Football Fumbles

Local High School

Lompoc vs Nipomo

Varsity Lost 35-25

See Story

The Braves played hard in the season opener for both squads, cutting the lead to 29-25 with 4:18 to play in the 4th quarter, but a 36 yard kickoff return, 10 yard run, and 34 yard pass had the Titans back up 10 points just 44 seconds later.

Lompoc's biggest problems were turnovers and an inability to move the ball on the ground. They accumulated just 51 yards on 33 carries (10 carries for 9 yards in the second half). They turned the ball over at their own 33 yardline in the first half when the snap on an attempted punt zoomed past the punter's feet for a 20 yard loss. They also lost 2 interceptions in the 2nd half.

JV Lost 20-0

The Braves had some of the same problems as the varsity. 1) Rushing difficulties: They had 34 carries for 58 yards (1st half - 15 for 15 yards ). 2) Turnovers - 2 fumbles. One turnover on downs.

Lompoc was actually in this one until late in the 2nd quarter. An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty helped set up an 8 yard TD run for the Titans, but their 2pt conversion attempt failed with 3 minutes left.

The Braves ensuing possesion consisted of two plays - a nine yard SAC and a lost fumble. Nipomo scored 3 plays later, turning a 0-0 tie into a 12-0 lead in 71 seconds.

The Titans final score came after a Lompoc fumble in their own territory resulted in an 8 play TD drive & 2pt conversion.

Frosh

Nipomo only has a frosh/soph team which played the Braves JV.

Cabrillo

The Conquistadors scrimmaged against San Marcos at all three levels. CIF policy prohibits the score,etc. being kept.

College

Nevada [Vai Taua, CHS]
Vai replaced 2007 WAC rushing champ Luke Lippincott last year after Luke tore his ACL in the second game of the season. He then won his own WAC rushing title (1521 yards) and posted 18 TD's (15 rushing). Both return this year, but the junior Taua won the starting job over the 6th year senior. Expect both to play a lot - sometimes in the same backfield, for the Wolfpack who are considered to be the WAC's #2 team behind Boise State.

Their initial outing, however, was not a success. Several tipsters had Nevada pulling an upset in South Bend against Notre Dame , but it was not to be. The Fighting Irish won 35-0, behind the passing of QB Jimmy Clausen (15-18 315 yards, 4 TD including 70 & 88 yarders), who Braves fans may remember from Oaks Christian. ND had their offense in high gear, but they also shut down the Wolfpack offense. Except, of course, for Vai Taua. He ran for 114 yards on 18 carries (6.3 ave.), his 9th 100 yard game, and caught 3 passes for another 38 yards. His 152 yards were nearly half of the teams 307 yards from the line of scrimmage.

Ohio [Boo Jackson, LHS]

The Ohio Bobcats dropped their opener against UConn 23-16. Theo Scott had been named the starter last week [See Story], but Boo got in the game.

Interesting comparison from the News & Observer of Athens Ohio -
"Ohio had opportunities but squandered most of them. Patrick Tafua had intercepted in the first quarter, returning it to Connecticut's 6-yard line. But Scott turned the ball over three plays later, which led to the first touchdown of the game for the Huskies, putting them up 7-0.

Frazer's second interception of the game was tipped by a defensive player, as Ohio linebacker Melvin Payne came down with the ball. On the ensuing drive, Jackson rolled to his left on a third-and-14 and found Price in the end zone to make the score 7-7."

So who would you start next time out at North Texas in Denton ?

Passing

Jackson, Boo 8-16-0 / 117 yds / 1 TD /Long 44 / Sacked 1

Scott, Theo 7-12-1 / 69 yds / 1 TD / Long 23 / Sacked 2

Rushing -----No /Gain /Loss / Net /TD /Lg /Avg

Jackson, Boo 7 Carries [+28 & -8] = 20, Long 10, 0 TD, 2.9 ave.

The Bobcats leading rusher in the game by the way.

Scott, Theo 7 Carries [+ 19 & - 28] = ( -9), Long 9, 0 TD, (-1.3) ave.

Upper Iowa (Div II) [Justice Clegg, LHS]
The Upper Iowa Peacocks opened their season last week with a 65 - 6 shellacking of Lincoln (Mo.) University in Jefferson City. RT Justice Clegg and the O-line had a big game as UIU rolled up 440 yards total offense with 261 yards and 8 TD's on the ground (51 attempts).

Last Saturday, in their second game, they didn't fare quite so well. The offense play was spotty, and the 'D' couldn't hold 'em. The University put it this way :

"For the second week in a row, the Upper Iowa football team played as the visiting team as they travelled to Bismarck, North Dakota and battled the Marauders of the University of Mary in the first Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference game for both teams of the 2009 season. Although UIU took a 24-20 lead into the halftime break, the Peacocks couldn't hold on and dropped the contest 48-31 to U-Mary."

"After halftime, the Upper Iowa offense went silent as U-Mary posted 21 unanswered points in the third quarter to take the lead going into the fourth, 41-24. Upper Iowa tossed back-to-back interceptions in the quarter, the first by backup quarterback Kirby Hovden, who replaced Curran after an injury, and the second by Curran on the next UIU possession.

UIU scored just once more the rest of the game which came early in the fourth quarter when the Peacocks drove 100 yards on 9 plays which was ended when running back Kinon O'Neal punched in a one-yard score to pull the Peacocks back within 10 points at 41-31.
However, UIU wouldn't get any closer as a late fourth quarter U-Mary touchdown finalized the scoring at 48-31."

At 1 p.m. next Saturday, September 12, Upper Iowa will host the Northern State Wolves at Eischeid Stadium in Fayette. The Wolves 0-2 (0-1 NSIC) after a 52-17 home loss to Winona State, were defeated in Aberdeen last season 36-31 by the Peacocks.


Menlo (Div. III) [Robert Sherman, LHS]
Menlo College fell 17-0 at home in Atherton, CA to #23 ranked Occidental. The Oaks, under new Head Coach Fred Guidici, had a few chances against the Tigers, but couldn't convert [See Story][See Pics]. Sherman (#88), is a 6-0, 170 lb sophomore wideout for the Oaks. No Stats are reported for Robert.

The game was notable because of Head Linesman Terri Valenti and Line Judge Catherine Conti - the first time two female officials worked the same college football game in the western half of the United States.

Menlo travels to Orange to play Chapman next Saturday.

Allan Hancock (Junior College)
The Bulldogs defeated SBCC 42-6 [See Story] but have yet to post an official roster. It is not known how many Lompoc valley players are on the squad, but defensive back & CHS grad Greg Watson ran an interception back for Hancock’s third score. He also apparently recovered a kickoff. There are no area athletes on the SBCC roster.