Before St. Joseph quarterback Brian McConkey was brought down for a sack to end Saturday night's CIF Division X semifinal game at Doug Hitchen Stadium in Arroyo Grande, Lompoc coach Robin Luken was getting a Gatorade shower on the sideline.

That's because the Braves were already headed to the title game as they wore down a tough Knights squad in the fourth quarter for an impressive 31-7 victory.

“In this game, the hardest thing is to get (to this point). As for next week, it's now up to the kids,” said Luken, whose team will meet Crespi in the Friday night's championship. “We've been at this for 13 weeks now, and we've gone over all of the basic fundamentals. Now we have to take all that, play one last game and see what we can do.”

Braves senior tailback Joseph Scott rushed for 130 yards on 18 carries and four touchdowns - including a pair in the final quarter to help Lompoc pull away.

“St. Joseph's defense really stepped up, especially since they were playing without (linebacker) Philip Adam,” said Scott. “They hit hard. I had my bell rung a couple times. We just wanted to keep fighting and keep running the ball.”

St. Joseph was a much different team from the one that dropped a 47-0 game to the Braves during the regular season.

“We played them tough. That's what we had to do. We just had to play them tough and we did,” said McConkey, whose 76-yard strike to receiver Daniel Rudolph tied the score at 7-7 with 52 seconds left in the opening quarter. “It was a good play. Rudolph just made a great catch and ran it all the way.”

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But that was the only time the Knights found the end zone with senior workhorse Thomas Sua - who was glaringly hobbled in the second half after getting rolled over from behind while blocking late in the second quarter - held to 18 rushing yards and 25 receiving.

Lompoc took the lead for good on Scott's 1-yard TD run with 9:07 remaining in the first half and slowly pulled away.

“When you play a team twice, you're always concerned that the football gods won't let you beat that team twice,” said Luken. “We talked about it all week long in practice that we had to overcome that cloud, that peril that was looming over us. They knew our team really well, so it was tougher.”

With the Braves ahead 13-6 at halftime, St. Joseph threatened to tie the game on its opening drive of the third quarter - moving down to the Lompoc 30-yard line. But the Knights were held on a fourth-and-five play to come out empty-handed.

Seven plays later, Scott was dancing into the end zone on a 17-yard run to put Lompoc up 19-7 with 5:32 left in the third quarter.

“(St. Joseph's) line is big, but we were quicker,” said Scott. “I was able to get around some good blocks. The offensive line blocked really well. Everybody blocked well - even the quarterback.”

The Knights tried to respond - putting together an impressive drive down to the Lompoc 25-yard line. But for the second time, they came away with no points after a big sack by the Braves' Joey Green forced St. Joseph into a third-and-17.

“They scored on one big play, but otherwise we kept their offense in check,” said Luken. “We just tried to play basic football.”

Once the ball was turned over on downs, the Braves put together a 15-play, 70-yard scoring drive that started with one minute left in the third and was completed on Scott's 3-yard TD run with 5:21 remaining in the game and Lompoc ahead 25-7.

“(The long fourth quarter drive) was real big,” said Scott. “We knew we had to get on the board a couple times in the fourth quarter. Our offense was really fired up.”

With little time to work with, St. Joseph took to the air - but McConkey completed only a 21-yard pass to receiver Scott Cathcart as the drive stalled on the Knights' own 22-yard line.

“A lot of football coaches talk about it, but we talk about the mirror test. If you can walk in after a game and look yourself in the mirror and the guy looking back at you has given everything he can give, then there's nothing to hang your head about,” said St. Joseph coach Mike Hartman, whose squad finished 7-6 overall and had a Cinderella playoff run after receiving a wild card bid.

“Sometimes you get beat by a team that's better than you. It hurts, but it doesn't take away from what you accomplished this year.”

The Braves are not done yet, looking to avenge last season's playoff loss to Crespi - which defeated Cabrillo 54-39 on Friday night in the other semifinal.

“It's exciting. Playing Crespi, that's what we like,” said Luken. “(When we played Crespi last year), we threw three interceptions that led to touchdowns. If we don't turn the ball over, I think we can play them tough.

“We get to line up against the defending champion, and in order to be the best, you have to beat the best,” he added. “They were ranked No. 1 at the end of the year because we fell apart, but now I really think that the top two teams rose to the top from this 16-team tournament and are going to play for it.”

Sports writer Doug Flanagan contributed to this story.

Dec. 4, 2005