Nipomo was the (much) fresher football team in the fourth quarter, and the Titans played like it.

They wore down Cabrillo and scored 20 unanswered points for a 23-7 win at Nipomo Friday night in both teams' Los Padres League opener. Nipomo, a fourth-year program, is 3-1-0 overall and off to its best start ever.

The Conquistadores, 2005 LPL co-champs who were hit hard by graduation, are 0-4-0.

Nipomo left guard Garrett Rodgers helped open the holes as the Titans scored in the final quarter on Mason Sperakos' 14-yard quarterback keeper around left end; Ray Cano's 12-yard run up the middle; and Steve Otto's 20-yard run around right end.

Sperakos ran through two potential tackles at the five. Cano roared into the end zone untouched and Otto juked one would-be tackler in the backfield, turned the corner, then dived over the goal line.

As for Cabrillo's offense, the Conquistadores had two fourth-quarter first downs.

Quarterback C.J. Simmons put Cabrillo ahead with an 83-yard run in the first quarter. Cabrillo right guard Josh Sanders and right tackle Mike Riewaldt opened a hole, and Simmons took care of the rest.

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The score was 7-3 at halftime after Brent Seguine's 29-yard field goal in the second quarter. Then came Nipomo's big fourth quarter.

On Otto's scoring run, “I took out two guys,” Rodgers said. “I can't wait to see that on film.

“All that work in the weight room paid off. Their guys were pushovers. We'd hit them and they'd fall down.”

Nipomo coach Jon Hitchen said, “We noticed they had a lot of guys going both ways. We've been able to play with only one or two guys both ways. We figured (if we kept it close) to the fourth quarter, we could hit them.” That's what happened.

This is Rodgers' third year of varsity ball. He's suffered through two one-win seasons.

Still, “The guys before us laid the foundation, and we're picking up on it,” he said.

Rodgers, left tackle Korben Boaz and center Jimmy Teixeira started opening holes in Cabrillo's line in the second quarter. The Titans, though, couldn't get out of their own way.

Holding penalties short-circuited two drives. Seguine kicked his field goal on the first. Nipomo got no points out of the other.

Lineman Colin Filip helped lead a defensive charge that had Simmons going backward after his big run. The quarterback wound up with 66 yards on 15 carries.

Nipomo's defense knew Simmons was the Conquistadores' biggest threat going in. Filip said he and the rest of his unit wanted to neutralize him early and, save for the huge run, the Titans' defense did.

“We wanted to take him out early,” said Filip. Then, “We saw he wasn't being effective, and we just stuck to our assignments.”

Colby McKissack wound up as Cabrillo's leading rusher, with 77 yards on 17 carries.

Left end Sanders and linebacker Matt Rotondi helped Cabrillo's defense keep Billy Chambers, the Titans' leading rusher this year, to 23 yards in the first half. However, with Teixera, Rodgers and Boaz mainly responsible for making openings, Chambers finished his night with 93 yards on 20 carries.

Cano wound up with 100 yards on just eight rushes. Chambers helped him with some good backfield blocking.

“We just kept hitting them,” said Rodgers.

Sanders in particular kept hitting Sperakos as he was passing. That was a big reason Sperakos wasn't as effective as usual. He was 6-for-20 for 74 yards.

Meanwhile, two out of 15 Cabrillo passes were caught. The first was by a man wearing Nipomo black, Justin Bratcher. The second one was worth 29 yards, from Sean Allen to McKissack.

Bratcher's grab set up Otto's touchdown. Bratcher picked the ball off at the Cabrillo 29 and returned it six yards. Filip, Bratcher, linebacker Brandon Rainey and lineman Rodgers all had a particularly big night on defense.

The Titans snuffed out two good Cabrillo third quarter drives. On a second-and-five from the Nipomo 30, Simmons bumped into one of his backs and eventually went down for a two-yard loss. He threw an incomplete pass, and the Conquistadores punted.

Cabrillo then drove from its 34 to the Nipomo 29. However, Rainey, Jeff Reynoso and Boaz stopped Rotondi after a yard on first down, Simmons threw two incomplete passes, then Reynoso blew through and sacked Simmons on fourth down.

Now, “I just want to keep hitting,” Rodgers said.

“We're going to win league.”

Nipomo plays at Pioneer Valley at 7:30 p.m. next Friday. Cabrillo's Homecoming is against Santa Ynez at the same time.

Sept. 30, 2006