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Righetti's Kyle Leon brings down Hueneme quarterback Josh Riley for a first-half sack in the Warriors' 64-13 non-league drubbing of the Vikings at Homecoming on Friday. - Aaron Lambert/Staff
Righetti High School's football team made some of the school's current and former students happy Friday night,
The Warriors rushed for 381 yards. Quarterback Trevor Elswick threw for a season high 231 yards and four touchdowns, and linebackers Nick Harlow and Todd Noel led a strong defensive surge as the Warriors crushed winless Hueneme of Oxnard 64-13 in Righetti's Homecoming game at Warrior Stadium.
Righetti improved to 3-3-0 and has its first two-game winning streak under second-year coach Gary Wilson. Hueneme is 0-5-0.
”I thought before the game that Adam (Wilson) and I would connect tonight,“ Elswick said after he and the coach's son had finished doing just that.
The younger Wilson snared seven passes for 152 yards and hauled in Elswick's second touchdown pass. Wilson caught Elswick's toss at the Hueneme 35 and sprinted in for a 76-yard scoring play. The touchdown was Righetti's second of the game.
Righetti has scored a total of 100 points its last two games. The Warriors scored on nine of their 11 possessions.
Martin Luque made good on all of his nine extra point kicks. Gary Wilson's only gripe about the kicker's game concerned an onside kick that wasn't supposed to be in the third quarter. Righetti recovered and wound up scoring.
”That kick was supposed to go deep,“ Wilson said. ”They were a little upset, and they had a right to be. I had to go over and apologize.
”(Hueneme) has some good athletes. I was a little concerned about the game, but our kids laid some hits on them and played the way they were supposed to.“
Did Elswick feel any extra pressure because Friday night was Homecoming night? ”No,“ Elswick said. ”I don't think about pressure.“
Righetti's last dress rehearsal before PAC-5 League play begins went just fine. The Warriors host San Luis Obispo at 7:30 p.m. next Friday.
Gary Wilson said that Righetti senior tailback Chad Stephens, the area's second-leading rusher with 640 yards, will miss his third consecutive game then because of a strained MCL.
”It's week-to-week for him,“ he said. ”Hopefully we'll get him back, and if we can get by a few games without him that's all the better.“
As for the Hueneme game, ”I think that was the single game scoring (school) record for us,“ Gary Wilson said. ”I know it's the most since I've been here. We weren't trying to run up the score. We really weren't.“
Ryan Switzer, Righetti's leading rusher with 84 yards, did not carry the ball in the second half. Cody Denham scored on eight and 28-yard runs for the Warriors. He gained 83 yards but did not carry the ball in the fourth quarter.
Elswick's night was over in the third quarter. He had 200 yards passing at halftime, and Righetti led 43-6 then.
Reserves K.C. Saarellano and Kyle Leon actually did the bulk of Righetti's rushing in the second half. Each scored, Leon from a yard out and Saarellano on a tackle breaking 18-yarder. Saarellano had 75 yards on six carries and Leon had 57 on 10.
Hueneme's first touchdown came when Trenton Washington hauled in a 41-yard pass from quarterback Josh Riley after the Warriors led 36-0. Hueneme scored with three seconds to go on Riley's five-yard pass to Joe Ekstrom.
In between those plays, Hueneme's running game was just about non-existent and the Warriors sacked Riley five times.
”They didn't run anything that we hadn't seen on film,“ Harlow, a senior who is the Warriors' season leader in tackles, said. ”Our coaches prepare us very well.“
Tackle Steve Alurack and the rest of his offensive linemates opened gaping holes in Hueneme's defense for Righetti's runners, and did not allow a sack of Elswick.
”I think we're (in pretty good shape),“ going into the PAC-5 League battles, Alurack said. ”We've improved a lot.“
”I think we're in really good shape,“ for the league opener, Elswick said. ”Our offensive line's blocking really good.“
Harlow said, ”I know 3-3 may not look very impressive, but I think we'll do just fine in league. I think we'll surprise some people.“
At halftime, Righetti 2004 Homecoming Queen Maricela Morales crowned senior Claribel Marquez as the school's 2005 Homecoming Queen.
Members of the cross country team drew laughs from the crowd as they ran a mock race, with each runner carrying a sign with the first name of a queen candidate. Senior Jake Engle “won“ the race.
Oct. 8, 2005