For about 44 minutes the Cabrillo Conquistadores shut down the Lompoc Braves and their dangerous running game - then things got a little hairy.

With four minutes remaining in the game, Lompoc quarterback Ryan Bower drove the Braves down the field, tossed a touchdown pass to Scott Aguilar and then had a chance to win the game after the Braves recovered an on-side kick at the Cabrillo 43.

But the Conqs defense stepped it up again and shut the door.

Cabrillo held on and defeated Lompoc 10-7 in the 2008 version of the “Big Game” Friday night at a packed Huyck Stadium.

“They made it a little too interesting,” said Cabrillo coach Craig Knowles. “The kids played hard and never gave up - even after they recovered the onside kick - they kept their heads up on defense and played tough.”

With the win, the Conqs finish the season at 4-6 and dropped the Braves to the same 4-6. Lompoc now leads the series 31-13.

“We had an opportunity,” said Lompoc coach Robin Luken. “The kids battled back and did the things we needed to do, but when it comes down to crunch time you need to make the plays - and we didn't make the plays.”

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It was a Cabrillo defense led by a hobbled Matt Rotondi at linebacker that held the Lompoc running game to a crawl. At half-time the Braves had minus-one yard rushing. Things improved a bit in the second half, but most of the positive yardage was erased when Cabrillo made some key sacks late.

“They did a very good job of tackling which was something we were concerned about,” said Knowles.

Bobby Collins rushed for 41 yards in the second half after being held to minus-four in the first, but Bower was sacked four times and ended the night 44 yards in the hole.

The Braves made up for it in the air during the second half with Bower throwing for 132 of his 175 yards after the break. His number one target was Scott Aguilar who had seven receptions for 139. He caught a 62-yard pass from Bower on a fourth-and 11 from the Braves 25 which set up his 28-yard reception on a second and 26.

Meanwhile the Conqs were able to move the ball a bit on the ground behind the running of Brandon Whittaker. The senior ran for 74 yards on 23 carries, followed by Kyle Avillanoza with 45 yards on 14 carries.

“Rotondi had a bad knee and coach said I had to step up,” Avillanoza said. “And I was able to step up - which feels great.”

Avillanoza was in the game on offense for a major portion of the game because of the injury to Rotondi. With a bad knee, Cabrillo coach Craig Knowles did not want to use Rotondi - his second leading rusher - on offense and risk losing him on the defensive side.

Fullback Patrick Cook added 34 yards on nine carries, picking up several crucial first downs. Sean Allen had a good game at quarterback throwing the ball 18 times, completing nine for 165 yards.

Cabrillo scored the only points in the first half, but should have had more.

On their first drive, Cabrillo took the ball on their own 21 and drove down to the Lompoc two yard line, where Whittaker fumbled and Lompoc's Matt Kronick recovered. The drive took seven minutes and 20 seconds.

On Cabrillo's third possession, they had the ball at the Lompoc 22, but could not move the ball. Pat Cook came in a kicked a line drive that just cleared the crossbar for a 40-yard field goal.

With two seconds on the clock before the half, Cabrillo had the ball fourth and goal from the five and Cook lined up for a 23-yard field goal attempt. On the snap Ames the holder, took off and tried to throw a pass into the end zone on the fake, but it fell short.

Both defenses did good jobs up to this point. Cabrillo had 137 yards in total offense and Lompoc had just 42, in which 43 positive yards were in the air.

To begin the third quarter, Cabrillo started at their own 13 and took almost five minutes off the clock and drove to the Lompoc 31.

On fourth and one Whittaker was hit after gaining enough for a first down but fumbled the ball which was once again recovered by Kronick.

“The defense played a hell of a game for us tonight,” Luken said. “We had that one breakdown when they scored the touchdown - we were right there - we just didn't tackle him.”

The Conqs extended the lead with 8:37 left in the fourth quarter. On third and seven at the Lompoc 39, Allen hit Adrian Ames with a pass at the 20. Ames spun free and raced into the end zone to give Cabrillo a 10-0 lead.

Trying to answer back, Lompoc gained two first downs on two plays before a snap was fumbled and Zachary Holmes recovered for the Conqs.

Cabrillo then took over four more minutes off the clock before getting stuffed on a fourth and six at the Lompoc 14.

That was when Bower and Aguilar went to work in the air. On the touchdown drive Bower threw the ball seven times and completed four all to Aguilar.

But after recovering the on-side kick, the Braves were pushed back by the Conq defense and ran out of time.

“It's very exciting,” said Knowles about his first win over Lompoc in his first try. “It's more fun for me to see the kids - to see their faces and the enjoyment they are going through.

“I'm going to be here for a lot of years and hopefully we'll get a lot more of these wins, but they are only here for a short time and now they will have this memory for a long time.”

Even with only five losses in his 17 years at Lompoc, losing this game is not easy for Luken.

“This is a hard pill to swallow,” he said.

November 15, 2008