Early scores and a solid defense with real speed helped Cabrillo football win their first league game of the season.

"It seemed like everyone was hustling, just running all night," said Steve De St Jean of the Conqs road win against Santa Ynez (0-4, 0-1).

Cabrillo, (4-0, 1-0) handed the ball to senior running back Vai Taua made his presence felt early, running for touchdowns on the first two Cabrillo possessions, the second being a 45 yard romp through several Pirate tackles.

"He plays like I expect him to play, which is great," Cabrillo head coach Don Cross said following the game.

Taua would end the night with 212 yards on 27 carries and three touchdowns.

The Santa Ynez Pirate defense blocked the second Cabrillo extra point attempt, putting them in a 13 point hole early.

The Pirates offense managed to move the chains three times on the next possession thanks to Quarterback Billy Peters throwing to Josh Hartman, but the drive would stall at midfield and Cabrillo would take over on downs.

The Pirate defense would hold the Conqs to a field goal on their next possession, but the black and orange offense could not keep the momentum. Peters was sacked twice in a row forcing another Santa Ynez punt.

"They were just really quick up front, which put a dent in the running game," said Pirates head coach Josh Cunningham. "That forced us to rely on the throw."

The yellow brick wall of the Cabrillo line held the home team running backs to only 62 rushing yards. The pass rush sacked Peters for a loss six times, a net loss of 33 yards.

The often rushed Pirate QB threw 15 of 24 attempts, for 211 yards and one interception. His favorite target was Hartman, with six receptions for 100 yards.

"Our speed is very evident, and we flushed Peters out a lot," said Cross. "We kept him from making a momentum shifting play."

"We got the results and we got the W," said Cabrillo Quarterback and team captain C.J. Simmons, who split time with Brian Gregory.

Simmons would complete three of six passes for 59 yards, and run for 30 more on seven carries.

Barrett Colvin would break through the Cabrillo offensive line and grab a fumble to end their second quarter drive. The turnover would give the Pirates the ball on their own 27. Two penalties would back them up to a 2-20 situation, which led to a Peter pass being picked off on a third and long situation. Tyler Schooter made the easy pick for Cabrillo and ran the ball in to make it 22-0 at half-time.

"We made some good defensive adjustments the second half, and the kids came out and played hard," said coach Cunningham.

Late in the fourth quarter Peters would break an ankle tackle, roll to the right side and hit Dylan Butcher for a 34 yard gain that would set up the only Pirate score of the game. From the three-yard-line peters would run right only to be caught and spun down. In a blind toss backwards Pirate Brad Petersen would grab the ball and run in the touchdown. A two-point conversion would make it 8-26 with 3:34 left on the clock.

Cabrillo would catch the onside kick and add insult to injury, by springing Taua for a 53 yard touchdown run on the next play.

Cabrillo improves to 4-0 and travels to Atascadero next week.

The Pirates, now 0-4, play on the road against league opponent Santa Maria (1-3).

"Both of us will be pretty hungry," said Cunningham.

October 2, 2005