The players of Santa Ynez earned some respect in their home game against the Nordhoff Rangers from Ojai, but they did not win the game.

A week after beating St. Joseph, the Rangers added a second win to their record, beating the Pirates 10-6 in what was largely a defensive battle.

Following the 52-0 drubbing by Paso Robles the week before, the Santa Ynez defense in particular, looked eager to redeem themselves in front of the home stands.

“I told the boys not to expect an easy game just because of last week, and the Pirates are always tough,” said Nordhoff head coach Cliff Farrar following the match.

Both sides traded possession before the Rangers tried a fake punt on a 4th down and seven, deep in their own territory. The Santa Ynez defense was not caught unawares, and junior defensive back Parker Colvin made the grab, running the ball 21 yards back for the first Pirate points of the season.

“We practiced baiting that guy, to think we weren't covering him, then going for the pick,” said Pirates coach Josh Cunningham.

The interception proved to be the only source of points for Santa Ynez however. The extra point was blocked, and the offense never found its rhythm. The routes, receivers and the passes themselves never really aligned for Pirates quarterback Blake DuBois, who tossed seven straight incomplete passes to start the game. He finished the game going 2-10 with 55 yards.

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The Rangers offense started slow as well, drawing within field goal range midway through the second quarter for a David Brown field goal from 26 yards.

Beginning in the third quarter however, the Rangers found some offensive consistency. A mix of Damian Kaiser running up the middle, Albert Mireles at receiver, and Chris Gibson doing some of both were good enough for consistent first down yardage.

The Nordhoff touchdown scoring drive began deep in Ojai territory on the 20, and featured five first downs, before Gibson's score from one yard out on fourth down.

The Rangers never found the end zone again, but did not need to, as their methodical offense started to tire the Santa Ynez defense and controlled the clock. On their last possession of the game, the offense took 6:30 off the clock before trying a field goal with a scant 12 seconds remaining in regulation. The 25 yard try was blocked, but the ensuing Santa Ynez hail mary play never got off the ground, ending the game.

“We improved tenfold in a week, and the guys played with a lot of heart tonight. That's all you can ask for as a coach,” said Cunningham.

The Nordhoff Rangers play at Pacifica next week, beginning at 7 p.m.

Santa Ynez will play their last non-league game of the regular season next Friday, traveling to play Carpinteria at 7:30 p.m.

Righetti 21, Tehachapi 19

TEHACHAPI - The visiting Warriors spoiled Homecoming for the host Warriors with a come-from-behind win on the Mountain, thanks in part to a pair of touchdown catches by Tim Dwyer from Justin Level.

Tehachapi went into halftime up by six with a 40 yard touchdown catch by Garrett Coontz from Ehren Ochsenrider and a nine yard run by Josh Strauss just before the end of the second quarter.

Kelly Lorenz gave Tehachapi a spark in the final period with a 60 yard touchdown run to pull within two points but the ensuing two point run failed.

Righetti ate away at most of the remaining fourth quarter clock to ice the win. Righetti's Danny Rubalacaba led all rushers with 118 yards on the ground.

Bishop Diego 48, Santa Maria 7

The Cardinals (3-0-0) powered past the Saints (1-1-0) at Santa Barbara City College's La Playa Stadium.

Santa Maria scored in the fourth quarter when Ryan Duran hit Josh Pipersburg for a 56-yard touchdown pass.

Three Cardinals went over 100 yards Aaron Skinner racked up 147 yards on 18 carries, Eli Orosco had 124 on just seven, and R.J. Escamilla amassed 102 yards on 11 carries.

The Saints had just 36 yards rushing and 129 yards total offense.

Skinner wasted little time getting rolling. He scored on five and eight-yard runs in the first quarter. Skinner scored again in the second quarter, on a four-yard run. The score was 28-0 at halftime.

Santa Maria plays its home opener at 7:30 p.m. next Friday against King City.

Dos Pueblos 21, Cabrillo 7

The Conquistadores (1-1-0) didn't score until Brandon Whittaker caught a 30-yard scoring pass from quarterback Sean Allen in the fourth quarter at San Marcos High School.

Cabrillo had spotted the Chargers (2-0-0) three scores by then.

Dos Pueblos held the Conqs to 155 yards of total offense. Greg Watson was Cabrillo's leading rusher with 56 yards on 10 carries. Bennie Garrett had 52 yards on 17 rushes.

The Chargers used eight ballcarriers and racked up 181 yards rushing. Cabrillo was stung with a 44-yard interception return in the first quarter for Dos Pueblos' first score.

Cabrillo opens Los Padres League play next Friday with a 7:30 p.m. game at Pioneer Valley.

San Luis Obispo 17, Oxnard 9

The Tigers turned a six-point halftime deficit into a win behind quarterback Davey Schultz' long toss and a big special teams play.

Robert Ross hauled in a 30-yard pass from Schultz to give SLO its first lead since the opening minutes - 10-9. Heath Palmer's 16-yard touchdown came on an interception return to round out the scoring. Schultz finished 8-for-21 for 112 yards. His favorite target proved to be Turbow, who caught two passes for 35 yards.

The other SLO score came on Michael Connely's 38-yard field goal in the first quarter.

Templeton 57, Orosi 10

Eagles' running back Ben Terry rushed for 185 yards and three touchdowns as part of his teams' 325-yard rushing effort in the win.

And he booted the extra points.

His scores came on runs of 73, 29 and 42-yards. Tyler Bogart started the Templeton scoring with a 95-yard touchdown on a kickoff return that sparked a 22-point first quarter. Casey Bogart's 10-yard run ended the first quarter.

Following Terry's second touchdown to start the second quarter, Tyler Bogart hauled in a 43-yard pass from Casey Bogart. The final two Templeton scores came on Andrew Schechter and Garrett Baldwin runs.

Atascadero 14, Thousand Oaks 11

Atascadero did its damage on the ground, using Trevor Holloway's 74 yards and a score to beat Thousand Oaks.

Holloway scored the first Greyhounds' touchdown on an 18-yard run in the first quarter. Thousand Oaks responded on John Lister's 14-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, and took the lead on a field goal.

However, Nick Tenhaeff found a hole later in the quarter, scoring from 13 yards out to provide the eventual game-winner.

Glenn Wallace can be reached at 688-5522, Ext. 6007 or gwallace@santamariatimes.com. Tom Shea of the Tehachapi News contributed to this roundup.

Sept, 15, 2007