So much for the aerial attack.

Second-year Santa Maria coach Shawn Ramirez had said his team wanted to go out of a pass-oriented spread offense. The Saints did line up in the spread a lot Friday night - but they usually ran out of it from the shotgun.

They ran the ball so well that they racked up 503 yards of rushing offense in a 39-13 rout of outmanned Mission Prep of San Luis Obispo in the season opener for both teams at Santa Maria's Dave Boyd Field.

Ramirez said afterward, "503? Really? I really had no idea."

When he was asked if the Saints possibly rushed for a school record, Ramirez replied, "I really don't know. You know, I wasn't worried about that at all as the game went along."

Saints starting quarterback Daniel Gauna threw the ball six times, all in the first half, completing three passes for a total of 35 yards.

Santa Maria's offensive line of Dillon Ochoa, Ruben Perez, Richard Garwood, Kenny Hilbrant and Rodrigo Villa spent most of its time Friday night opening gaping holes.

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"We're faster this year," Villa said of the Saints' guys up front. Santa Maria running backs Angel Espinoza and Gabriel Rodriguez took particular advantage of their offensive line's prowess.

Espinoza racked up a total of 186 yards on 22 carries, and Rodriguez had 175 on 10. Espinoza scored once from a yard out and twice on 14-yard runs. Rodriguez had touchdown runs of one and three yards.

The Saints led 26-0 at halftime. Ruben Acuna barreled in from 10 yards out on Santa Maria's first drive after halftime.

Mission Prep had a hard initiation into 11-man football. Still, it moved the ball well the second half after falling behind 39-0. The Royals are in their first season of 11-man ball after fielding a solid eight-man program.

"Those kids played hard," Ramirez said of the Royals. "That's a credit to those kids." Mark Williams and quarterback Brett Williams both scored on 15-yard runs for Mission Prep's touchdowns.

As for the Saints, Ramirez said they won their opener for the first time since the late 1990s.

Espinoza and Rodriguez were called upon plenty and they delivered. Their line did open the huge holes for them, but they did their part by hitting the holes quickly and breaking tackles downfield. The pair's night on offense was done after the third quarter.

Espinoza was actually a defensive back last year. He played there Friday night, too, but he made most of his impact running the ball.

"It feels good," he said. Then he acknowledged his offensive line.

Rodriguez said, "I wasn't supposed to run the ball," as much as he did. Rodriguez made his surprise ball-carrying pay off.

The Saints' defense had a solid outing. Lineman Villa and linebacker Ben Arreola led a Saints surge that kept Mission Prep to 45 yards rushing.

Defensive backs Espinoza and Jason Balewa helped the Saints keep Mission Prep from having consistent success through the air - the Royals just about quit on the running game from early in the first quarter on - though Weeks wound up with 158 passing yards. Villa and Saints linebacker Jake Gibbons pressured Weeks often.

Defensive back Rodriguez intercepted a pass on the last play of the first half.

Santa Maria lined up in its usual tight running formation during its first series. The Saints had a nice drive going, and then they lost the ball when Espinoza was hit hard and fumbled at the Royals 14.

The Saints went to the spread after that. "We started out in one basic set just to get the kids comfortable," Ramirez said.

"After that we went to the spread to see what we had. The kids did a nice job."

The Saints did fine when they didn't get in their own way. Santa Maria easily overcame eight penalties and two lost fumbles. Santa Maria's first of two punts for the night came with 8:01 left in the fourth quarter.

Next week, "We run into the buzzsaw," in Righetti, Ramirez said. Kickoff for The Big Game is at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Righetti.

The past several games have ended in lopsided Righetti wins. Santa Maria will try to build on its momentum and reverse the trend.

Mission Prep lineman Wyatt Tanner was taken to a hospital after the game with what a Mission Prep spectator said was a head injury. However, the spectator said Tanner was alert and that he believed Tanner was being transported to the hospital as a precaution.

Sept. 3, 2005