Not only did the Pirates
fall short last Friday at Nordhoff, but they kick off
league action Oct. 2 against undefeated Pioneer Valley.
For Santa Ynez coach Ken
Gruendyke, the visiting Panthers present several problems, not the least of
which is a senior-laden roster.
“They’re the preseason
favorites (in the league),” said Gruendyke of Pioneer Valley, which upped its
overall mark to 3-0 with a win against Arroyo Grande. “We need to work on
controlling ourselves and playing smart football.”
The coach said the Pirates
must return to their Week One ways when they prevailed at Carpinteria.
“We must focus better on
what we’re supposed to do and be error-free,” he said.
Errors in the form of
penalties cost Santa Ynez last Friday against Nordhoff. The 14-12 defeat at Ojai dropped the Pirates’ record to 2-1.
The host Rangers amassed a half-dozen sacks, including four by Parker Johnsen.
“Our defensive front really
put a lot of pressure on Santa Ynez, and we were able to stop (Scott) Arellano,”
said Nordhoff coach Tony Henney, when asked about the keys to the game.
Nevertheless, he credited a
couple of Pirates, in particular quarterback Tyler Shean and coach Gruendyke.
“Ken has them playing hard,”
Henney said. “They will have a chance to be successful in what looks to be a
tough Los Padres League.”
Halftime adjustments kept
the Pirates, who trailed 14-0 on touchdowns by Justin Burgess (he tallied 120
rushing yards) and Logan Crow, within striking distance.
“At times we weren’t able to
contain their outside blitzing,” said Gruendyke. “We
had a tough time stopping the run early, but made adjustments and played
better.”
In the second half, Santa
Ynez got its offense on track, marching 80 yards on an 11-play drive that
culminated in Shean’s touchdown strike to Parker Johnson (the backup QB). A bad
snap proved fatal on the point-after attempt.
Moments later, Shean capped
another long drive by surging in from two yards out, after which the Pirates
tried a two-point conversion, but the pass glanced off the intended receiver’s
hands.
“Tyler stepped up and made
big plays,” Gruendyke said. “Offensively, at times we did good things. We
probably could’ve worked on changing our cadence to force Nordhoff to time
their blitzes.”
Missed opportunities haunted
Santa Ynez throughout the contest.
When the Pirates blocked a
field goal, Arellano scooped up the ball and ran for a would-be touchdown only
to have it erased by a clipping infraction. (“One of those things that looked
questionable, but the official called what he saw,” Gruendyke said.)
In the waning minutes, Santa
Ynez drove past midfield, but Nordhoff recorded two more sacks and snuffed the
rally with an interception.
Rangers quarterback Skyler Logsdon managed 130 yards through
the air, completing half of his 20 passes. Gruendyke praised a trio of Pirates —
Blake Chaves, Chris Unzueta and Cameron Donner — for keeping Nordhoff’s
skill players in check.
At this point, the Pirates
have a week off to lick their wounds and prepare for Pioneer Valley.
“It’s time to lock and load,”
Gruendyke said. “We need to step up and compete.”
Extra point: Travis Porter
(bruised kidney) returned to practice, but the Pirates were monitoring injuries
to Will Lopez (ankle) and Junior Alejandre (bruised ribs).
jluksic@syvjournal.com