Kenny Cress / Times Sports Writer | Posted: Saturday, September 14, 2002 12:00 am
Barney Eames/ first night on the sidelines in two years was a rough one.
His young St. Joseph Knights played defending Division IV champion San Luis Obispo to a scoreless draw in the first quarter. Then the Tigers got rolling and eventually racked up a 35-6 victory in the 2002 football opener for both schools at Al Maguire Field Friday night.
"I expected something like this," Eames, St. Joseph/s first-year coach, said. "We/ve got five guys who have any experience playing varsity football. Hopefully we/ll learn from this."
Eames last coached at Hancock College in 2000. He was a consultant for Hancock/s football program last season, then took the job at St. Joseph.
"Obviously we/ve got some work to do," Eames said. "I saw some good things, but we/ve got a little work to do."
One good thing Eames saw was quarterback Matt Crist/s 17-yard touchdown pass to Richard Kleinsmith - that came against the San Luis Obispo reserves with 5:31 left to play. Kleinsmith made a diving catch in the end zone.
The Tigers had all their points and three touchdown runs by Paul Jordan by then. St. Joseph/s first downs, nine, equaled the number of punts by the Knights/ Brandon Merlo. The Knights had 54 yards of total offense in the first half and trailed 21-0 at halftime.
San Luis Obispo/s defensive front linemen tied up St. Joseph/s smaller line most of the time the Knights had the ball, and the Tigers/ linebackers took care of the rest.
"Our linebackers, Cody Morris, Craig Daily, Ryan Roberts, Daniel Anderson - that/s a pretty good group for us," said first-year Tigers coach Craig Winninghoff. "We count on a lot of leadership from them."
Winninghoff was a Tigers assistant last season. He took over for former head coach Vic Ecklund, who retired after leading San Luis Obispo to the Division IV title.
After the teams played to a standoff in the first quarter, the Tigers offense got untracked when Daniel Higgins got behind St. Joseph defensive back Michael Lopez, caught Dane Hodgson/s pass inside the five and ran out of Lopez/s tackle for a 51-yard scoring play with 9:44 left in the second quarter.
Shortly thereafter, Hodgson was hurt as Daily was turning his screen pass into a 38-yard gain.
"I think he might have suffered a slight separation," of his left shoulder, Winninghoff said.
After the Hodgson touchdown pass, Tiger left guard Mike Kaney and Mike Worrell and Brett Lowe, who alternated at left tackle, turned a lot of the game into the Jordan show. Jordan wound up with 159 yards on 20 carries.
Carpinteria 31, Morro Bay 7
CARPINTERIA 77 The Pirates, 17-0 winners over Shafter last week, found the tables turned on them this time as the Warriors rolled in their season opener.
Morro Bay trailed just 3-0 at halftime. But the Warriors racked up 21 third-quarter points and by the time the fourth quarter started, they were well on their way to squaring Morro Bay/s record.
Joe Garcia racked up 114 yards on 25 carries. Steve Dover gained 73 yards on 14 rushes and scored Morro Bay/s touchdown on a 2-yard run in the fourth quarter.
Atascadero 41, Cabrillo 0
ATASCADERO 77 Ryan Bugg caught four passes for 102 yards and three touchdowns as the Greyhounds rolled to an opening-game win.
Bugg added 71 rushing yards and another touchdown. Atascadero handed the Conquistadores their second consecutive lopsided loss. La Costa Canyon of Carlsbad beat them 57-7 last week.
Atascadero quarterback Harrison Higbee threw for 141 yards and four touchdowns.
September 14, 2002