SANTA YNEZ - The St. Joseph and Santa Ynez football teams were about equal physically in the first half Friday night. St. Joseph was slightly more efficient.

In the second half, St. Joseph was far superior physically to Santa Ynez and far more efficient. That helped add up to a 28-0 St. Joseph victory. The Knights scored 21 second half points.

The Knights (3-2 overall) scored a convincing win in their Los Padres League opener. Santa Ynez is 0-2, 1-3.

The St. Joseph defense "came out with a different formation," the second half, Knights defensive lineman David Vasquez said. He said that helped the Knights collar the Pirates offense after halftime.

Also, "We just got a better push off the ball, the defense in general. We came out a little flat in the first half." Santa Ynez moved the ball well before intermission but couldn't finish anything off.

Zachary Sternjacob, Vasquez's fellow lineman, helped the Knights defense ruin two Pirates drives Friday night when he batted down a Sean Hemming pass on each.

"I just got a good rush and happened to knock it down," Sternjacob said.

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Knights quarterback Casey Cathcart threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Jacob Boster in the first quarter and a 15-yard scoring pass to Boster in the third.

Sandwiched in between was a Cathcart pass that "took the wind out of our sails some," said Santa Ynez coach Ken Gruendyke.

On the Knights' second play from scrimmage after the second half kickoff, Dominic Catayas ran free over the middle. Cathcart connected with him in full stride at about the Pirates 35, and Catayas was off for a 61-yard scoring play.

Knights tailback Brad Escobar, with hard running and strong blocking by his offensive line, ran for 137 yards on 30 carries.

He scored St. Joseph's last touchdown on a 1-yard run with 55 seconds left to play. Michael Priestman got into the scorebook by kicking the extra point. Tim Schweigert kicked the first three.

"We moved the ball well, and our passing helped keep them honest," said St. Joseph coach Barney Eames. Cathcart was 8-for-12 passing for 114 yards.

The Pirates stumbled close to the edge of the plank when Knights defensive back Justin Maretti recovered Hemming's fumble at the Knights 43.

St. Joseph turned the turnover into points when the taller Boster reached over Santa Ynez defensive back Krys Cash and grabbed Cathcart's perfect pass for a 15-yard touchdown. Schweigert's extra point kick made it 21-0.

Three plays after Adam Miller intercepted Cathcart to kill a Knights drive, the Pirates fell off the plank when St. Joseph linebacker Philip Adam grabbed Hemming's low pass at the Pirates 45 and returned it to the 31 with 6:50 left.

The Knights knocked off all but the last 55 seconds with their last scoring drive after that.

Santa Ynez tailback Tanner Belen ran for 72 of his 97 yards in the first half. On the opening drive of the game, Belen picked up steady yardage as Santa Ynez moved from its 10 to the Knights 45.

The drive stalled out. The Knights forced the Pirates into a third down, eight yards to go situation and then Adam and Ryan Acquistapace tackled Belen after a three-yard gain on a pass. Belen punted on the next play. Speaking of punts, Adam uncorked a 58-yarder for a school record.

"That first drive we go boom, boom, boom and then," nothing, said Gruendyke. "That's been our pattern. We've been struggling with that, working with that, trying to get over that hill."

The Knights, having gotten over the hill with a sound win on the road, have a head of steam going into their game next Friday night against Lompoc. That one at Al Maguire Field kicks off at 7 p.m.

Righetti 48, Santa Barbara 43

SANTA BARBARA - Warriors quarterback Jonathan Dally connected with Matt Marshall on a big pass play late, and then Chad Stephens scored the winning touchdown on a 3-yard run with four minutes left.

Dally's completion to Marshall kept the winning drive alive when Santa Barbara was ahead 43-42.

Righetti fly back Mark Malangko scored three touchdowns and rushed for 248 yards on 19 carries, his third straight game over 200 yards.

Righetti (5-0-1) survived its final non-league game even though Chris Palmer caught five touchdown passes from Kevin Dunn. Palmer caught 13 passes for 284 yards. Santa Barbara is 2-3.

Righetti plays at Atascadero at 7 p.m. Friday night in its PAC-5 League opener.

Morro Bay 28, Cabrillo 6

MORRO BAY - Pirates tailback Joe Garcia celebrated his return from a sprained ankle by rushing for 211 yards on 24 carries and scoring three touchdowns. Morro Bay is 2-0 in the LPL and 4-1 overall. Cabrillo is 1-1, 2-3.

The Pirates held star Cabrillo running back Lydell Sargeant to 50 yards rushing. Sargeant did catch a 14-yard touchdown pass from Matt Hansen as time expired.

Chris Stephens returned a kickoff 97 yards for a Morro Bay touchdown.

Lompoc 35, Atascadero 21

LOMPOC - Lompoc rallied from a 21-7 third quarter deficit to defeat Atascadero 35-21 in a non-league matchup.

After Atascadero quarterback Kyle James threw his third touchdown pass, putting the Greyhounds up 21-7, the Braves' Boo Jackson keyed the Lompoc comeback with an 85-yard touchdown return on the ensuing kickoff.

The Braves tied the game with 11:20 remaining in the fourth quarter on a 1-yard Joseph Scott touchdown.

An Atascadero fumble on its next offensive play gave Lompoc the chance to take the lead and at 9:20 of the fourth, Jackson hit Donald White with a 19-yard touchdown pass.

David Gaspar's 16-yard touchdown run with 2:40 left in the game sealed the Braves' victory.

With the victory Lompoc improves its record to 3-2. Atascadero falls to 3-2.

Paso Robles 42, Highland 28

PALMDALE - Vince Freitas racked up 278 yards rushing and scored five touchdowns as the Bearcats (4-1) rallied to win a non-league game.

The Bearcats spotted Highland a 12-0 lead in the first quarter. Paso Robles eventually went ahead, but then Highland pulled into a 28-27 lead as the fourth quarter began.

The Bearcats scored in the fourth quarter on Freitas runs of 21 and 41 and two Freitas extra point kicks.

October 11, 2003