"If we can keep playing like this," Righetti linebacker Luke Deras said Friday night. "We'll be all right".

The Warriors had just finished their first game without superstar tailback Ryan Mole. Righetti defeated Morro Bay 34-13 at Warrior Stadium.

Righetti is 4-0. Morro Bay, a member of the Los Padres League which is comprised of smaller schools, is 2-1.

Mole broke his collarbone in the second quarter of Righetti's 54-29 win at Lompoc last week. The Warriors are hoping to have him back in five weeks.

Meanwhile Mole's replacement, Mark Malangko, ran wild. Malangko racked up 252 yards on 22 carries and scored three touchdowns.

Twenty eight of Malangko's yards came on the ol' hook-and-ladder play in the second quarter. From Morro Bay's 34, Righetti quarterback Jonathan Dally completed a 6-yard pass to Ben Grover. Grover turned and lateraled the ball to Malangko who sprinted down the Pirates sideline for his second score.

When Grover turned, Malangko "was right where he was supposed to be," Grover said.

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The Pirates had shut out Carpinteria and Greenfield by a combined 79-0. It took Malangko 12 seconds to break Morro Bay's scoreless streak.

He ran through a big hole that left guard Chris Van Pelt and left tackle Clayton Rios created. He cut to his left and was gone for a 58-yard touchdown run on Righetti's first play from scrimmage.

The score was 21-7 at halftime. Malangko ran 70 yards for a score on Righetti's first play of the third quarter.

Center Jacob Claborn made a hole up the middle and Malangko did the rest, running through a jersey tackle from behind at the Righetti 36 and then running in untouched after that.

"They're very quick on both sides of the ball," said Morro Bay coach John Andree, who added that the film on Righetti did not do the Warriors justice as to how fast they are.

"That (Malangko) is really fast," Andree said with a chuckle. "We have some guys in the secondary who are usually going to run (a back) down.

"We told the kids that in order to have a chance to win this game, we were going to have to have great individual efforts. We just couldn't handle their big plays."

Standout Morro Bay back Joe Garcia gained 109 yards on 19 carries. Eighty six of those came in the second half, and Garcia scored on a 28-yard run in the third quarter on which he bounced outside and then ran through two tackles.

However, the Pirates sometimes were their own worst enemies. Two consecutive holding penalties killed a promising drive in Righetti territory after the second half kickoff. Then Malangko scored on his 70-yarder.

Morro Bay was driving again when Josh Neider's pass went off Ryan Horrigan's hands at the Righetti 25. Warriors linebacker Travis Mac Donald grabbed the ball at the 20 and returned the ball to the Pirates 43.

On the Pirates' first possession after Malangko's scoring jaunt in the first quarter, Neider connected with Garrett Sites for 38 yards to the Warriors 6, but Sites fumbled the ball away and the Warriors had it at their 3.

"We were going to score, and then there was that interception," Andree said. "And there was that fumble. You just can't make mistakes like that about a team like that. We learned something about ourselves tonight."

After Sites' fumble, Malangko gave the ball right back to the Pirates with a fumble at the 3. Defensive back Corey Stollmeyer recovered the ball for Morro Bay.

Then Deras led a good defensive surge as the Warriors dug in and forced a 23-yard field goal attempt. Anson Shaffer missed. His try hit the right upright and bounced forward.

Morro Bay closed to within 14-7 when Neider hooked up with Sites for a 7-yard pass and Shaffer made the extra point with 7:47 left in the second quarter. The Pirates came no closer.

Deras and linemen Juan Sifuentes and Josh Thornton were solid for Righetti's defense, though Neider did pass for 119 yards. Linebackers Steve Dover and Garrett Morton led a Pirates defense that gave some stiff resistance, but Righetti still moved the ball well.

"We have a lot of weapons," Deras said. Dally passed for 96 yards. Tight end Steven Smith caught four passes for 42 yards.

"Steven Smith came up big tonight," said Righetti coach Greg Dickinson. "We just need to get more settled. We've done a lot of shifting around (because of injuries). A lot of guys are playing positions they're not used to."

With 35 players now, depth figures to be a problem for Righetti all year. The Warriors host Dos Pueblos at 7:30 p.m. next Friday night.

Sept. 27, 2003