To get a better view of the football field, Santa Maria High's Barney Eames decided to coach from the pressbox again.

What Eames saw from atop was Morro Bay running back Kevin Scott run past his defense and into the Pirates' record book, something Eames could have easily witnessed from the sideline Friday night.

Scott rushed for a school-record 303 yards on 20 carries, and scored three touchdowns, helping Morro Bay run away with the Los Padres League opener for both schools, 49-12.

“I was afraid this might happen,” said Eames after leaving the Dave Boyd Field pressbox. “We got out (muscled) tonight.”

Santa Maria (2-2 overall, 0-1 league) didn't stand a chance when its defensive line kept getting pushed around, and with Scott in the open field, everyone else couldn't keep up once the elusive senior hit the outside.

Scott scored on runs of 45, 47 and 28 yards, and only once did the Saints drop him for a loss. Other than that he continued to churn up field, primarily following the lead of the line's right side.

Before Scott's big night, he was thinking about last year's visit to Santa Maria, when the Saints upset Morro Bay 25-17 in Week 8.

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“They cost us the league title,” said Scott, referring to the Pirates' dropping their next two league games and finishing in a three-way tie for third place with St. Joseph and Santa Ynez. “But we took it to them this year.”

With Scott and his offensive line, Morro Bay (3-1, 1-0) appears to be the league favorite.

Scott has rushed for an area-best 760 yards, and a huge chunk of those yards have come running behind 6-foot-6, 295-pound right tackle Dylan Gross.

Out of Scott's 15 first-half carries going for 228 yards, 10 of them started to the right. When the defense caught on and overloaded to Morro Bay's favorite side, Scott sidestepped to his left, finding bigger gaps to scoot through.

That was the case with less than two minutes left before halftime. Scott took a handoff to the right, but quickly changed direction en route to ripping a 47-yard run for a score, giving the Pirates a 22-6 lead.

“Once he got around the corner (it was over),” said Santa Maria free safety Jacob Zarate. “We need to work harder. We don't put in all the effort at practice and it shows in the games.”

Morro Bay struck first after receiving good field position when Edgar Uriate's punt went for only 15 yards, leaving the offense on the 45. After two runs by Scott, he darted to the right and gained 37 yards to setup a touchdown on the next play.

In shotgun formation, quarterback Logan Budd decided to run, sneaking to the right for a 10-yard score.

It didn't take long for Santa Maria to respond, though.

Six plays later the Saints went to the air, fooling the secondary when quarterback Daniel Gauna dropped back. He found Vincent Zarate all alone in the middle, hitting his wide receiver for a 55-yard touchdown.

The Saints went for a two-point conversion and failed, a sign of things to come.

Moving the ball became an issue for the offense. After converting two third down opportunities in the opening quarter, the offense went 0-for-4 on third downs and was forced to punt four times in the second quarter.

Things didn't improve in the third quarter as Santa Maria managed just three first downs. And with the defense spending most of the quarter on the field trying to slow down Scott, Morro Bay decided to pass.

Budd threw two touchdowns in the third, one going for 34 yards to Jerome Long and the other for 31 to Sammy Sanchez that left Eames shaking his head in the pressbox.

“Always better when you win,” said Eames of coaching from the pressbox, which he did last week during Santa Maria's 21-14 win at King City. “The difference (this time) was the two teams we played.

“There's not much I can say. I can see a little bit better up there.”

Sept. 30, 2006