Santa Maria High School's football Homecoming Friday night was a happy one thanks in part to The Drive.

It wasn't for a Super Bowl berth as the classic John Elway-led one was, but the Saints will no doubt bask in their own version of it.

Gilbert Arguijo racked up most of the yardage and scored on a one-yard run as the Saints started on their own 1 with 6:20 left in the second quarter and scored 23.8 seconds before halftime. Santa Maria defeated Nipomo 24-14 at Dave Boyd Field.

Santa Maria earned its first Los Padres League win this season. The Saints are 1-2-0, 2-5-0. Nipomo is 0-4-0, 1-7-0.

Seniors Perla Ramirez and Jonathan Trevizo were crowned Santa Maria's 2004-5 Homecoming Queen and King at halftime. 2003 Homecoming Queen and King Norma Salazar and Ricky Quintana did the honors.

Arguijo is a senior. He hadn't been part of a 99-yard drive "since youth football," he said.

He may have not run like he did Friday night since his youth football days, either. Arguijo did most of his work behind fullback Jason Quintero, right guard Dominic Arganda, right tackle Rodrigo Villa and tight end Kenny Hilbrant and racked up 241 yards on 37 carries.

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"We're a little bit stronger with Jason blocking," Arguijo said. "(My yardage) was all because of him and my line. They make all the holes. If it wasn't for my line making holes, I wouldn't have any yards or any touchdowns."

Arguijo scored all of Santa Maria's three touchdowns. His last, a 31-yard tackle-breaking scoring run alongside the Nipomo sideline, finished the Titans with 1:26 to play.

The Saints got their first points on Ernesto Velasco's 40-yard field goal in the second quarter that would have been good from 50. Jesus Saldana kicked three extra points.

First-year Santa Maria coach Shawn Ramirez had seen his team work hard all season with little reward before Friday night.

"It just feels good to get another win," he said. "The guys just did a great job.

"(Nipomo coach Jon Hitchen) and his staff do a great job. They're going to be very good in a few years. They're going to be the Arroyo Grande of the Central Coast."

Nipomo's Frank Mansera ran a punt back 76 yards for a touchdown, breaking two tackles along the way, midway through the first quarter for the first points of the game. The Titans didn't score again until quarterback Bryce Seguine hit Billy Jones for a 5-yard touchdown pass with 4:43 left to play to make it 17-12. Justin Robertson bulled in for the two-point conversion.

Steven Hernandez gave the Saints some momentum back when he returned the kickoff back 20 yards to his 44. The Saints took seven plays to score after that, and Arguijo carried the ball on all of them.

The Saints won in large part because they finished their drives and the Titans, except for the touchdown pass, couldn't finish theirs.

On the last play before The Drive, Saints linebacker Ruben Acuna stopped Justin Robertson at the 1 on fourth-and-goal from the Saints 2.

In the third quarter the Titans, with Robertson getting most of the yards, drove from their 35 to the Santa Maria 8. But on fourth-and-two from there, Saints defensive back Angel Espinoza stopped Mansera about a foot short of the first down on a sweep around right end.

Mansera appeared as though he would get the first down, but Espinoza charged up and then stopped him short. "That was a big play Angel made," Ramirez said.

Robertson came into the game as the sixth-leading rusher in the area, with 620 yards on 110 carries and seven touchdowns. The Saints overcame a size disadvantage and kept him to 70 yards on 17 rushes Friday night.

"The defense stepped up big," said Saints linebacker Ricardo Arias, who led the Saints' defensive surge along with tackle Rodrigo Villa and fellow linebackers Acuna and Ricky Iniguez. Containing Robertson "was a big part of our success.

"Everybody knew their assignments. Everybody contributed tonight."

Nipomo tackle Julio Huitron had a big night himself on defense.

Oct. 23, 2004