Righetti's football team couldn't hold those Tigers.

Not the 11 on offense, anyway.

San Luis Obispo's squad came away from Friday the 13th just fine, with a 49-28 win at home in the Tigers' PAC-7 League opener. Quarterback Conner Reese gave the Warriors a painful showing of just why he's far and away the area's passing leader.

Reese threw first-half touchdown strikes of 71, 28 and 18 yards to Kevin Hansen (the area's receptions leader) and a 28-yard TD pass to Brock Thompson. The toss to Thompson and Michael Connely's point-after kick put the Warriors in a 27-0 hole they never did recover from, though they made a run at the Tigers in the third quarter.

The Tigers are 5-1-0 overall. Righetti, 1-1 in the PAC-7, is 4-3-0.

San Luis Obispo's victory was a lot less comfortable than the 21-point margin indicated. Robbie Nadalsky shanked a punt that wound up going two yards to his 31 late in the third quarter.

The Warriors cashed in on the first play of the fourth. Quarterback Adam Wilson evaded a rush and then connected with wide open Timmy Dwyer in the end zone for a 14-yard touchdown. Martin Luque's extra point drew the Warriors within 34-28.

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After that, “We answered Righetti's call,” San Luis Obispo coach Craig Winninghoff said.

The Tigers answered the call mainly because its line continued the blocking that allowed Reese to pass for 280 yards (209 in the first half) and Bryan Lewelling to run for 253 on the night.

After Luque's fourth conversion kick, the Warriors tried an onside kick. It backfired. The ball went out of bounds, and the Tigers were in business at their own 44.

Six plays later, Lewelling was in the end zone on a 21-yard run. Center Andrew Federico helped spark the blocking as the Tigers kept opening holes for Lewelling afterward. He bolted for 37 yards to Righetti's 27 on first down, then ran out of a would-be tackle at the 15 four plays later on a 17-yard scoring run.

“You always wonder how your team's going to respond when the other team's putting on the pressure,” said Winninghoff. “I was really proud of how our players responded.”

Kyle Leon and Michael Reed led a good Righetti pass rush on Reese in the second half, but the Warriors couldn't stop Lewelling. He ran for 164 yards in the second half.

“The line is blocking, the receivers are catching the ball - it's just been a real team effort,” said Winninghoff. “The boys really did a fine job of running the football tonight.”

Lewelling accounted for all but 12 of the Tigers' rushing yards himself. Martin caught eight passes for a total of 200 yards, and Ben Hansen, another top area receiver, had four catches for 54 yards.

All that yardage came primarily because of an offensive line that's “been blocking great all year,” said Reese.

Federico wasn't the only center opening holes Friday night. Righetti's James Salazar opened some good ones for Michael Alexander himself. Alexander responded by rushing for 147 yards on 25 carries.

He scored on runs of 13 and 30 yards. The latter score, along with Luque's point-after kick, pulled the Warriors within 34-21.

“We came out in the second half ready to play some football,” said Righetti coach Gary Wilson.

“They got after us in the first half with those receivers.”

Martin primarily among them. He ran his way open on San Luis Obispo's second play from scrimmage, got awayfrom Chase Vierra's tackle try at the Righetti 40, and ran in to complete a 71-yard scoring play.

Righetti seemed to be the team jinxed early on this Friday the 13th. A holding penalty ruined a good-looking Warrior drive on the first offensive series of the game. Wilson lost two fumbles later in the first half, both after he was hit hard on good gains.

The hex seemed to jump up and get the Tigers after intermission as Righetti was able to build on its touchdown near the end of the half. Todd Noel's 74-yard kickoff return to the 15 set up Wilson's 1-yard score on a sneak then.

Tyler Boyd picked off a Reese pass early in the third quarter. The Warriors couldn't convert after that turnover, but they did after Michael Reed recovered Lewelling's fumble at the Tigers 25. Alexander scored from 13 yards out two plays later.

“First we give the ball away, then they turn around and do it,” Gary Wilson said.

Lewelling's 40-yard run on the ensuing series set up his 7-yard touchdown run. But Righetti was right back at it on the next series, this time with a 70-yard scoring drive that ended with Alexander's 30-yard run.

After that, however, Righetti's defense couldn't come up with the stops it needed to.

There was a persistent light rain before the game, but it stopped shortly before the opening kickoff.

“It was nice that it didn't rain, but I don't think it really mattered much,” said Reese. “You just have to deal with the conditions.

“It was nice to come out here and get a win our first league game.”

Reese said he's talked to “a couple of small Ivy League colleges, but nothing firm yet. I'm still looking.”

As for his own team, “We're young, we're still making some mistakes,” said Wilson. “We just have to get after Paso. Everybody just has to start making plays at the same time.”

Righetti hosts Paso Robles at 7:30 p.m. next Saturday.

Oct. 14, 2006