It was a long night for the Knights.

Banged up St. Joseph was game, but the Knights couldn't finish anything. Lompoc, on the other hand, finished most everything and came away with a 47-0 win at St. Joseph's Al Maguire Field Friday night.

The Braves haven't lost a league game since they entered the Los Padres League in 2002. Their LPL winning streak reached 21 Friday night.

“We want to keep it perfect,” Lompoc defensive lineman Joey Green said after he did his part to keep the Knights off the scoreboard. “That's a big motivator for us.”

This year, Lompoc is 4-0 in the LPL and 6-2 overall. The Braves are the top-ranked team in Division X.

St. Joseph was missing starting quarterback Brian McConkey and starting cornerback Patrick Cusack because of injuries. The Knights are 2-2 in the LPL and 4-4 overall.

“That's up to the doctors,” whether or not McConkey and Cusack can play in the Knights' Homecoming game against Cabrillo next Friday night, Knights coach Mike Hartman said. McConkey hurt his knee in St. Joseph's win at Santa Ynez last week. St. Joseph takes on Cabrillo at 7:30 p.m.

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The Lompoc-St. Joseph game was actually more competitive than the score indicated. But the chances the Knights had faded away.

Thomas Sua fumbled in the first quarter after getting 14 yards and the Knights' initial first down. Tommy Hayes recovered for Lompoc with the Braves leading 14-0.

McConkey's backup David Wolfe threw a good pass to Daniel Rudolph that looked as though it would go for a 43-yard gain to the Braves 15. But defensive back Jonathan Terrones laid a big hit on Rudolph before he could take a step. The ball popped out and Braves defensive back Sam Ruiz grabbed it.

He took it to his 45, and then a personal foul penalty put the ball on the Knights 40. Tim Ochoa threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Ruiz five plays later.

The shutout was the Braves' third in 2005 league games. “We take pride in that,” said Green. Going for shutouts “makes us push ourselves even harder.”

Besides Green's good work on defense, linebackers Joe Baratto and Michael Linstead, and defensive back Hayes also were around the ball a lot as Lompoc kept the Knights to 139 yards of offense.

Sua was responsible for 90 of those. He rushed for 87 yards on 18 carries. Rudolph caught a 34-yard pass from Wolfe.

“Wolfie did a heck of a job, but it's hard to come out against the No. 1 defense in the league, which Lompoc is, and throw the ball when you're a backup quarterback,” said Hartman. Wolfe was 2-for-8 with an interception. Sua caught a 3-yard pass from him.

Lompoc looked like the machine that has been the scourge of the LPL.

Besides the Braves' stingy defense, a lot of Lompoc people had big nights on offense. Joseph Scott rushed for 101 yards on 13 carries. He scored twice. Ochoa threw for one score and passed for another.

Ruiz scored on a 26-yard run on the second play of the game. Ochoa was an efficient 10-for-14 for 115 yards. Ruiz caught five passes for 52 yards. Vince Gibilisco did intercept an Ochoa pass at the Knights 5.

“We're in the driver's seat,” Lompoc coach Robin Luken said. “We lose it if we drive over a nail and get a flat tire. That's not going to happen.”

Lompoc scored its first two possessions, then linebackers Philip Adam, Sheldon Lechuga and Tyler Kirchof and lineman Jason Acquistapace led a surge as the Knights' defense contained the Braves most of the rest of the half.

The Knights contained them that is until the fourth play after the Ruiz interception. Ochoa heaved a pass that went in and out of Terrones's hands. Frankie Osegueda, however, made the catch for a 31-yard gain to the 4.

Ochoa threw to Ruiz for the score on the next play.

“There was the bounce nonsense near the goal line,” Hartman said of the play. “But championship teams get the good bounces.”

“We got the turnover and then we scored off of it,” Luken said. “That's the kind of thing that wins championships.”

Besides their five touchdowns, the Braves got a 45-yard field goal from Brice Fabing and a safety when Green tackled Wolfe in the end zone.

St. Joseph's defense forced Lompoc to go three plays-and-out the first series of the second half. Then, “We put that beautiful drive together and then comes the fumbled snap on fourth down,” Hartman lamented.

The sequence of events Hartman referred to was when the Knights drove from their 33 to Lompoc's 7 and then met disaster shortly thereafter. Sua ran for 21 yards, Wolfe threw to Rodriguez for 34 yards and the Knights had a second-and-five from the Braves 7.

Linstead and Green then nailed Sua for a yard loss. Osegueda and Zach Greco stopped Sua after a two-yard gain, and then Wolfe fumbled the snap from the shotgun formation on fourth down. Wolfe recovered, but the play was doomed by then. Wolfe stumbled and went down at the 10.

Lompoc is at home against Santa Maria at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

Oct. 29, 2005