The first nine minutes went spectacularly well for Santa Maria's football team Friday night.

Not much went right for the Saints thereafter.

Morro Bay got out of its own way long enough to rack up a 42-10 Los Padres League victory at Dave Boyd Field.

The Pirates are 3-0 in the Los Padres League and 5-1 overall. Santa Maria is 1-2, 1-5.

Morro Bay's defense came in to the game with three shutouts. The unit likely would have had another, but the Saints had 10 points practically gift wrapped for them.

Morro Bay punter Chris Nicholson couldn't make a one-handed grab of a high snap, and Jason Quintero, Luis Magallon and Gilbert Arguijo tackled him at the Pirates 2.

On second down, Saints quarterback Billy Kennedy scored on about a two-inch quarterback sneak.

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Morro Bay superstar tailback Joe Garcia was in negative yardage his first four carries, and he fumbled at his own 5 after the kickoff. Saints linebacker Stephen Rosser recovered, and then Juan Alcantar scored on fourth down from the 1.

A holding penalty canceled the score. Victor Velasco kicked a 21-yard field goal.

Velasco injured his right knee as he was trying for a school record 58-yard field goal with 1:34 left to play. The kick was blocked. Velasco was limping heavily and had an ice pack on the knee afterward.

"It's too early to tell," what the extent of Velasco's injury is, said Santa Maria coach Jim Doyle.

"The first nine minutes went great for us - that was some of the best defense we've played," he said.

"After that, things sort of snowballed."

The snowball effect began when fullback Steve Dover joined Garcia in the backfield after Garcia had originally lined up in a one-back set.

Garcia began picking up steady yardage behind Dover, guard David Johnson and tackle Daniel Jung.

"They were overshifting to our strong side, so we had to run behind our two juniors (Johnson and Jung - Dover is a junior too)," said Morro Bay coach John Andree.

"I thought their defensive line played very well. We just wore 'em down."

Garcia was at minus one yard after his first four carries as Saints linemen Quintero and Brandon Delaney helped stack him up early.

He wound up with 154 yards on 24 rushes. He scored two touchdowns before the Pirates coaching staff decided he should call it a night with 9:27 to play.

Corey Stollmeyer did more than his share of damage. He had 122 yards on just eight carries and scored the winning touchdown on a 14-yard run with 4:13 left in the first half.

Morro Bay had 10 first downs and 218 yards of total offense at halftime. For all that movement, the Pirates had 14 points.

Part of their problem was the turnovers. The other was penalties. The Pirates were flagged seven times in the first half, and a penalty wiped out a touchdown.

Andree didn't look happy when he talked to the officials as he was coming off the field at halftime. He was more generous toward the crew afterward.

"That's a college crew, and they see everything," Andree said. "Our guys aren't used to having all that stuff called on them. (These referees) are used to a faster game. They did an excellent job of officiating."

An ineligible receiver downfield penalty wiped out a 22-yard pass play to Fred Smith that would have put the Saints at Morro Bay's 12 in the second quarter. The drive eventually petered out.

There were several late block-in-the-back and holding penalties called. Santa Maria was on the receiving end of some of them.

"Just play," a side judge said to the Saints coaching staff after one of those penalties. "I don't like calling that stuff."

Santa Maria plays at Lompoc at 7 p.m. next Friday.

October 18, 2003