Capistrano Valley Left Seeing Double

LITTLEROCK —  Transportation problems caused the Capistrano Valley High football team to arrive in Littlerock about two hours later than planned for a nonleague game Friday night.

But the Cougars’ difficulties catching a bus were nothing compared to their troubles chasing down junior running backs Keith Williams and Rodney Woods.

Williams and Woods combined to rush for 282 yards and four touchdowns in Littlerock’s 30-7 victory.

“When you play tailback at this school, you’re following in a proud line,” Coach Jim Bauer said of the school’s rushing tradition. “There’s a couple more good ones right there.”

Williams rushed 18 times for 182 yards and touchdowns of four and 59 yards. Woods gained 100 yards in 12 carries and scored on runs of two and 40 yards.

Sophomore fullback Marcus Raines added 43 yards in three carries for Littlerock, which ran for 325 yards.

It was all more than enough for the region’s best defense among Southern Section schools.

Mike Arvizo deflected a punt, Cory Logan forced a fumble and deflected two Garrett Gray passes, Billie Lawrence recovered a fumble and the defensive front of Ben Smith, Chester Flowers and William Oates consistently dominated the Cougars’ line and stymied their Delaware Wing-T offense.

Smith also blocked James Bowsa’s 21-yard field-goal attempt late in the first half.

Littlerock, yielding 155 yards per game, gave up 259 to Capistrano Valley (3-2), but much of that came after the Lobos (5-0) had claimed a 30-0 fourth-quarter lead.

Gray completed 16 of 34 passes for 131 yards for Capistrano Valley.

Jermaine McKinney rushed for 57 yards in 12 carries. His three-yard touchdown run with 7:49 left in the game broke the shutout, but not the grin on Bauer’s face.

“This is a big win for our program,” said Bauer, whose team is off to its best start.

Until Friday night, however, the Lobos were untested. Wins over Hesperia, Leuzinger, Barstow and Division XII Rosamond left the Lobos as an unknown commodity.

Capistrano Valley, which plays in Division I, had lost only to powerhouse Edison, and was coming off a 21-20 victory last week over Tustin.

“That long bus ride got to us, I think,” Capistrano Valley’s McKinney said.

The Cougars managed very few long drives once the game started.

They marched deep into Littlerock territory only once in the first half, and that drive stalled at the three before Smith blocked Bosma’s field-goal attempt in the closing seconds of the second quarter.