A pair of costly first-half turnovers and the inability to move the ball on a stingy Crespi defense prevented the Lompoc High football team from completing a dream season as the Braves fell 24-14 at Huyck Stadium in Friday night/s CIF Div. X championship game.

&#8220We talked about it 7 turnovers were going to be the turning point of the game. We knew that,C said Lompoc coach Robin Luken. &#8220We had those two and they got 10 points off of them and that/s the 10-point difference.C

It was the second straight year that the Braves/ playoff run ended at the hands of the Celts 7 who defeated Lompoc in last year/s semifinals 25-8 also at Huyck Stadium on their way to the first of two straight CIF titles.

&#8220You go back to last year we had three interceptions, three scores that they had off of those,C said Luken. &#8220The game would have been 8-8 last year.C

With the score knotted at 7-7 early in the second quarter, Lompoc made its first mistake when punt-returner Sean Carpio-Webb could not field the ball cleanly and Crespi/s Matt Scioscia fell on the ball at the Lompoc 43-yard line. Carpio-Webb did field the initial punt, but Lompoc decided to have Crespi re-kick after a holding infraction.

The Celts took advantage 7 although having to settle for a 28-yard field goal by place-kicker Brandon Ibarra that gave them a 10-7 edge.

After the teams exchanged three-and-outs, the Braves were poised to strike back before the half as they moved the ball down to the Crespi 30-yard line. But the second Lompoc turnover ended the threat on a strange play involving Braves/ tailback Joseph Scott.

On the third-and-12, quarterback Tim Ochoa got a shovel pass over the defense and into the hands of Scott 7 who carried the ball about five yards before getting swarmed by a gang of Crespi tacklers. At first, it looked like the play was over with Scott/s forward momentum stopped. But before a referee/s whistle sounded, the Celts/ D.J. Holt stripped the ball from Scott and ran it back to the Lompoc 45-yard line.

&#8220We don/t know. We asked our guys up top what they thought and they couldn/t tell either,C said Luken of the strip play. &#8220All of a sudden the ball was going the other way. That/s just the way it is.C

Four plays later, Crespi quarterback Matt Wabby hit receiver Matt Gray for a 17-yard touchdown strike to extend their lead to 17-7 with a minute left in the half.

The Braves could not get anything going on offense after that drive 7 held to four three-and-outs in five second-half possessions.

&#8220We were a little tight. We weren/t relaxed and playing our normal selves,C said Luken, whose offense could only muster 148 yards compared to 224 yards for Crespi. &#8220In a big game like this when you/re in front of a big crowd, you know that all the eyes are watching you and it/s pretty hard sometimes for young guys to come up and make the big play.C

With Crespi taking a 24-7 lead on the first play of the fourth quarter on Josh Morgan/s 9-yard touchdown run, the Braves finally came up with a big play. Crespi fumbled the snap from center and Sean Carpio-Webb swooped into the backfield, picked up the ball, and carried it to the Crespi 3-yard line.

That set up senior fullback Jakob Sims/ 1-yard touchdown run to bring Lompoc to within 10 points with still 7:20 remaining. But on the ensuing kick-off, the Braves/ on-side kick squibbed out of bounds.

&#8220I thought our kids played with a whole lot of courage, a lot of heart. They never quit. We were in it /til the fourth quarter,C said Luken. &#8220Had we made that on-side kick, we had the momentum going on our side, maybe something could have happened out there. It just wasn/t to be.C

Crespi was able to silence the Lompoc faithful early when junior Garret Roverud ran back the opening kickoff 53 yards to the Braves/ 35-yard line. The Celts then mounted a six-play scoring drive capped by Morgan/s 3-yard TD run just over three minutes into the game.

&#8220The opening kickoff didn/t help. That really hurt,C said Luken. &#8220Had we kept them down there and done some things right. … They got off to a fast start. Had we not let them get off to a fast start it might have been a little different.C

Lompoc did respond with Carpio-Webb running back a punt to the Crespi 34-yard line, setting up a 25-yard touchdown pass from Ochoa to a wide-open Sam Ruiz that tied the score up at 7-7 with 3:08 left in the first quarter.

But the Braves could do little on offense after that.

&#8220Our offense couldn/t get anything started and they had a pretty good offense. It was a tough game all around,C said senior Joey Green, who was all over the field from his defensive lineman position. &#8220 We all came together and got a lot farther than a lot of people expected us to go. It was a great year for all of us.C

The Braves shared the Los Padres League title with neighboring Cabrillo High and then won three straight playoff games to reach the finals. After a 22-3 home victory over Cathedral in the first round, Lompoc won a pair of tough road games 7 a 35-7 romp of Temple City and a 31-7 win over St. Joseph.

&#8220Being here was just unbelievable for what we had to go through this year. It was just a really incredible season. We were on a roller coaster,C said Luken, whose squad persevered through the tragic deaths of two teammates in a Halloween night car accident that also has a third player still in recovery. &#8220To do what we did was a testament to the courage that these guys have and the heart and the character and who we are from Lompoc.C

December 11, 2005