For the first three years of his prep athletic career, Morro Bay's Jake Crizer had never been a member of a Pirates team that had defeated a St. Joseph squad.

On Friday, Crizer, the team's do-everything quarterback, personally saw to it that he'd graduate with at least one victory over the Pirates' Los Padres League rivals.

Morro Bay ended years of frustration and futility against the league's traditional powers by knocking off the Knights 13-6 in Morro Bay in a contest dominated by two things - the Pirates' defense, which suffocated St. Joseph's new spread-option offense - and Crizer, who basically carried Morro Bay's offense.

Crizer rushed for 162 yards and a touchdown, passed for another, and registered four carries for 47 yards on the Pirates' final drive of the fourth quarter to milk the clock and ice Morro Bay's first victory over St. Joseph in six years.

After the game, Crizer tried to give credit for the win to the Pirates' defense, but as impressive as the unit's performance was, it was clear from watching this game that Morro Bay will go as far as its multi-talented quarterback can take them.

"In my senior year, this was the game that I wanted to win more than any other," Crizer said. "This was personal."

It was also a game that showed just how much Morro Bay has improved in one year. Last fall, the Knights blanked the Pirates 26-0.

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"We knew what happened last year, and we were nervous," said Pirates linebacker Kevin McCool. "But we just wanted it more than they did."

St. Joseph coach Mike Hartman was certainly impressed with Crizer's performance.

"We knew he was explosive and quick, but we weren't expecting him to run the ball as much as he did," Hartman said. "He did a great job of running the mid-line option. If I had a kid that quick and a 280-pound average across the line, I'd run that play a lot, too. We tried to take advantage of some things, but they made adjustments. We couldn't take advantage of our opportunities. That's just part of the maturation process of a young team."

The game wasn't exactly aesthetically pleasing - the two teams combined for four turnovers and 11 penalties. But it did contain a certain amount of drama, especially in the second half.

Morro Bay (3-1, 1-0) scored on its first drive of the third quarter on a Crizer 61-yard touchdown pass to Mike Parkerson to give the Pirates a 13-6 advantage.

Morro Bay then forced the Knights (2-3, 0-1) to go three-and-out on their next four possessions, then halted St. Joseph's final drive of the game when sophomore defensive back Logan Budd tipped away Knights quarterback Brian McConkey's 45-yard bomb intended for Vince Gibilisco in the end zone with about 2 1/2 minutes left.

Crizer took care of things from there.

"Our defensive coordinator came up with a great game plan," said Morro Bay coach John Andree. "We wanted to pressure them from a lot of different angles, take away (running back Tom) Sua on the veer play and try to play some man-to-man. The kids did a great job of it."

Indeed, St. Joseph really wasn't able to get much going on offense. McConkey was 11-of-19 for 105 yards and one interception, and Sua was held to just 26 yards rushing on nine carries.

The Knights' only offensive highlight came when running back Philip Adam burst through a hole in the middle of the offensive line and outraced the Pirates' secondary for a 64-yard touchdown run to give St. Joseph a 6-0 lead with 7:30 remaining in the first half.

Crizer responded with a 25-yard touchdown run on the Pirates' ensuing possession to the game at 6-6.

The quarterback set the tone early, rushing for 50 yards on his first three carries of the game.

"(After that), I told myself this wasn't going to be too hard," said Crizer, who entered the game as Morro Bay's leading rusher with 285 yards. "It was good way to start. We came out fired up right away. The offensive line was blowing off the ball, I made a few cuts and there it was."

Oct. 1, 2005