Cabrillo's football team lost most of the battles up front Friday night. The Conquistadores lost a share of first place in the process.

Morro Bay's linemen took advantage of a size advantage on both sides of the ball, and the Pirates racked up a convincing 31-10 Homecoming win at Morro Bay High. The Pirates improved to 3-1-0 in the Los Padres League and 5-2-0 overall.

Cabrillo, which had been ranked second in Division X going in, fell to 2-1-0, 5-2-0.

“I'm excited,” Morro Bay coach John Andree said afterward. “We've talked to the kids all year about playing championship football. Tonight they did.”

Pirates tailback Kevin Scott and quarterback Jake Crizer prospered all evening thanks to their linemen opening impressive-sized holes and fullback Ryland Lapp throwing good lead blocks as he escorted them through them. Scott ran for 166 yards and Crizer ran for 154.

Crizer scored Morro Bay's first three touchdowns. Scott scored the last one, from the Cabrillo 10. “(Cabrillo's) a good team,” said Andree. “We played great up front.”

The Conquistadores were without Steve de St. Jean, their anchor on defense at defensive end and also a standout fullback, for the second straight week.

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“It's a stomach muscle,” Cabrillo coach Don Cross said of de St. Jean's injury. “We don't know if he'll be back, if ever.

“There's no doubt it made a difference for us. He's our main guy. You're talking 10, 11 tackles (a game for de St. Jean). But we can't wait for him to come back. We've got games to play.”

Their next one is at home next Friday at 7:30 p.m. against Nipomo.

The Pirates knocked the Conquistadores around for the first 7:10 Friday night. Morro Bay scored its first two touchdowns then.

Pirates wide receiver-defensive back Brian Budd began by returning the opening kickoff 63 yards to the Cabrillo 34. Morro Bay went in on just its fifth play, with Crizer taking care of the last 16 yards on a quarterback option.

Cabrillo running back Vai Taua ran for 147 yards on 26 carries, but Kevin McCool and Scott Foster threw him for a two-yard loss on fourth down from the Morro Bay 14 on the ensuing series. Crizer burned the Conqs on the option again four plays later, this one for a 62-yard touchdown.

Darnell Womack fumbled the ball on the kickoff - the Conquistadores fumbled four times, though they didn't lose any - and at that point a Cabrillo fan yelled, “Come on, get moving!”

The Conquistadores did. Lineman Caleb Meza and linebacker Colby McKissack helped lead the surge as Cabrillo's defense stopped Morro Bay the Pirates' next three series. Cabrillo gained some momentum when Casey Belluz kicked a 44-yard field goal five seconds before halftime.

The Conquistadores gained a lot more when Taua broke tackles at his 30 and raced for a 78-yard touchdown run the first play after the second-half kickoff.

“We figured (Taua would) break one - he's that kind of kid,” said Andree. “But we responded.”

Morro Bay's kickoff return team responded by making good blocks as Scott returned the kickoff 33 yards. “Then we got the dumb penalty,” Cross said, and the 15-yard personal foul call put the ball on the Cabrillo 44. With Lapp leading him, Crizer scored from the one 12 plays later.

McCool, Foster and linemen Edgar Villareal and Eric Wooley led a swarming Pirates defense that shut out Cabrillo the rest of the way.

The Pirates stopped the Conquistadores twice more in the red zone. McCool wrapped up Taua for a four-yard loss on fourth down from the Pirates 12. The Pirates tipped Brian Gregory's pass from the Morro Bay one on the next-to-last play of the game. The pass fell incomplete.

The run-oriented Conquistadores had to pass late in the second half, and the Pirates put on a heavy pass rush. They intercepted two Gregory passes and had three picks for the evening.

Laguna Blanca 48, VCA 0

Valley Christian's Homecoming Game took a turn for the worse early on as the Lions were plagued by turnovers, ending their two-game winning streak with a mercy-rule loss to Laguna Blanca.

Three first-half fumbles and a high snap over the punter's head all resulted in Owls' touchdowns.

The game was originally scheduled for 1 p.m on Saturday, but was switched at the last minute to Friday at 3 p.m.

Valley Christian (2-4) suffered its first Coast Valley League defeat after a pair of convincing victories over Shandon and Maricopa.

Up next, the Lions will host Cuyama on Saturday at 1 p.M.

Oct. 22, 2005