It was good old fashioned, smash-mouth football at Santa Maria High School's Dave Boyd Field Friday night.

The Saints came up short, on the wrong end of a 24-3 score against the visiting Taft Wildcats.

These two teams battled almost exclusively in the trenches - the Wildcats (3-1) running the ball 48 times while attempting only six passes, racking up 317 yards on the ground. The Saints (1-3) ran on 39 of their 42 offensive plays, compiling 136 total rushing yards.

The passing game was basically non-existent - Taft completed two of six passes for two total yards. The Saints fared better, completing one of two for three yards.

"I think their defense was tougher than we thought," said Taft coach Steve Sprague. "I thought we won a hard fought battle but it was a little bit hard than I thought it would be."

"Our defense has stepped it up," said Saints coach Shawn Ramirez "They're a physical team but our kids just battled. Even though we lost it's something to build on. Our team played with a lot of heart."

The game was close all the way. While Taft led throughout, it wasn't decided until a Santa Maria fumble was recovered in the end zone for a Taft touchdown shortly after the fourth quarter began.

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The Wildcats have the top-ranked defense in Kern County and on Friday night they showed Santa Maria why.

Santa Maria could manage just one first down in the first half - and that came with just a minute to go before the teams headed to the locker rooms.

But the Saints defense was nearly as tough, giving up yards grudgingly although they did allow two Taft touchdowns before intermission.

On Taft's first possession of the game, they drove 62 yards on 13 plays, all on the ground, for the game's first score.

Taft split the running duties between quarterback C.T. Twisselman and running backs Daniel Kerr, Ben Estill and Tyler Beath - with Beath getting the call on the final play of the drive, good for a 3 yard touchdown run with 5:17 left in the first quarter. Florian Kronfeldt's point after kick was good and Taft had a 7-0 lead.

Shortly before the half, the Wildcats marched 80-yards on 10 plays - a mirror image of their first touchdown drive - with Twisselman finishing it off with a five yard run.

Meanwhile, Taft stopped the Saints' offense.

Santa Maria went three-and-out on their first four drives.

On their third drive they were forced to punt on fourth down. The Wildcats' Nick Ortleib fumbled the catch and the Saints recovered, giving them new life at Taft's 24-yard line.

Now they had good field position and a chance to tie the score.

But Taft again shut them down again. On fourth down Ernesto Velasco nailed a 38-yard field goal for the Saints' only score.

Still, the Saints weren't out of it. The score remained 14-3 heading into the fourth quarter.

Deep in their own territory, Santa Maria quarterback Nolan Snowden was hit as he rolled out to his left. He fumbled the ball into his own endzone where Taft's Bryce Hayes fell on it. With the point after, the Wildcats were up 21-3 and the Saints had too little time to catch these cats.

"We're coming off a 41-0 win and a 47-7 win and those teams quit against us," said Spraque. "Santa Maria did not quit so my hat is off to them. I'm thrilled to get out of here with a victory but they were a tough team. They were intense tonight."

Taft kept the ball on the ground on their final possession, just running down the clock. With 1:26 left in the game, Kronfeldt survived a bad snapped a hit a 26-yard field goal for the game's final score.

On the night the Saints were led by Angel Espinoza, who ran for 62 yards om 16 carries and Gilbert Arguijo, whp picked up 27 yards on 11 attempts. Snowden added another 49 yards on 11 attempts.

"They came to play and it was a good battle," said Sprague. "My hat is off to those guys, they fought for four quarters and that's what it's really all about."

"Our kids worked so hard," said Ramirez. "We had a great week of practice. We lost, but we played with a lot of heart. That's all we can ask for."

The Saints open their Los Padres League season next Friday night when they travel down to Santa Ynez.

Oct. 3, 2004