With his Saints on the verge of an improbable upset of Morro Bay, not to mention their first league victory, Santa Maria coach Shawn Ramirez felt like time was standing still.

It was for good reason.

“I didn't think that quarter was going to end,” said Ramirez, whose squad eventually held off Morro Bay for a thrilling 25-17 victory. “That was the longest five minutes of my life.”

Up 25-9 after senior tailback Gabriel Rodriguez's 57-yard touchdown run with six minutes left, the Saints seemingly put the game away when senior Skyler Souza intercepted a deflected pass on Morro Bay's first play from scrimmage.

But two turnovers on fumbled snaps in the final five minutes changed all that.

Despite the Saints' defense coming up big - like it had all game long - forcing four incomplete passes on the first turnover, Morro Bay capitalized on the next one with quarterback Jake Crizer hitting Mike Jojola for a 14-yard touchdown.

A successful two-point conversion brought the Pirates within eight and a defensive stand gave them the ball back with 1:47 remaining.

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That's when Santa Maria senior Ruben Acuna finally ended it with the Saints' fourth interception of the night on a batted pass at the line of scrimmage.

“I was just reading the quarterback, watching his eyes where he threw the ball,” said Acuna. “I was in the right spot at the right time so I got the interception.”

And Ramirez got his biggest victory in his two-year coaching tenure at Santa Maria - which won only one league game last season over Nipomo that paled in comparison to last night's triumph.

“I am numb right now,” said Ramirez. “Ruben, I can't say enough about that kid. He's just kind of the heart and soul. He's a kid who never misses anything. He's there. He'll do whatever we say. He plays the whole game. He's unbelievable.”

Acuna, who is a starting fullback and linebacker for the Saints, punched in two short touchdown runs to go along with his game-sealing interception.

“It felt great because it's homecoming. It felt great to score for the team and put us ahead,” said Acuna. “Our coaching staff, they put this defense together and I guess it worked out pretty good.”

The Saints did what only league-leading Lompoc has accomplished this season - and that's stop Morro Bay's patented option offense. Crizer, the option quarterback, ran for 57 yards on eight carries, while featured tailback Kevin Scott was held to 62 yards on 16 carries.

“Our defense came out to play. Our offense came out to play,” said Rodriguez. “They couldn't stop us. Our line stepped up this game. O-line tore it up.”

Rodriguez had a career game - rushing for 105 yards and a touchdown on offense and, more impressively, intercepting two passes and recovering a fumble on defense.

“We do it all the time. We always play both ways. That's how we do. We give it all we've got,” said Rodriguez. “We're excited. It feels good. We haven't felt like this in a long time.”

The Saints hadn't tasted victory since their opening win over Mission Prep - and were coming off a disappointing 14-13 loss to Nipomo for the Titans' first league victory ever.

“Every game we lost we should have won. It's just come down to mistakes that we've made,” said senior Steve Hernandez. “Definitely coming off the big loss to Nipomo, that hurt more than the Righetti loss to me because we had the victory.”

The Saints (1-3, 2-6) got the victory this time with a stingy, big-play defense as well as a blocked punt on special teams by Ronnie Bohannan and just enough on offense.

Acuna opened the scoring on a short TD run and then a successful fake extra point gave the Saints an 8-0 first-quarter lead. Nestor Frausto hit Ben Arreola for the two-point conversion.

Morro Bay (3-2, 5-3) responded in the second quarter when Crizer hit receiver Brian Budd in stride for a 48-yard touchdown pass, but the two-point conversion failed.

Before the half, the teams exchanged field goals with Marcos Sanchez booting a 26-yarder for Santa Maria and Kevin Hames kicking a 31-yarder for Morro Bay. The Saints led 11-9.

“It was all about practice. The whole week's practice was great. We practiced on stopping their offense,” said Hernandez. “We had a couple of mistakes, but we kept our heads up and we battled through.”

After no scoring in the third quarter, Acuna put the Saints ahead 18-9 with a one-yard TD run on the first play of the fourth quarter. Then Rodriguez recorded his second pick to halt a Morro Bay drive at the Santa Maria 29-yard line.

“I don't know how many interceptions we had. The ball just bounced our way tonight,” said Ramirez. “Tipped balls, we were intercepting them.”

Following three-and-outs by both offenses, Rodriguez - who was limited to his defensive duties in the third quarter with senior Angel Espinoza (46 rushing yards) getting a bulk of the carries - rambled in from 57 yards out on his first carry of the second half.

Despite an 16-point lead late in the fourth, the Saints could not breathe easy until the final seconds ticked off the clock.

“It's like Christmas morning,” said Hernandez. “That's how it feels.”

Oct. 29, 2005