LOMPOC -- Clinging to a two-point lead late in the game Friday night, Lompoc made the most effective play it could against superstar South Torrance tailback Chauncey Washington.

The Braves kept him off the field.

Lompoc quarterback Andrew Jones converted two third-down plays for first downs, passing to Derek Duran for 30 yards on one and lunging for a first down on the other.

"I just dove for the (first-down) stick," Jones said, and he made it.

After his run, Jones kneeled down twice as the Braves' offense ate up the last 3:03 to win this first-round CIF Division X playoff game 42-40 at Huyck Stadium. Ninth-ranked Lompoc (8-3) takes on the Monrovia-St. Bernard (Playa del Rey) winner in the second round next Friday night at 7:30.

Monrovia went into its game 10-0 and rated second in Division X. South Torrance, which finished third in the Pioneer League, wound up 5-6. Lompoc swept through the Los Padres League.

Lompoc made just enough special teams big plays to withstand the Washington Express.

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After Washington's 94-yard touchdown run late in the first half pulled South Torrance within 28-27, Lompoc linebacker Nathan Mendoza blocked the extra point.

"I just was able to get my hand up, and thank God I blocked it," Mendoza said. After Washington leaped one yard for the last touchdown of the game to make it 42-40, Gianni Avilla couldn't hold Sean Flynn's two-point conversion pass for the tie after making a diving try in the end zone. Then the Braves ran out the last 3:03.

Washington began the scoring when he took Flynn's screen pass and scampered in for a 27-yard touchdown play. The Braves answered on their first offensive play when Donald White scored on a 68-yard double reverse.

Shortly thereafter, Benny Ornelas took a punt on the Spartans 48. Matt Winn flattened someone with a block, Ornelas got another good block downfield and then two Lompoc blockers effectively tied up Flynn, the last man with a chance to stop Ornelas. Ornelas went into the end zone for the touchdown.

The Braves needed all those big plays (and Armando Gutierrez's six extra-point kicks) because Washington nearly beat them by himself. He scored all of the Spartans' touchdowns and, as their only ball carrier, rushed for 321 yards (247 in the first half) on 25 carries.

Oh yes, he also scored on pass plays of 27 and 64 yards. Alan Otteman caught two passes for a total of 46 yards and Washington caught one for four to account for the rest of the Spartans' offense.

Washington's biggest single highlight came when he started left, reversed direction near the Lompoc sideline and then ran all the way across the field before turning up the Spartans sideline for a 94-yard touchdown sprint. Four Braves dove for his legs. They all slid off.

"I mean, we had him pinned," Lompoc coach Robin Luken said afterward. "Then he's running down the sideline and I'm thinking, 'man, we don't have anybody who can stop that guy.'"

No single guy anyway. "You have to gang tackle him," said Mendoza. "Once he gets his shoulders square, he's trouble. He has size (6-3, 220 pounds) and speed. He's the best back we've faced all year."

"No one's run like that on us," said Luken. "He's verbally committed to USC, and he's an 'SC type of guy. They put 30 more pounds on that body, and he'll fit right in there."

Lompoc did a fair job of running the ball itself. Winn wound up with 116 yards on 20 carries. Robert Adams had 81 on 18 and scored touchdowns on runs of five and eight yards the first half.

The Braves helped themselves with two important third-quarter scores.

After the second-half kickoff, the Braves went 80 yards in 5:26. They did it all on the ground, and Winn took care of the last eight yards. On Lompoc's next drive Jones completed all three of his passes, for a total of 62 yards. The last 28 went to Duran for the winning touchdown.

"We wanted to eat up some clock and score in the third quarter, and we did," said Jones. "The offensive line stepped it up. They stepped it up tonight."

Indeed the unit did, and the Braves got through a night when Washington put up more points against them than their league opponents did all season.

"We wanted to keep him off the field," Jones said. He chuckled. "That guy's awesome."

November 23, 2002