In less than three minutes, Righetti's big advantage evaporated into thin air on Friday, as quarterback Justin Level watched helplessly on the bench.

On just two plays, Dos Pueblos erased Level's big first-half numbers - which had gained Righetti a 21-3 halftime lead - closing the gap to just four points with eight minutes to play in the third quarter.

Good thing Level's best was yet to come on this homecoming night.

Righetti's junior quarterback reinforced it was his night, charging down the field with a machine-like precision, and in the process, extinguishing any momentum the visitors had in what became a 35-23 win over the Dos Pueblos Chargers.

Level kicked off the drive with a 7-yard pass to Justin Rucker, who finished with a team-high 71 receiving yards.

On the next two plays, Level was sacked and watched a holding penalty negate a 15-yard pass.

Still, he didn't miss a beat.

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He found Matt Miller for an 11-yard pickup, and then finished off the drive himself with two spectacular quarterback keepers.

The first went for 36 yards and the second broke the pylons from four yards out.

When it was all said and done, Level passed for 269 with two touchdowns, and also gained 130 rushing yards with two more scores.

“He stepped up to take the challenge,” Righetti coach Gary Wilson said. “He's still learning, but he bounced back from a tough week last week where he had a couple mishaps. But so did the team.”

Righetti moved to 4-1 overall with the win, and opens PAC-7 play at Lompoc next Friday.

Level had nothing but praise for his teammates.

“It was the o-line's best game of the year,” he said modestly. “They opened it up big time for me.”

Some of the key members of the line were Steven Alurac, Manny Meraz, Paul Ames and Gilbert Robles.

But before Level and his Warriors even took to the field, the night kicked off in emotional fashion.

In a classy move, the Warriors invited former Dos Pueblos star running back Brad Ebner to partake in the opening cointoss. Ebner was leading the Central Coast in rushing yards last year before week four, when the Chargers met the Warriors.

A devastating series of hits on the field put Ebner in a coma for months, and left him handicap for life. On Friday, he jubilantly tossed the coin, showing how far he has come since that fateful Friday night. Righetti also presented his family with a $1,371 check after the third quarter.

Righetti won the toss, but got off to a rocky start, as Level tossed an early interception and Adam Wilson dropped a punt reception, recovered by Dos Pueblos.

However, the Righetti defense, led by Wilson and Jesse Aragon, put the stops on the Chargers.

Level didn't disappoint them again.

He was perfect on Righetti's second drive of the game, going 6-6 on a nine-play, 71-yard drive. It was Michael Alexander's 6-yard touchdown at the 1:33 mark that put the first points on the scoreboard.

In the meantime, Dos Pueblos had started the game with backup quarterback Tyler Ledesma, who struggled most of the night. Starting quarterback Gary Braun, who entered Friday's game as the Chargers' leading passer and rusher, first saw action at the end of the first quarter.

His first series ended quickly, and his second didn't come until the 5-minute mark of the second quarter.

Level and his offensive weapons were to thank, again.

A 16-play drive ended with Level's 1-yard quarterback sneak. Shortly after that, Level got the ball back after the defense did its job. He broke lose for a 50-yard keeper before finding Rucker for a 31-yard gain on a crossing pattern. He found Rucker again on the same play for a 12-yard touchdown.

“Justin had some great catches down field,” Gary Wilson said. “And he was dragging a few people around.”

Despite Dos Pueblos' field goal, Righetti took to the locker room with all the momentum.

It all changed on two plays to open the third. A 55-yard run and 45-yard pass from Braun to Aki Franklin quickly made the score 21-17.

And plenty of time (8:01) remained in the quarter.

Level and his all-around effort ate up most of it.

“I told them we needed to keep doing what we did in the first half. We needed to keep going,” Level said. “We needed to keep on doing what we've done all year.”

After his heroic drive, Level capped the night with a 13-yard pass to Adam Wilson on a fade route mid-way through the fourth quarter. Braun scored the night's final touchdown on a 21-yard run.

Sept. 29, 2007