It was late in the second quarter when Nipomo quarterback Mason Sperakos lined up behind center, surveying his two wide receiver weapons to either side. Last week's big-play receiver, Kyle Webb, stood to his right. And speedster Kevin Britt stood to his left.

Sperakos took the snap, dropped back and planted his “injured” foot into the grass, heaving a tight spiral high into the night sky - to Britt.

Nipomo's returning quarterback, who did not get the start Friday due to the foot injury, was wasting no time.

Fifty yards and a touchdown later, one thing was clear: The limb is fine.

Sperakos proved his injury last week was only a minor setback, throwing for 199 yards in just three quarters of action as the Titans beat the Lompoc Braves at home 14-7.

It was Nipomo's first varsity football win over Lompoc in school history.

“I thought the pro-style offense was very successful tonight,” Nipomo coach Russ Edwards said. “You air it out and then go to the run.”

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Sperakos injured his foot in the fourth quarter against Bishop Diego last Friday.

On Monday, he unsuccessfully gave it a go during practice. On Tuesday and Wednesday, he sat out. On Thursday, the doctors took a look, informing Sperakos the injury was a deep contusion.

On Friday, Sperakos sat for the first quarter, as backup quarterback Carlos DeLaRosa got the start. However, DeLaRosa only attempted three passes in his time, opting for the running game.

Sperakos entered in the second quarter, and immediately “aired it out.”

By that time, Titan's running back Ray Cano had already knifed his way to 56 yards on the ground, opening up the field for Sperakos and his dual wideouts. Cano finished with 110 yards on 22 carries.

Last week, Webb scored two touchdowns as the Titans nearly upset Bishop Diego. On his second offensive possession, Sperakos noticed the Braves' defense cheating toward Webb's side.

“We ran an action pass post with Webb on one side and Britt on the other side,” Edwards said. “The Braves' safety went to Webb's side.”

Britt was all alone, capping a three-play, 68-yard drive with a 50-yard touchdown - 2:34 remained in the half.

The Braves, however, were not as lucky in the injury department. A week after rushing for 81 yards against the defending state champs, Braves' running back Masson Blow took his first carry 71 yards, scurrying up the middle on a jailbreak.

Unfortunately, he only got one more carry. Blow hobbled off the field two plays later, and remained on the sideline the rest of the night in an attempt to run off a slight sprain, according to coach Robin Luken. In his place, Brandon Alonzo and Favi Vargas got the majority of the touches, finishing with a combined 59 yards on 18 carries.

The Braves were also without their starting quarterback Daryl Aguilar. According to Luken, Aguilar had to sit out Friday due to a school transfer issue. Pending the completion of paperwork, Aguilar should return to the team soon, according to Luken.

In his place, backup quarterback Richard Hirzel struggled to connect with his receivers, finishing 3-for-10 for 13 yards.

Despite Sperakos' big splash in the second quarter, Lompoc was only down 7-0 at halftime. Alonzo evened the score on the opening play of the second half, scampering 80 yards on the opening kickoff - taking only 16 ticks off the clock.

Nipomo scored the winner late in the third quarter, scoring on Sperakos' 2-yard quarterback keeper.

VCA 54, Cornerstone Christian 48

Quarterback John Doupe ran for 190 yards, scoring four rushing touchdowns and throwing for one more as VCA beat Cornerstone Christian.

Through the air, Doupe went 3-for-7 with 70 yards, connecting with wide receiver Drew Schutler for 55 yards on two catches.

Thomas Stoddard rushed for 107 yards on 17 carries, along with three touchdowns. Jimmy Lopez finished with 56 rushing yards.

Santa Maria 13, Gonzales 7

GONZALES - Different year, same problem for the home team - just not enough players turning out for football.

The Spartans won the first half of heir season-opener Friday night, but ran out of gas and the Saints pulled out a victory on the Spartans' field.

Linebackers Steven Grigg and Josh Pipersburg helped the Saints defense hold the Spartans offense in check. That was enough for the visitors, who won on quarterback Robert Rodriguez's 1-yard sneak in the fourth quarter.

Pipersburg scored the Saints' first touchdown this season - and first in the Raul Castillo head coaching era - on Pipersburg's 45-yard run four minutes into the second half.

Edgar Uriarte led Santa Maria's rushers with 85 yards. Rodriguez and Pipersburg had 65 each.

The major problem for the Spartans is lack of numbers and they don't have enough players on the field to cause a traffic jam getting out of the stadium. What they did have there played hard-nose football for four quarters and were still in the game in the waning minutes.

Paso Robles 52, Santa Ynez 0

The Pirates-Bearcats game included seven touchdowns and a field goal. Unfortunately for Santa Ynez, none of those scores were theirs.

The blowout moves the Pac-7 Paso Robles Bearcats to a 2-0 start this season.

Last year, the Santa Ynez Pirates opened their season at home with a 31-7 upset of the Pac-7's Paso Robles Bearcats.

Paso quarterback Brandon Ladley had all the pass protection and the open receivers he could have dreamed of through much of the game, completing 17 of his 26 passes, with no interceptions and five touchdown passes. He also scored a one yard quarterback sneak for a sixth touchdown.

Ryan Bedell had the final score of the night, hitting a 25-yard field goal with eight minutes left in the fourth quarter.

On the other side of the ball, the Pirates offense struggled to make second downs, with lead rusher Justin Iniguez mustering only 35 yards on 11 carries.

Ojai Nordhoff 31, St. Joseph 13

OJAI - The Knights managed only two rushing touchdowns in a season-opening loss to the Rangers.

The game was Nordhoff's season debut as well.

The St. Joseph scores came on a 21-yard scamper by quarterback Gavin Kelly, and a 1-yard plunge by John Sua.

Morro Bay 29, Carpinteria 22

At Morro Bay, Pirates quarterback Logan Budd scored the last of his three touchdowns on a 6-yard run in the fourth quarter.

He then saw his team withstand three Warriors fourth quarter touchdowns. Moro Bay racked up 331 yards rushing.

Dave Coffin of the Monterey Herald and Glenn Wallace contributed to this report.

Sept. 8, 2007