A Perfect Beginning ... Righetti's 'Dirty 30' routs Ayala, 62-28

CHINO - Righetti High's football team had troubles tackling, defending against the pass and fumbling the ball in its season opener against Ayala on Friday night.

Thanks to Ryan Mole and the Warriors' offensive line, that mattered little in the final result.

Righetti rolled to a 62-28 victory over Ayala thanks in part to a 363-yard, four-touchdown ground effort from Mole and the rest of the 36-player roster, which Righetti coach Greg Dickinson affectionately refers to as the "Dirty Thirty."

"We had a ton of mistakes and five or six fumbles," Dickinson said. "We overcame that, and some big plays by them, because we had enough offense to do it."

Mole outscored the Bulldogs by himself, taking Righetti's first offensive play 61 yards for a score, giving the Warriors the lead only 1:48 into the game. He ended up with five runs of 23 yards or more, including all four of his touchdown runs (61, 70, 69, 68). The Warriors' rushing attack rolled up 556 yards on the grounds, with backup Mark Malangko adding 113 yards in the game's latter stages. He also caught three passes for 46 yards and another touchdown, coming on a broken pass play from quarterback Jonathan Dally.

"This wasn't what we expected out of this game, coming up here," Mole said after his big night,. "We worked hard heading into this one, and the work paid off."

Righetti sunk the dagger in the third quarter, starting whit a 92-yard kickoff return by Malangko to start the quarter. Two possessions later, Mole cranked off the 69-yard run, putting the Warriors up 35-21 and removing most of the doubt about the outcome.

More would come in the fourth quarter, including a 31-yard shovel pass from Dally to Mole, followed on Righetti's next series by a 68-yard Mole scoring run, making it 49-28 to that point. Malangko took care of the rest with the last two touchdowns, one on a 16-yard run and the other on a 79-yard scamper in the final four minutes.

"We had some great quickness out there, especially out of the backfield," Dickinson said. "Malangko gave us over 100 yards out of the fly spot, and Mole was just incredible. We've still got some stuff to work on, but this was a good way to start."

Righetti got much of its offense - 639 yards in all - on the outside, using sweeps and counter plays to attack the edges of the Bulldogs' front seven.

The first half, and especially the first quarter, was a back-and-forth battle between the two offenses, with big play following big play. After Mole's first touchdown run, Ayala answered with a 65-yard bomb from quarterback Bryan Waggener to receiver Ekenemchuk Asiodu, the only real offensive weapon the Bulldogs had on the night. Righetti countered with a nine-play drive that culminated with a three-yard plunge by back Lino Esparza.

One of Mole's fumbles led to the next Ayala score, coming on a 38-yard sweep by Asiodu for the second of two touchdowns he scored on the night. But the Warriors had an answer with a 70-yard Mole scamper , putting the Warriors up for good at 20-14.

Asiodu ended up with five catches for 136 yards and seven carries for 56 yards, running mainly on end-arounds and sweeps. Waggener threw for 261 yards in the loss, completing 11 of 20 passes.

September 06, 2003