Elliott Stern / Times Sports Editor | Posted: Saturday, October 19, 2002 12:00 am
The Righetti High School Warriors kicked off the inaugural PAC-5 football season with a convincing 30-22 victory over the Atascadero Greyhounds at Righetti/s Warrior Stadium Friday night.
In a game that was not as close as the final score, Righetti dominated right from the start.
In three plays, covering just :48 seconds, RHS raced downfield for a touchdown.
In three more plays Righetti/s Ryan Gonzalez had an interception. The Warriors had good field position and promptly pushed down the field to set up a Lafe Viker 43-yard field goal. Boom. It was 10-0 with only 3:52 gone in the game.
It was going to be a long night for the Greyhounds.
"The kids are playing well," said Warriors/ coach Greg Dickinson. "They/ve just got to keep doing it."
Righetti/s all-around back, Daniel Diaz, brought the opening kick back to the 20 yard line.
Quarterback Josh Thomas hit running back Richard Amaro with a 7 yard pass. Then the Warriors/ Ryan Mole broke to his right, off tackle, and sprinted 57 yards to the hounds 17. Noah Winkles broke through the middle of the line on the next play for a 17-yard touchdown. Lafe Viker/s extra point made it 7-0 with just :48 seconds gone in the game.
Atascadero quarterback Harrison Higbee was picked off by Righetti/s Ryan Gonzalez on the third play of the Hounds/ first possession. Six plays later, Viker nailed a 43-yard field goal and it looked like the rout was on.
To their credit, this group of hounds wouldn/t quit, even though Righetti had an answer for every hound charge.
Atascadero scored on a two-yard Higbee quarterback sneak with 5:32 left in the second quarter to make it 10-7.
Starting with Clark/s 20 yard kickoff return, Righetti pounded the ball the other way. Result: An eleven-play, 73-yard touchdown drive (Thomas ran it on from the five) Warriors 17, Greyhounds 7 at the half.
The hounds went to their strength to open the second half.
Star running back Ryan Bugg broke to his right to open the drive with a 47 yard gain to Righetti/s 48-yard line.
Brandon McMillan ran for 11, and caught a pass from quarterback Harrison Higbee that was good for another 25 yards and Atascadero was knocking on the door.
Three plays later Higbee hit McMillan for 9 yards and a touchdown. With Brennan Myracle/s point after, the Greyhounds had narrowed the score to 17-13.
Offensively, we moved the ball and did what we needed to," Dickinson said. "Defensively, we needed to pick it up."
After Viker/s 26 yard field goal made it 20-13 Righetti, mistakes killed any chances of an Atascadero/s comeback. They also led to two quick fourth quarter scores by the Warriors.
Atascadero fumbled on the first play after Viker/s field goal. Righetti recovered at Atascadero/s 24 yard line.
Four plays later, Viker nailed a 38-yard field goal. Righetti led 23-14.
Atascadero/s Mecklen Davis returned the ensuing kickoff to his own 45-yard line and fumbled, once again giving Righetti the ball.
This time Misters Mole, Thomas, Diaz and company marched 39 yards in 5 plays, ending with Diaz/s yard touchdown run. Viker/s kick made it 30-16.
Atascadero (3-3, 0-1) tacked on a final score when Ryan Bugg ran one in from the seven with eight seconds left in the game.
"Atascadero is a good team," Dickinson said. "It/s a win. It wasn/t pretty but it/s a win."
The win puts the Warriors (6-0, 1-0) atop the brand new PAC-5 league standings. They travel to Arroyo Grande to face the highly respected Eagles (5-1, 0-1) next Friday night at 7:30.
Morro Bay 28, Santa Maria 13
MORRO BAY 77 Pirates junior tailback Joe Garcia ran wild, racking up 279 yards and four touchdowns on 41 carries as Morro Bay (2-0, 4-2) rallied for a big Los Padres League win.
Santa Maria, which dropped to 1-1, 2-4, led 13-12 at halftime on Adam Gomes/ 55-yard run.
The Saints simply could not slow Garcia down, and he helped Morro Bay to a 19-6 advantage in first downs. Quarterback Danny Goodman helped the Pirates by passing for 94 yards.
Gomes ran for 89 yards, and Pablo Ramos had 86 yards on 15 carries for a Santa Maria team that was shut out in the second half.
SLO 34, Santa Ynez 6
SAN LUIS OBISPO 77 The Tigers (3-2) had little trouble going over .500 for the season in this non-league game at Frank Hold Field. Santa Ynez fell to 0-6.
Paul Jordan scored the first four Tiger touchdowns. He amassed 166 yards on 15 carries for the night.
Santa Ynez/s score came on A.J. Tevis/ 8-yard run the lone time he carried the ball. Tevis/ touchdown made the score 20-6 at halftime.
The Tigers had 268 rushing yards. Santa Ynez had 47.
Paso Robles 12, AG 10
PASO ROBLES 77 Vince Freitas/ three second-half scores knocked the Eagles from the ranks of the unbeaten in this PAC-5 League opener. Paso Robles went to 1-0, 4-2.
Arroyo Grande (0-1, 5-1) led 10-0 at halftime. But Freitas kicked field goals of 26 and 32 yards in the third quarter, then scored the touchdown that did in the top-ranked team in Division IV. Freitas ran into the end zone from six yards out with 7:34 left to play.
Arroyo Grande scored its points in the second quarter on Billy Vinnedge/s 35-yard field goal and Michael Stoltey/s 1-yard run.
Quarterback Adrian Pennywell helped the Bearcats stay within striking range before Freitas/ big touchdown by passing for 210 yards.
October 19, 2002