The Barney Ball era got off to a great start Friday night at Santa Maria High School's Dave Boyd Field.

The Saints opened their 2006 football season with a 29-14 victory over the Gonzales Spartans.

The only thing the Saints lost was the game-opening coin toss.

From there on - even when Santa Maria briefly fell behind Gonzales - the Saints were in control.

“We're pretty satisfied with the way the kids played, the way things turned out,” said Santa Maria's new/old head coach Barney Eames. “You're always happy any time you get a win.”

The Saints season-opener marked the debut of Eames as Santa Maria head coach - the local coaching legend's second stint as head man on the Saints' campus.

After moving on to be the head coach at Allan Hancock College and St. Joseph High School and a season running the defense at Righetti High, Eames is back where he began - trying to return Santa Maria to the winning ways they had during his first stop at the school.

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“Only six of our guys played on the varsity last year - so you don't know what to expect,” said Eames. “For our juniors, this is the first time they've been on a winning team here at Santa Maria.”

“It was a good game,” said Gonzales coach Joe Pacheco. “Our kids hung in there - they never gave up. They were a little tired at the end but we stayed competitive.”

The Saints piled up 306 yards on the ground - led by tailback Julian Ortiz who had 104 yards on 13 carries, including a 60 yard game breaking touchdown run as the clock wound down to end the first half.

Saints fullback Halston Chapman gained 71 yards on 14 carries including an 11-yard TD run, tailback Edgar Uriarte picked up 84 yards on 14 carries and quarterback Daniel Gauna scampered for 47 yards on six carries including a 12-yard touchdown on a naked bootleg.

Gauna was also 6-for-9 passing with no interceptions, good for 135-yards and a 20-yard touchdown to Jacob Zarate.

“Our quarterback was pretty accurate throwing the ball,” said Eames.

For the visiting Spartans, Jonathan Ramirez led their ground attack. The tailback gained 56-yards on 12 carries and scored one touchdown. The Santa Maria defense held Gonzales to 88-yards on the ground.

Gonzales quarterback Ryan Moline was 7-for-15 with one interception, good for 139 yards and one TD - a 25-yard shot to Jonathan Ramirez.

“Moline threw some good balls and our receivers made some nice catches,” said Pacheco.

Santa Maria was first on the scoreboard - taking the opening kickoff and marching 65 yards downfield. But their drive stalled at the Gonzales two and the Saints had to settle for a Uriarte 20-yard field goal.

Gonzales came right back. They marched 70 yards on their own 11-play drive and took a 6-3 lead with 3:01 remaining in the first quarter when Ramirez scored from one-yard out. Their point after attempt failed.

The Saints answered immediately - with Johnny Castillo taking the ensuing kickoff at the Santa Maria 10 and returning it 30 yards to the SM 40.

Santa Maria marched the remaining 60 yards on four play plays - capped off with a Gauna 12-yard touchdown run on that naked bootleg to his left. The point after was good and Santa Maria had a 10-6 lead as the first quarter came to a close.

“They ran a defense that we hadn't seen before,” said Eames about the first drive. “But we made some adjustments and were able to finish for touchdowns after that.”

The Saints added two touchdowns in the second quarter (the PATs, though, sailed wide right) while keeping the Spartans off the board.

Chapman put Santa Maria up 16-6 with an 11-yard TD run early in the quarter.

Then with just 38-second on the clock, Ortiz took a handoff from Gauna at the Santa Maria 40, cut to his left then headed up field. He was grabbed by the facemask just across midfield (then ref threw the flag) but somehow got away and kept going until reaching the end zone for his 60-yard TD run (the penalty was declined).

But Gonzales kept up the fight in the second half.

They stopped the Saints on a fourth-and-goal from the one yard line, then came back to close the gap to 22-14 after a 90-yard drive at the end of the third quarter.

The Saints responded with their own 67-yard TD drive, ending with Gauna's 20-yard pass to Zarate.

“Our offensive line played well tonight,” said Eames “Our defensive line played well tonight. Our special teams stepped up and gave us great field position all night. You also have to give Gonzales a lot of credit. They showed a lot of heart. They did a real good job.”

Gonzales tried one last time to get back in the game, but Castillo intercepted a Moline pass with 4:14 left in the game and the Saints were able to run out the clock.

“Johnny Castillo had a really great night,” said Eames. “A big night - he gets a game ball - his kick returning, his defense and that final interception. Just a great game.”

“This game will toughen us up for our (Central Coast Section) league season,” said Pacheco. “We're a small school - only 600 students. Santa Maria is the biggest school we play. We only face one other school with over 1,000 students so this was a good game for us. It was a fun game - fun to coach, fun to watch, fun to be a part of.”

“We have some momentum now,” said Eames. “I fell good about where we're at but it's one step at a time.”

The Saints take their next step when they host Bishop Diego next Friday night. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m.

q Sports Editor Elliott Stern can be reached at 739-2235 or by e-mail at elliottstern@santamariatimes.com.

Sept. 9, 2006