Carpinteria’s offense was shut down by an aggressive Nordhoff defense, and the Warriors were blanked 28-0 in a Tri-Valley League football game Friday night at Ojai Valley Community Stadium.
Nordhoff harassed Carpinteria quarterback Ian Craddock all night and sacked him four times.
After struggling to throw the ball last week in a 23-3 loss to Oak Park, Nordhoff (7-1, 1-1 Tri-Valley League) went back to the ground Friday and found success behind senior Tayler Livingston, who rushed for 160 yards on 26 carries.
“Carp’s defense drops eight guys, so it was tough to get anything going in the air,” Nordhoff coach Tony Henney told the Ventura Star. “Tayler knew he was going to be counted on, and he responded.”
Nordhoff set the tone from the outset, taking the opening kickoff and methodically driving the ball 80 yards for a touchdown. The Rangers ran 14 plays and took more than eight minutes off the clock. Livingston carried on all but one play of the drive — that being the a 3-yard TD run by Brian Wadsworth.
Shane Hersh then jump-started the defense, sniffing out a third-down screen to Peter Ramos and making an open-field tackle for a loss to force the Warriors to punt.
Warren Sterling intercepted quarterback Ian Craddock to stop Carpinteria’s next drive. The Rangers offense responded with another scoring march, going 85 yards in 10 plays and taking six minutes, culminating with a 5-yard TD run up the middle by Livingston.
Carpinteria (6-2, 1-1) threatened just before half, but William Blake and Emmett Johnsen combined for one of Nordhoff’s four sacks to force the Warriors to attempt a field goal in the final seconds that was blocked when it was kicked into the line.
Craddock (14 of 18, 124 yards passing) took the Warriors into the Nordhoff red zone for a second time to start the second half, but the Warriors again had to settle for a field-goal attempt after a second sack by Johnsen. The kick missed.
Nordhoff then marched 80 yards for a touchdown — another 5-yard run by Livingston — on a drive that took more than five minutes and featured a 40-yard pass from Tanner Workman to Jake Boyd.
Nodhoff linebacker Koby Welch sacked Craddock to put a quick end to the next Warriors drive. Nordhoff then drove 68 yards in just six plays for its fourth and final touchdown — another short Livingston run.
Carpinteria had its best chance of the night to avoid the shutout on its next possession, taking the ball 82 yards in eight plays to the Nordhoff 1. But Cody Deason stuffed Craddock for a loss on fourth-and-goal to preserve the Nordhoff’s second shutout of the season.
Information courtesy of the Ventura Star
