It was same old, same old for the Lompoc High football team on Friday night, as it opened the Los Padres League football season with their 18th straight LPL victory, 52-0 over Nipomo.

After the Braves were stopped on their first two possessions they scored on the next seven in a row using speed, defense, passing and long marches.

Speed came first with Joseph Scott going over right tackle then cutting to the sideline for 29 yards with four seconds left in the first quarter.

The second quarter saw four Lompoc touchdowns- Sam Ruiz picked off a Mason Sperakos pass and returned it 28 yards to score, then Tim Ochoa passed to Johnathon Terrones for 42 yards, then the Braves took advantage of advantageous field positions twice to march for short yardage touchdowns, first by Sean Carpio from four followed by Ruiz from three.

The score was 35-0 at halftime.

"Their defensive speed really put pressure on us," said disconsolate Nipomo coach Jon Hitchen afterward.

"No. 35 (Mike Linstead) and No. 45 (Jakob Sims) are excellent players."

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The Braves limited Nipomo to 43 yards rushing in the first half and just three first downs, one by penalty.

Scott led Lompoc with 100 yards rushing while Ochoa surprised everyone with 66 yards rushing besides 5-for-8 passing for 90 yards.

The Braves amassed 406 yards and limited Nipomo to 139.

"The defense came out and played," said Lompoc coach Robin Luken whose team was up one week, down the next in a 2-2 preason.

It was the Titans' fourth consecutive defeat this season without a win.

Taft 42, Santa Maria 14

TAFT - Quarterback Daniel Gauna's 7-yard run with 8:37 left in this non-league game capped a 16-play 71-yard Santa Maria scoring drive.

Then things went south for the Saints (1-3-0) in a hurry as the Wildcats squared their record at 2-2-0.

Martin Sanchez kicked the extra point to bring Santa Maria within 21-7. Then Taft standout Ben Estill ran the ensuing kickoff back 73 yards for a touchdown.

Turnovers set up Taft's next two scores. Andrew Carter intercepted Gauna's pass at the Saints 40. Estill took care of all 40 in three plays, scoring from the 8 on the third for the last of his five touchdowns.

Angel Espinoza fumbled on first down after the kickoff, and Taft recovered. Reserve back Fernando Romo scored from the Saints 20 on the next play.

The Saints finally scored again against the Taft reserves, with Espinoza going in from a yard out on the last play from scrimmage.

Defensive back Ben Arreola led a Saints surge that helped Santa Maria stop Taft twice inside the Saints 20. However, Santa Maria blew a big chance early.

Arreola recovered Wildcat Andrew Miller's fumble at the Taft 38 on the first play of the game. The Saints had a fourth down-and-one from the Taft 18, but consecutive five-yard illegal procedure penalties quickly made it fourth-and-11.

The Wildcats stopped Gabriel Rodriguez for a two-yard gain after he caught Gauna's pass.

Santa Maria did a decent job against Estill, the Central Section's rushing leader, most of the game. However, Estill still wound up with 178 yards, on 26 carries. He has 997 yards this year. Miller racked up 143 yards, on 19 carries.

The Saints host Santa Ynez at 7:30 p.m. next Friday at Santa Maria's Dave Boyd Field in their Los Padres League opener.

Madera 49, SLO 25

At San Luis Obispo, the Coyotes ran through the Tigers defense for 400 rushing yards.

Madera improved to 4-1-0 with the non-league win. San Luis Obispo dropped to 2-2-1.

Madera's Chris Jackson had 225 yards, on just 15 carries. He put the Coyotes ahead 26-6 with a 91-yard run. Jackson also scored on runs of four, eight, 15 and 23.

The Coyotes easily withstood Stuart Hill's 171 yards rushing and 95 yards receiving. Hill caught a 7-yard pass from Connor Reese to pull the Tigers within 27-13 in the second quarter.

Sports writer Kenny Cress contributed to this report.

Oct. 1, 2005