"Last week was a very difficult week for us."

And this was from a coach that won.

That sentiment came from St. Joseph High football coach Barney Eames during Monday/s meeting of the Northern Santa Barbar County Athletic Roundtable, speaking about the Knights/ 33-26 victory over Bishop Diego last Friday night.

"We went into that game, reading press clippings telling us how good we were, and that all we needed to do to win the game was show up," said Eames, whose Knights still moved to 3-0 with the win. "We got down there, and Bishop was ready to play and we weren/t."

The Knights were hamstrung by injuries to key starters going into the game: Dominic Catayas 7 a starter at receiver and defensive back and Casey Cathcart/s primary receiver 7 was already sitting out with injuries; Eames then learned just before gametime that linebacker Philip Adam was lost for the night to injuries.

Still, the Knights got out to an early lead, then saw the Cardinals reel them in and take the lead at one point.

"I give credit to my guys because they didn/t panic," Eames said, "but it was evident that we didn/t come ready to play. We played ugly, but we did end up winning."

Things aren/t going to get much easier for the Knights in the coming weeks of Las Padres League play. Four of the LPL/s teams are in the top five in the CIF Division X polls, led by top-ranked Lompoc; St.Joseph sits in the No. 3 spot, with Morro Bay fourth and Cabrillo fifth.

The Knights next play the fourth-ranked Pirates at home on Friday night.

"They/re as good as anyone I/ve seen on tape," Eames said of Morro Bay. "Very physical, part of a very competitive league."

Joining Eames were starters Jake Rooney and Kevin Buchanan.Also on hand were members of the Knights/ tennis squad, currently 3-3 in overall action and 1-2 in a brutally-tough LPL.

Coach Meg Hoffman was joined by a quintet of players: No. 1 singles ace Jenna Okerblom and the doubles teams of Courtney Jaeckels and Lauren Freitas, and Kristen Fuerch and Megan McDermott.

Okerblom was a perfect 6-0 in two LPL matches this last week, moving her overall record to 18-0 in singles play this season. For that, Okerblom was named Female Athlete of the Week.

Male Athlete honors went to another sophomore, Santa Ynez quarterback Billy Peters. The Pirates signal-caller, who was not on hand to accept his award, threw for 201 yards and two touchdowns, inclduing the game-winner, in a 28-21 victory over Carpinteria on Friday.

HANCOCK

Bulldog football coach Kris Dutra, joined by AD Scott Cathcart, knew that last Saturday/s game against College of the Canyons would be tough. A 51-0 drubbing later, Dutra was simple in his assessment.

"They were a talented group, maybe the most talented I/ve ever seen," Dutra said of the Cougars. "They handed it to us pretty good. The guys kinda lost their swagger a little bit, so we/ve got to go to work."

Another tall test faces the Bulldogs this coming weekend with another WSC game, against longtime rival Bakersfield at Warrior Stadium.

Joining Dutra were linebackers Trevor Shamblee and Elisee Popilus and tight end Darnell Worthy Jr.

SANTA MARIA

Water polo coach Adrian Salazar showed his excitement in the Saints/ opportunities in 2004.

"This is the first year that we/re seeing the success built by the hard work done over the last four years," Salazar said. "Some of you that come here know that I come up here and ususally say that we/re in a rebuilding mode. This year is our time, because they/ve worked hard and finally acquriring some success."

Joining him was a quartet of key Saints players in Jared Zimmer, Antonio McNeil, James Fazi and Rome Riegel.

Ginny Barnett spoke about a deep Saints squad, represented by No. 1 singles player Glaiza Ramirez and the doubles team of Desirae Bontempo and Victoria Regalado; football coach Shawn Ramirez was also on hand, joined by Joseph Rivera and Luis Castillo.

RIGHETTI

Assistant football coach Derrick Beebe was on hand for coach Gary Wilson, joined by defensive standouts Nathan Beebe and David Harman, both of whom had a major part in the Warriors/ 14-7 Homecoming victory over Santa Barbara on Friday.

"We/ve had a lot of close games this year, most of them coming down to the last minute," Beebe said. "Some of them haven/t gone our way, but this one did."

VALLEY CHRISTIAN

The Lions made their first appearance of the year, with football players Andrew Stoddard and Jacob Smith representing them.

"As always, we/ve got a really small squad," Stoddard said. "We/ve only got 13 players on varsity, and only two of us (Stoddard and Smith) have any real experience."

The Lions suffered a big Coast Valley Leauge loss at Maricopa and will travel to Laguna Blanca on Saturday.

CABRILLO

Athletic director Bob Boyer spoke for the Conquistadores/ girls tennis squad, currently atop the tight LPL standings. Joining Boyer was Gina Havlicek and Ellen Monkemeier.

Don Cross brought John Pierce and Steve de St. Jean from the Conqs/ fifth-ranked football team, coming off a 21-14 victory over Dos Pueblos, in which Lydell Sargeant ran for 197 yards and all three scores, then intercepted a pass on the game/s final play.

LOMPOC

Athletic director Dick Barrett was covering all sports, joining football players Boo Jackson, Zach Grew and Tryrell Coleman at the luncheon, along with water polo players Sam Holt and Steven Masi.

Sept. 28, 2004