Behind an impressive 386 yard rushing attack, Nordhoff defeated Carpinteria 30-0 in a Tri-Valley League opener on Friday night at Carpinteria Valley Memorial Stadium. Throughout the night, the Warriors were unable to contain the Rangers’ two tailbacks Baylee Rogers and Shane Hersh. Rogers finished the night with a touchdown run and 212 yards rushing. Hersh added three touchdown runs to go along with 107 yards rushing.
“Our offensive line had a good push on their guys and they kicked butt tonight,” added Hersh. “We have had a rough patch but this gives us some good confidence going forward. To win league, we have to start off right because every game is an elimination game.”
Despite what seamed like an absolute blowout throughout, both teams were tied at 0-0 with only eight minutes remaining in the second quarter. However, Nordhoff finished the half on a tear following a field goal from kicker Cooper Garcia. Back to back touchdowns from Hersh and Rogers gave the Rangers a comfortable 17-0 halftime cushion.
“We did not do a very good job with our gap defense, which left seams for their guys to run through,” said Carpinteria head coach Ben Hallock. “When you are playing guys that are bigger, you need to play better technically. We made some adjustments but we just could not stop them.”
During the third quarter, a touchdown run from Hersh put Nordhoff up 24-0 with five minutes remaining. Subsequently, Carpinteria received the ball at their own 20-yard line before a run play to Omar Miranda quickly turned disastrous. The star senior wide receiver fumbled the football, which was recovered by the Rangers’ defense. Nordhoff responded to this with another efficient touchdown drive capped off by Hersh’s third and final touchdown run on the night.
“I am very proud with our offensive line and fullbacks because those guys were the lead blockers all game. We still need to clean some things up such as throwing the ball better to be more balanced offensively. However, our running backs are an awesome one-two punch for us,” chipped in Nordhoff head coach Erik Monson.
After falling behind 17-0 at the half, the Warriors were never able to get the momentum to swing in their favor. As a result, the offense struggled tremendously en route to getting shut out. This was the second consecutive game that Carpinteria’s offense was blanked after a 28-0 set back last week to Cantwell-Sacred Heart.
When asked what was wrong with the offense, Hallock responded: “They came out and ran a 5-3 scheme against us and we struggled. Their inside linebacker Atticus Reyes had an outstanding game with a few tackles while running through our blockers.”
Next week, Carpinteria (4-4, 0-1) will battle against Bishop Diego in a big time rivalry matchup at home on Thursday. On the other hand, Nordhoff (4-4, 1-0 league) will host Fillmore.
TRI-VALLEY LEAGUE
NORDHOFF 30, CARPINTERIA 0,
NORDHOFF 0, 17, 13, 0 — 30
CARPINTERIA 0, 0, 0, 0 — 0
FIRST QUARTER (No scoring plays)
SECOND QUARTER NO- Cooper Garcia 30 yard field goal rush NO- Hersh 1 yard run (PAT from Cooper Garcia) NO- Rogers 50 yard run PAT from Cooper Garcia)
THIRD QUARTER NO- Hersh 5 yard run (PAT from Cooper Garcia) No- Hersh 8 yard run (PAT missed)
FOURTH QUARTER (No scoring plays)
NO CA
First downs 22 7
Rushes-Yards 50-386 17-72
Passing 50 54
Comp-Att-Int 6-10-0-1 6-12-0-0
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 1-1
Penalties-Yards 6-38 2-18
Individual statistics
RUSHING — Nordhoff: Rogers 20-212, Hersh 17-107, Sterling 5-25, Santino 4-24, Barron 5-18. Carpinteria: Graves 5-31, Jimenez 4-16, Ayala 3-9, Vargas 2-7, Miranda 1-5, Guzman 1-3, Beltran 1-1.
PASSING — Nordhoff: Santino 6-10-0-1. Carpinteria: Graves 6-12-0-0.
RECEIVING — Nordhoff: Mcgrew 4-30, Mahler 2-20. Carpinteria: Miranda 2-32, Montgomery 1-20, Jimenez 1-2, Gallardo 1-1, Garcia 1-(minus 1).
RECORDS — Nordhoff 4-4 (1-0); Carpinteria 4-4 (0-1)
