One Lompoc trick play, one good Braves drive and one good Santa Maria High drive that went for naught.

All that helped add up to a 13-0 Lompoc victory at Dave Boyd Field in a big Los Padres League football game on a rainy Friday night.

Joey Gastelo connected with Matt Win on a beautifully-executed halfback option pass for a 47-yard touchdown with 17 seconds left in the first half. The Braves snuffed out a Saints drive after Santa Maria reached the Lompoc 10, and when Robert Adams bulled in from 22 yards out with 5:10 to play, that was pretty much it.

LPL newcomer Lompoc (3-0, 5-2) has a showdown at Morro Bay next Friday at 7 p.m. for first place. Morro Bay lost a non-league game to Atascadero 17-7 Friday evening. The Braves have won four straight games, and their defense has not allowed a touchdown in 12 quarters.

Santa Maria (1-2, 2-5) lost its third straight. The Saints have two league games left, at Santa Ynez next Friday at 7 p.m. and at St. Joseph, as they try to get into the playoffs for the second consecutive season.

Lompoc coach Robin Luken said he is not surprised Morro Bay, which has Central Coast rushing leader Joe Garcia, is playing for first place, even though the Pirates just got into the playoffs last year.

"Morro Bay did a good job last year and did a good job in the playoffs," said Luken. "We're going up there, and we're really looking forward to it."

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Neither team had come close to scoring when Lompoc lined up at the Santa Maria 47 as time was winding down in the first half. Quarterback Andrew Jones took the snap, fired a backward pass to Gastelo, and Gastelo took a few steps to his right.

He put on the brakes, spotted Winn running wide open and connected with him at the Santa Maria 20. All that was left for Winn to do was to run in, and he did.

"We ran a couple of trick plays tonight, and they worked out for us," Luken said. "Roger (assistant Braves coach Pacheco) has those up his sleeve. He's been storing those away for years."

On the play before the touchdown pass, an illegal shift nullified a 31-yard gain to the Saints' 10. Jones tossed a ball to Derek Duran, who caught it at the 25 and lateraled to Gastelo who took it to the 10.

Particularly in the first half, Santa Maria's offense spent much of the time trying to get past Lompoc tackles Justice Clegg and Michael Slaughter and not having much success at it.

Clegg and Slaughter consistently stuffed the Saints' option offense before intermission. Santa Maria had a grand total of 45 rushing yards at the break.

Friday night, Saints quarterback Brad Bowen threw two passes, both incomplete.

On the first series of the second half, Santa Maria's line opened holes it had not been able to create in the first half. Bowen and Pablo Ramos made some good short gains, then Bowen broke one for 14 yards to the Braves 44.

On third down, Ramos ran through a big hole on the left side for 30 yards to the Lompoc 10. But Slaughter and linebacker Jeremy Signorelli then stopped two running plays.

On third down from the 10, defensive back Victor Lara nailed Ramos for a yard loss before Ramos could turn the corner on a sweep.

The snap on Victor Velasco's 28-yard field goal try was a grounder to holder Billy Kennedy on the slippery field, and Winn and Nathan Mendoza blocked Velasco's kick.

"We missed some opportunities on offense," said Santa Maria coach Jim Doyle. "There was the bad snap on the field goal, and then a fumble hurt that drive in the first half."

The drive Doyle referred to was Santa Maria's initial possession. On second-and-eight from the 28, Slaughter recovered a Saints fumble on the Lompoc 29.

Doyle had no problems with the way his defense played. Linemen Matt Leyden and Josh Liendo, linebacker Richard Delaney and defensive backs Adam Gomes and Anthony Dakuras helped hold the leading ground attack on the Central Coast to 144 yards.

The Saints had only 149 rushing yards themselves. As for the Braves, they had nearly perfect offensive balance - Lompoc gained 143 yards passing.

"Hats off to Lompoc," said Doyle. "They're a good team and they came in well-prepared to play us."

Cabrillo 30, St. Joseph 22

VANDENBERG VILLAGE - The Conquistadores (1-2, 2-6) dealt the Knights' playoff hopes a blow. St. Joseph dropped to 1-2 in LPL games and 1-6 overall.

The Knights had a hard time slowing down Cabrillo quarterback Matt Hansen. Hansen rushed for 128 yards on 30 carries. Hansen also threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Adam Drake.

Cabrillo led 23-7. After the Knights tied the score on Luis Escobar's 30-yard pass to Josh Mitchell and Michael Priestman's extra point, the Conquistadores scored 15 second-quarter points.

St. Joseph trailed 30-15 late in the game when the Knights scored on Nicholas San Juan's 4-yard run. Escobar was St. Joseph's leading rusher with 81 yardss on just nine carries.

The Knights have a bye next week.

Atascadero 17, Morro Bay 7

MORRO BAY -- The Greyhounds clamped down on Pirates junior running back Joe Garcia, holding him to 61 yards on 17 carries as Atascadero took a non-league win.

Both teams are 3-3.

Garcia did score, on a 1-yard run in the third quarter. But by then, Atascadero had Brandon McMillan's 1-yard run, Brennan Myracle's point after, and Myracle's 26-yard field goal.

After Garcia's touchdown, the Greyhounds got some insurance in the fourth quarter. Ryan Bugg caught a 29-yard scoring pass from quarterback Harrison Higbee.

Atascadero allowed Morro Bay just six first downs. The Greyhounds managed only 11 themselves.

Tennis

Cate 10, Santa Ynez 8

SANTA YNEZ -- Subi Sundarum swept three singles sets without dropping a game for the Pirates, but they came up short in this non-league match.

Santa Ynez is 12-4. The Pirates are in second place at 8-1 in the Los Padres League, just behind 10-0 Santa Maria. The PIrates play at Nipomo at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday and then have a home Halloween showedown against Santa Maria Thursday.

Water polo

Righetti wins twice

CANYON COUNTRY -- The Warriors won their two Canyon Tournament games to improve to 17-4 on the season.

Righetti defeated the El Toro junior varsity 10-3 and Sonora 14-6.

Nick McGilvray put in four goals against El Toro, and goal keeper Aaron Dell, back from an eye injury, made four saves. McGilvray pumped in six goals against Sonora, and Matt Dale scored four times.

Righetti takes on Laguna Hills at 9 a.m. today.

Octover 26, 2002