non-league one for both teams. Lompoc is at home against St. Joseph at 7 p.m. next Friday for its Los Padres League opener.

Derek Duran's two touchdown receptions, a 46-yarder from Andrew Jones and a 44-yarder from Joey Gastelo, helped Lompoc to a 21-7 halftime lead. The Braves broke the game open in the fourth quarter on Gastelo's 7-yard touchdown run and Nate Mendoza's 3-yard score. Lompoc led 34-20 after the third quarter.

Matt Winn led Lompoc rushers with 142 yards on 15 carries. Teammate Robert Adams ran 16 times for 131 yards. The Braves battered Atascadero's defense for 435 yards on 54 carries. Brandon McMillan led the Greyhounds with 96 yards on 16 rushes. Ryan Bugg carried the ball 16 times for 86 yards for Atascadero.

Morro Bay 29, Cabrillo 7

LOMPOC -- Junior Joe Garcia broke the Morro Bay single-game school rushing record and scored twice as the Pirates (1-0, 3-2) defeated the Conquistadores (0-1, 1-5) in a Los Padres League opener at Lompoc High's Huyck Stadium.

The Conquistadores scored first, on Lydell Sargent's 1-yard run.

October 12, 2002