With under a minute left in the game, Santa Ynez had the ball inside the Cabrillo one in the midst of a furious comeback in the fourth quarter.

Down 28-7 with 9:58 remaining, the Pirates scored twice and were on the verge of giving themselves a chance to tie the game.

But after a bad exchange between the quarterback and center, Cabrillo's Austin Silva fell on the loose ball and the Conquistadores escaped with a 28-20 Los Padres League victory on Homecoming night at Huyck Stadium Friday night.

Santa Ynez quarterback Tyler Shean threw for 193 of his 254 yards in the fourth quarter and had two touchdowns. His scrambling ability was able to buy time for his receivers to get open down field.

“Tyler did a really good job,” said Santa Ynez co-coach Brian Wallace. “He scrambles a lot better than people think he does.

“Last year at the JV level he was hurt in the first game and didn't play until the eighth game. He's only played 10 to 15 games at the high school level.”

Unfortunately it all came too late after the Conqs had used a couple long drives on the ground to go up by 21 points.

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“Our guys were getting tired and Santa Ynez was trying to hurry up,” explained Cabrillo head coach Craig Knowles. “So it was tough getting guys on and off the field with fresh legs.

“But when we're not getting the rush, not breaking down the tackles and they are getting seven or eight seconds to throw - then they're going to find open guys - and that's what happened.”

And Knowles knows Cabrillo was dodging a bullet at the end.

“Santa Ynez did a good job of fighting,” he said. “It's one of those mad scrambles where you feel momentum slipping away, but fortunately we came away with a victory.”

The Conqs (2-0 LPL) rushed for 259 yards in the game, led by Brandon Whittaker with 109 yards on 14 carries. But the workhorse was Matt Rotondi. He pounded out 87 yards on 18 carries, including a nine yard TD run in the third to cap a 10-play 73 yard drive that opened the third quarter - eating up almost six minutes off the clock.

Cabrillo also benefited from the return of Patrick Cook, who provided solid blocking, leading the way for Whittaker and Rotondi, but also picking up 45 yards on 10 carries.

“He did a really good job for us,” Knowles said. “He was really huge with his blocking on that pitch and counter play out of the double wing set.

“It worked really good tonight and he's one of the reason that it looked good. Our backs trusted it, stayed inside and did the job running.”

Which is exactly what Knowles wants.

“We had some long drives,” he explained, “and that's what this offense is all about - ball control.”

Both teams hurt themselves several times with penalties in the first half. Cabrillo was whistled seven times for 68 yards before the intermission and Santa Ynez was called 10 times for 85 yards.

The Pirates (0-2 LPL) continued to see the yellow flags in the second half and ended the game with 18 penalties for 150 yards.

“We fumbled five times and had four personal fouls,” Wallace said. “We didn't do everything we could to win.”

Santa Ynez saw the emergence of a solid target for Shean in wide receiver Junior Alejandre. He had two huge receptions in the fourth quarter that were set up by Shean's scrambling. The first was a 38-yard touchdown and the second was a 43-yard reception that set up a score.

“Junior had a great ball game with about 100 yards all in one quarter,” said Wallace. “It's his first game on varsity. We didn't use him much in the first half, but he came in when our starters were tired.”

Cabrillo opened the scoring in their second possession on a 7-play drive that was aided by three Santa Ynez offside penalties. Whittaker scored from five yards out at 6:46.

Santa Ynez mounted a long drive that started at their own 36-yard line with 2:56 in the first. 15 plays later Shean hit Justin Peters for the score on a 10-yard pass. The drive was aided by a pass interference call against Cabrillo in the end zone.

Cabrillo started the next possession at the Conq 33 and drove all the way down the field. The big play was a 39 yard gain by Whittaker on an inside reverse that took the ball to the Santa Ynez 24.

After a set of three penalties, Cabrillo had the ball first and goal from the 14. Rotondi took the ball inside and got to the goal line, but he fumbled the ball and Santa Ynez recovered in the end zone for a touchback.

Parker Colvin ran 19-yards on first down, but the drive stalled after Shean was sacked two plays in a row, first by Jeff Gonzalez, then on a huge hit by Logan Beougher.

Rotondi made up for his fumble by stripping the ball out of the hands of Peters after he caught a pass from Shean. On the first down play, Sean Allen hit Jeff Esparza for an 11-yard TD pass.

Rotondi scored his touchdown in the third and Allen scored on a quarterback sneak with 9:58 remaining in the game to give the Conqs what seemed like an insurmountable lead.

Oct. 11, 2008