After watching his team give up 31 points to Lompoc last week in the first football game ever played at Scott O’Leary Stadium, Dos Pueblos’ head football coach Jeff Uyesaka was pleased to see the Chargers defense hold Friday’s night’ opponent, Righetti, to 17 points less in a return home engagement.
But it’s pointless to say the same could not be said for Uyesaka’s impression of his offense against the Warriors, who thoroughly wrapped up DP for a 14-0 shutout in the non-league bout.
“We’re discouraged, but our guys played hard,” said Uyesaka. “Our offense has been very inconsistent. We just can’t seem to put it together for one long drive.”
The Chargers had nine offensive series in the game, with eight of them ending in punts. The ninth ended the first half. They managed only 40 offensive plays, six first downs, and 134 total net yards.
DP’s deepest penetration was to the Righetti 34, on a series that started at the Righetti 38.
Their most effective player on the field was punter Brennan Eccles, who perfected the art of angling the kick toward the sideline to effectively take away any return opportunity by Righetti and force the Warriors to start their own possessions deep in their own territory. On three occasions Righetti took over inside its 5-yard line.
“(Eccles) really pinned us,” noted Righetti head coach Gary Wilson.
“He’s been doing that since last year,” said Uyesaka of Eccles. “That put our defense in good position.”
Righetti managed to muster up just enough offense to score touchdowns in the first and second quarters, and that was more than enough.
The Warriors didn’t seem to miss their star running back, Javon Davis, in the first quarter.
“(Davis) sat out the first quarter; there was reason for that,” said Wilson.
Quarterback TJ Jordan and receiver Matt Miller hooked up for three pass completions in the first possession of the game, the third covering 30 yards on a post pattern for a touchdown. Jared Miller’s PAT kick made it 7-0 at the 9:01 mark.
Dos Pueblos made some defensive adjustments and got much stingier from that point on. The Warriors did mount a second scoring drive that began from their own 3-yard line after one of those maddening Eccles’ punts. It took them 14 plays, but this time they had Davis to carry the load.
Davis got the call for six carries, including the last one from two yards out that gave Righetti a 14-0 lead with another Jared Miller PAT kick tacked on with 4:29 remaining in the first half.
The halftime stats suggested a closer game at that point. Righetti only had a 167-90 lead in total yards. But with quarterback Zack Boytis nursing rib and shoulder injuries and being subbed out on a couple series by Jack Johnson, the Chargers’ offense only weakened further in the second half.
They failed to cross the midfield stripe in the final two quarters. With Boytis banged up, Uyesaka played it conservatively on offense. Boytis attempted only nine passes, completing four for 55 yards (two going to Eccles for 38 yards).
“(Trying trick plays) probably would have sunk the ship faster,” said Uyesaka.
Pitching to running back Dane Limosnero was probably DP’s most effective play of the night, which the Chargers tried several times. Limosnero gained 48 yards on eight carries.
“They’re a solid team,” said Wilson of the Chargers, who fell to 1-3 while Righetti improved to 3-2. “What our defense did was put pressure on them a lot. You can’t sit back and let them dictate the game.”
Carlos Faumuina had a solo sack and combined on two other sacks with Ali Gonzales and Evan Avila on the Warrior defensive front.
On the Charger defense, Alejandro Veloz had a sack and Shane Taylor and Zack Wenzinger combined on another, both coming in the second half.
Righetti was held scoreless after halftime, but had a field goal blocked and reached the DP 1 on the final play of the game.
“This was a huge improvement for our defense,” said Uyesaka. “We couldn’t accept our performance last week – it looked bad on film.”
Jordan had the glossiest offensive numbers in the game — 19-of-29 pass completions to eight different receivers for 228 yards. Jordan started the season as Righetti’s backup quarterback behind Justin Level, who went down in the first game of the season with a knee injury. “It’s a sad thing for (Level) — colleges were looking at him,” Wilson said.
RIGHETTI 14, DOS PUEBLOS 0
Righetti……….7 7 0 0– 14
Dos Pueblos…….0 0 0 0– 0
FIRST QUARTER
R- M.Miller 30 pass from Jordan (J. Miller kick) 9:01.
SECOND QUARTER
R- Davis 2 run (J. Miller kick), 4:29.
TEAM TOTALS R DP
First Downs 16 6
Rushes-Yards 31-125 28-76
Passing Yards 228 58
Total Yards 353 134
Passes 19-29-0 5-11-0
Punts-Avg. 5-35.8 8-34.3
Fumbles 1-0 2-0
Penalties-Yards 4-30 2-10
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — R: Davis 17-76, Jordan 6-28, M.Miller 4-16, Berry 2-5, Pincin 2-0. DP: Limosnero 8-48, Houston 9-39, Parsons 1-1, Boytis 9- (minus) 5, Johnson 1- (minus) 7.
PASSING — R: Jordan 19-29-0-228. DP: Boytis 4-9-0-55, Johnson 1-2-0-3.
RECEIVING– R:Rucker 6-55, M.Miller 4-50, Halop 2-41, Avos 2-7, Davis 1-51, Berry 1-13, Stevenson 1-9, Rubalcaba 1-1. DP: Eccles 2-38, Parson 1-9, Tangle 1-8, Bidlow 1-3.
FIELD GOAL ATTEMPTS — R: 1 (blocked.)
