Pirates make Conqs walk the LPL plank

Santa Ynez assistant coach Carl Rio stood before his huddled group following Friday night's game with Cabrillo and asked for running back Jeff Rosecrance to come forward.

The Pirates' standout runner approached his coach, who handed him a pen. Rosecrance searched the back of Rio's T-shirt - dotted with islands, like some sort of emblazoned treasure map.

He found Cabrillo's “island” - and crossed it off.

Rio's “island theme” for the year took a positive turn on Friday, as Rosecrance's game-changing touchdown and interception spurred Santa Ynez on to a 24-14 win over Cabrillo.

Those plays also earned Rosecrance the right to participate in the Pirates' team theme. Each island on Rio's shirt represents a Santa Ynez opponent. A loss leaves them stranded on the appropriate island, and a win moves them on to the next island.

The ultimate finish to the map is to cross off a league championship, and to enter the CIF playoffs.

But first things first, the Santa Ynez Pirates are no longer stranded on Templeton, having suffered a 36-0 defeat to the Eagles last week.

“First we were stuck on Paso Robles, then we were stuck on Nordhoff,” Rosecrance said. “But we passed Carpinteria, only to get stuck on Templeton. This week, we mowed past Cabrillo.”

With the win, Santa Ynez improved to 1-1 in the Los Padres League, and 2-3 overall.

Rosecrance's third-quarter touchdown erased Cabrillo's momentum. That momentum was built before halftime following the Conqs' first score of the game on Pat Cook's 2-yard run. Santa Ynez, despite a strong start, led 10-7 at the break.

Neither team saw much success in the third quarter - until Rosecrance broke free on Santa Ynez' second series of the half.

The Pirates started at their own 42-yard line, but quickly ran down the field on three rushes, two from Justin Iniguez - one for 13 yards.

On the fourth play, Rosecrance found the near-side corner.

“Jeff is a really fast kid,” Santa Ynez coach Josh Cunningham said. “We ran a reverse and man he took off. He's one of our 100-meter runners on the track team.”

He raced in from 18 yards out to give the Pirates a 17-7 lead with 1:18 remaining in the half.

His next play was just as big - this one, coming on defense.

Cabrillo's next offensive drive lumbered into the fourth quarter, led by standout running back Bennie Garrett's effort. Garrett entered the night averaging 100 rushing yards per game. He topped that in the first half.

Garrett had 12 of his game-high 181 yards in the Conqs' drive - which was abruptly ended on just the third play of the fourth quarter.

Rosecrance's interception halted the drive and nearly set-up a game-clinching field goal. On two occasions, Santa Ynez kicker Alex Palacios gunned for the school field goal record of 47 yards. Both times, his 52-yard attempts were off by inches.

The first was wide left. The second - coming after Rosecrance's defensive gem - was a sliver's worth short.

Even with the miss, Santa Ynez shut down Cabrillo's next offensive drive and scored on Iniguez' 11-yard run to the far-side corner.

With 6:03 remaining, the game was, seemingly, in hand for the Pirates. Cabrillo's lightning quick score on Sean Allen's 2-yard run (set up by David Fraats 65-yard run earlier in the drive), did give the Conqs some late hope. Cabrillo's comeback bid came up short, despite a fumble recovery in the final minutes.

“We wanted to get Carl off the island,” Cunningham said with a chuckle.

With Garrett's memorable first-half performance for Cabrillo, it appeared there would be no rescuing on this night.

Garrett already had 132 rushing yards racked up by halftime, added to the 401 yards he had net in the previous games. But despite his performance, Cabrillo hurt its own cause twice in the first half: on a fumble and interception. A fumble on its second offensive drive of the game killed a scoring chance, and so did quarterback Sean Allen's interception to Santa Ynez' Blake Dubois on Cabrillo's third offensive drive.

Dubois was a dual-threat for the Pirates on Friday, playing linebacker and quarterback. It was his 11-yard run that scored the game's first touchdown - those points followed Palacios' field goal to make the score 10-0 early into the second quarter.

Following his interception, Santa Ynez was held to a three-and-out, punting to the Conqs. All the Conqs did was march 80-yards, capped by Pat Cook's 2-yard score just before halftime.

Rosecrance's big plays wrestled all the momentum away in the second half, and a big defensive adjustment kept Garrett in check.

In the first half, the Pirates played with an even front along the defensive line, allowing Garrett to find constant gaps up the middle of the field. Cunningham added a nose guard to the scheme in the second half, who lined up directly in front of the Pirates' center. That move, according to Cunningham, made all the difference.

October 6, 2007