There's an old saying - “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.”

The Cabrillo Conquistadores fell for the Torrance Tartars' first trick Saturday night at Lompoc High School's Huyck Stadium. But they weren't going to be fooled again. The result - a 42-21 victory for Cabrillo in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division X Football Playoffs.

The Conquistadores were led by quarterback C.J. Simmons, tailback Vai Taua and fullback/wide receiver Greg Watson.

Simmons picked up 138 yards rushing on just six carries - including a 54-yard touchdown run. He also passed for 97 more and two TDs. Taua gained 141 on the ground, including a 43-yard TD romp and scored another touchdown on a 16-yard pass from Simmons.

Watson gained just eight on the ground, although one of those was a 6-yard touchdown run good for the Conqs' first score. He also picked up 30 more on two catches, including a 7-yard throw from Simmons.

For Torrance, tailback Chris Marzan gained 119 yards on 23 carries. Thamar Moore picked up 102 yards on 13 carries and scored one of the Tartars' touchdowns. Fullback Josh Luapo gained 63 yards on nine carries and scored a touchdown for Torrance. Quarterback Rory De Wan was 10 of 19 for 183 yards and a touchdown for a team not known for its passing attack.

The Tartars came in with a reputation for featuring an in-your-face, smashmouth, clock chewing ground attack. There was no surprise then when they opened the game with a time consuming 16-play drive - Torrance ran 9:09 off the clock - while moving 86 yards for the game's first score. The only big gain came in the drive's final play, a 19-yard TD run by Moore that put the Tartars up 6-0.

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Their two-point conversion attempt failed. Then came their first trick play. During the ensuing kickoff, Torrance tried an onside kick. That move caught Cabrillo by surprise, the Tartars came up with the ball and were in great position at the Cabrillo 34.

But on their very next play, Marzan bobbled the pitch from De Wan and Cabrillo's Kyle Bearden fell on the ball, ending that threat.

Cabrillo had trouble getting its offense going and ended up punting the ball away. And the Tartars came back with another long time consuming drive. But with a fourth down-and-10 from the Cabrillo 45, they went for it instead of punting. Cabrillo's defense came up big. The Conquistadores' Sean McGinty batted the pass away, and Torrance turned the ball over on downs.

Cabrillo showed why it was the LPL co-champion the very next time it got the ball. It took the Conquistadores only four plays and 59 seconds to cover 59 yards and get in the end zone. The big play was a 41-yard run by Simmons.

That was followed by a six-yard touchdown run by Watson. Casey Belluz's PAT was good, putting Cabrillo up 7-6 with 9:58 left to go in the half.

After the kickoff, Torrance got the ball on its own 25-yard-line. From there, the Tartars proceeded on another time consuming drive. They ran the first nine plays of that drive before De Wan tossed a 17-yard touchdown pass to Matt Kamphuis that put Torrance back up on top 12-7. A two-point conversion run by Marzan put the Tartars up 14-7 with a little more than four minutes to go in the half.

Cabrillo, repeating the pattern it would follow all night, marched right down the field using just five plays to cover 66 yards, ending the drive with a 7-yard touchdown pass to a wide open Watson in the end zone. Belluz's point after kick tied the score with just 2:35 to go in the half.

Torrance failed in its effort to either score or run out the clock. With the ball on Torrance's 33, defensive back C.J. Simmons hit Marzan, causing a fumble that Cabrillo's Travis Green recovered.

So with only 35 seconds to go in the half, Cabrillo had the ball on the Torrance 39. Simmons threw four consecutive passes before hitting Taua with a 16-yard touchdown strike. Belluz's PAT gave Cabrillo a 21-14 lead with just 10 seconds to go in the half.

In the third quarter, with a second-and-four from near midfield, Simmons faked to Taua, kept the ball, ran to his right and bolted 54 yards for a touchdown that put Cabrillo up 28-14.

After Torrance closed to 28-21, Cabrillo had a one-play drive. That play consisted of Taua taking the ball, running straight ahead for 43 yards and a touchdown to put Cabrillo up 35-21. Then, with time running out in the fourth quarter, Taua scored on a 14-yard run to give Cabrillo a 42-21 lead and put the game out of reach.

Cabrillo heads to La Canada for a quarterfinal game at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

Nov. 20, 2005