All week St. Joseph High's Shawn Winters knew he'd get the nod at quarterback. Nervous? A little.

His first start would be on the road against Los Padres League defending champion Cabrillo, but how scared could he be of a game after learning the player he was replacing just got diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease.

That player, Chase Sanders, 16, helped calm Winters down by telling him everything would be OK.

Sanders was right, and seeing an optimistic Sanders allowed Winters to get off to a fast start, as he threw three first-half touchdowns to lead St. Joseph to a 35-28 victory at Huyck Stadium Friday night.

“I was nervous, but I knew I was doing it for Chase,” said Winters, who finished with 135 yards on 6 of 12 passing. “I felt comfortable with what he was telling me and how practice went all week.

“He was behind me the whole time.”

When it was over, Sanders was one of the first to congratulate Winters. The senior played big in a crucial game as St. Joseph is on track to win the league title as its off to a 3-0 start.

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“I'm done for the rest of the year,” said Sanders, a junior, adding that he will go through chemotherapy for six to nine months starting Tuesday. “(The doctors) said I'm going to be fine.

“I have confidence in Shawn and hopefully we go deep with him at quarterback.”

The Knights, who are 4-2 overall, shined early, and a lot of it had to do with Winters and the play of wide receiver Daniel Rudolph.

Rain earlier in the day caused the conditions to be slippery, but the only traction lost were by those chasing Rudolph all over the field in the first half.

Rudolph kept his footing, breezing past defenders as he caught touchdown passes of 42 and 21 yards, and he returned an 87-yard kickoff for a touchdown.

Seeing St. Joseph go to the air surprised Cabrillo (1-5, 1-3) because as Colby McKissack put it, “our goal all week was to stop (Thomas) Sua, stop Sua, stop Sua.”

The Conquistadores contained the league's best running back, who finished with 80 yards on 14 carries. But they forgot about Rudolph.

“Sometimes they didn't even line up on me,” said Rudolph, who caught three balls for 78 yards.

Rudolph made Cabrillo pay for keying on Sua and receiver Scott Cathcart in the first quarter, which featured 28 points, some dazzling plays and bad tackling.

The first touchdown came on the opening drive, with Winters finding Cameron Sewell on a 10-yard out. Cameron did the rest, shaking off defensive back Ryan McGinty near the 5 before scoring on the 17-yard pass.

Then it was St. Joseph's turn to miss whoever carried the ball.

Twice Knight players couldn't take down quarterback C.J. Simmons behind the line of scrimmage on third down-and-10. Somehow Simmons saw running back Matt Rotondi all alone near Cabrillo's sideline, and the two connected on a 24-yard pass, putting the offense on St. Joseph's 19.

Two players later, two more Knight defenders bounced off the ball carrier, but this time it cost them a touchdown. Running back Josh Blair scored on a 14-yard run to tie the game at 7-7 with 4 minutes, 39 seconds left.

The tie wouldn't last long, though.

On the ensuing kickoff, Rudolph went the distance, scoring from 87 yards out, putting the pressure on an offense that's struggled scoring this year.

“The kickoff return was a big momentum changer,” Cabrillo coach Don Cross said. “Big blow for us.”

More blows would follow, as it appears Cabrillo lost two starters. Lineman Josh Sanders and defensive back Greg Watson might miss the remainder of the year due to knee injuries.

“(Watson) blew his knee out,” said Cross, who has already lost linemen Jake Farley and Mike Nelson to similar injuries. “I'm running out of bodies.”

Cross almost lost his quarterback when Simmons collided with St. Joseph defensive back Joey Baldacchino with 7:08 left in the game. Simmons got up on his own feet, but Baldacchino had to be carried off on a stretcher by paramedics and was driven to a local hospital.

“He knew what day it was. He will be fine,” said St. Joseph coach Mike Hartman, adding that Baldacchino mostly likely suffered a concussion.

The Conquistadores couldn't do much against St. Joseph's defense until late in the game. They rallied for two late touchdowns to cut the deficit to seven points, but the four turnovers earlier came back to hurt them.

“You have to credit coach Don Cross for getting his kids back in the game,” said Hartman, whose team hosts Templeton next week. “The Los Padres League is a meat grinder. There are no easy games, but 3-0 in league, baby! It's a great start to the league season.

“Our main focus is on (Sanders) recovery. He's a good kid, a tough kid. He has a great attitude about it and we know he'll beat it. He's only a junior and we know he'll be back, ready to play, next year.”

Right now Sanders is happy rooting for Winters, making Winters' job that much easier.

Sports Writer David Carrillo Peñaloza can be reached at 737-1055 or by e-mail at dcarrillo@lompocrecord.com.

Oct. 14, 2006