Strange as it might seem to those who watched Morro Bay quarterback Sam Crizer run for three touchdowns and pass for two in the Pirates’ 36-20 win over Carpinteria Friday night at Memorial Stadium, he still had one job left to do.
“He’s driving the bus home,” said Morro Bay coach John Andree.
Andree was joking, but you couldn’t fault anyone for believing the 6-foot-2, 210-pound senior would do well as a designated driver. He certainly was effective enough behind the wheel of the Pirates’ shotgun-formation offense.
Crizer ran 21 times for 160 yards and scored on runs of 27, 1 and 5 yards. He completed 11-of-15 passes for 130 yards, with TD passes of 39 yards to Jesse Landry and 26 to Austin Emley. He also ran for a PAT, kicked two PATs, punted and kicked off for the Pirates.
“We knew he was going to be special,” said Andree, who added, “he’s even better as a receiver.”
Crizer led two long scoring drives on the Pirates’ first two possessions, finishing the first with the 26-yard TD run and the second with the strike to Landry on a third-and-19 pass.
“He reminded me of the single wing quarterbacks for those great Santa Barbara teams,” said Carpinteria coach Ben Hallock. “He’s a big guy who can run hard and throw it.”
Crizer capped a six-play, 47-yard drive with a 1-yard run with 3:00 left in the second quarter.
Carpinteria, which had largely been frozen in the Pirates’ rear-view mirror to that point, came alive in its two-minute offense, ripping off three first downs to end a dismal string of three-and-outs. The drive stalled at the Morro Bay 29 but it seemed to give the Warriors momentum, and they carried it forward in the second half.
After a 26-yard punt return by Jordan Robinson, set Carpinteria up with good field position on its second possession, quarterback Munchie Aguilar slipped through the middle and scored on a 35-yard run. Hans Pluma kicked the first of two PATs.
Morro Bay responded with a six-play, 65-yard drive that ended with a 5-yard scoring run by Crizer and a 2-point PAT run by Darek Mendoza.
Carpinteria answered in flash, though, as Aguilar hit Miso Ayala in stride on a seam pass and Ayala ran away from defenders for a 72-yard touchdown that closed the gap to 29-14 with 3:28 left in the third quarter.
The Pirates effectively put the game away on the ensuing possession, going 67 yards in six plays and scoring on the pass from Crizer to Emley, but Carpinteria still had enough life to stop Morro Bay at the Warrior 5 and go 95 yards the other way for the final score of the night.
Aguilar, who finished with 81 yards rushing on 16 carries and was 12 of 23 passing for 173 yards, did most of the work on the drive but he hurt his shoulder on a run to the Morro Bay 9 and had to leave the game. Junior Jeffrey Moorhouse stepped in for the fourth down play and calmly lobbed a TD pass to Chris Estrada.
“The only thing we did different in the second half was play the way we were supposed to play,” said Hallock. “We played lower, played harder. We have to keep that going and look to keep improving.”
Aguilar, whose status for next week against Nipomo is not yet known, agreed.
“We should have come out in the first half and played that way,” he said of the second-half resurgence.
Ayala will definitely miss that game. The 6-foot, 150-pound senior was he drawn into an altercation on the sidelines that led to a double ejection. Ejected players must sit out the following game.
Robinson, in addition to his long punt return, caught seven passes for 72 yards.
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MORRO BAY 36, CARPINTERIA 20
Morro Bay ……….. 6 15 16 — 36
Carpinteria ………….. 0 0 14 6 — 20
First Quarter
MB–Crizer 27 run (kick blocked) 7:46.
Second Quarter
MB–Landry 39 pass from Crizer (Crizer run) 11:30
MB–Crizer 1 run (Crizer kick) 3:00.
Third Quarter
C–Aguilar 35 run (Pluma kick) 5:54.
MB–Crizer 5 run (Mendoza run) 4:24.
C–Ayala 72 pass from Aguilar (Pluma kick) 3:28.
MB-Emley 26 pass from Crizer (Crizer kick) :33.
Fourth Quarter
C-Estrada 9 pass from Moorhouse (kick blocked).
MB C
First downs 21 7
Rushes-Yards 38-244 26-91
Passing Yards 130 173
Total Yards 374 264
Passes (Comp-Att-Int) 11-15-1 14-26-0
Punts-Avg. 1-36 3-31.3
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 2-0
Penalties-Yards 13-115 3-20
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING–MB: Crizer 21-160, Mendoza 10-53, Maddelein 5-29, Beavers 1-0, Bray 1-2. C: Aguilar 16-81, Saenz 3-13, Rodriguez 3-5, Arreola 3-0, Moorhouse 1-minus-6.
PASSING–MB: Crizer 11-15-1-130. C: Aguilar 12-23-0-162; Moorhouse 2-3-0-11.
RECEIVING–MB: Landry 3-27, Emley 2-56, Mendoza 3-25, Beaver 2-22. C: Robinson 7-72, Ayala 1-72, Blum 1-11, Estrada 1-9, Saenz 1-7, Rodriguez 3-2.
RECORDS–MB: 1-1, C: 0-1.
