Vaqueros run over West L.A. 48-20 in APL opener

Deon Dickey ran for a career-high 152 yards on 14 carries and Chad Woolsey added 102 rushing yards on Saturday, leading SBCC to a 48-20 rout of West L.A. in the American Pacific League football opener for both schools.

It was the third straight win in the series for the Vaqueros, who won the last two meetings 56-38 and 49-38.

"It all starts with the O-line," said Dickey, a 5-7 sophomore from Carlsbad. "Coach (Dan) Lever and Coach Morop (Craig Moropoulos) do a great job preparing us up front. We prepared well all week and came out ready to fight in our first conference game."

The Vaqueros (2-2, 1-0) took a 14-0 halftime lead on two second-quarter TDs -- Woolsey's 19-yard run up the middle and a 15-yard pass from Brandon Edwards to Osha Washington. It's the first time they've led in the first half in four games this year.

Dickey did most of his damage in the second half when he gained 143 yards on 12 carries and averaged nearly 12 yards a try. SBCC won the first-down battle 29-18 and dominated with 327 rushing yards (8.0 average) while holding the Wildcats (1-3, 0-1) to 74 yards on the ground.

The Vaquero offensive line consisted of left tackle Isaac McClain, left guard Bilal Sharmoug, center Parker Rozenburg, right guard Tyler Davis, right tackle Isaiah Briggs and tight end Jacob Ortale. Ramon Hurtado chipped in with solid blocking along with tight ends Jonathan Ziv and Alexander Argent.

McClain pulled to his left on Woolsey's first TD run and made an outstanding block to open a huge hole.

SBCC got fourth-quarter interceptions from Elisha Allen and Isaiah King and didn't commit a turnover.

"That's great that we had no turnovers and rushed for 327 yards," said Moropoulos, the Vaqueros' ninth-year head coach. "The guys played hard and the offensive line established themselves early. That's always a key. The No. 1 thing was zero turnovers.

"I think we wore them down and we could have scored a few more times. It's never a bad thing to win your conference opener."

Quarterback Brandon Edwards completed 15-of-39 passes for 180 yards and three touchdowns. Washington had six receptions for 76 yards.

Dickey partially blocked a punt early in the third quarter and Washington returned the 21-yard kick 22 yards to the Wildcat 36. Five plays later, Marvin Millett scored on a 22-yard sweep around the right side. Raymon Diaz's third PAT boosted the lead to 21-0.

West L.A. scored its first TD on a 5-play, 87-yard drive, capped by a 72-yard shovel pass from Jorge Reyna to Daniel Bell with 6:32 to go in the third quarter. Reyna completed 22-of-46 passes for 294 yards with two TDs and two picks. Bell caught seven passes for 186 yards and both touchdowns.

The Vaqueros came right back with a 61-yard scoring march. Edwards found Ronald Smith-Carter on a 19-yard slant for a TD that made it 27-7. The Wildcats needed just 2:31 to cover 66 yards and pulled within 13 points on a 21-yard TD pass from Reyna to Bell with 37.9 seconds left in the third.

Jonathan Dawson, a defensive lineman, returned the ensuing kickoff 31 yards to the WLA 39. On first down, Woolsey took off up the right sideline and scored a 39-yard TD that boosted the lead to 34-14.

SBCC outscored West L.A. 20-14 in the third period and has dominated its four opponents 58-21 in the third. The Vaqueros scored on their first drive of the fourth quarter with a 67-yard march, culminating in an 18-yard scoring toss to Ziv.

After an exchange of punts, SBCC took over on its own 38. Dickey sprinted 23 yards for a first down and then broke free up the right sideline and ran through two defenders to complete a 39-yard TD. That boosted the lead to 48-14 with 9:59 to play.

SBCC finished with a season-high 507 yards on 80 plays while the Wildcats picked up 368 yards on 73 plays.

The Vaqueros travel to L.A. Southwest on Saturday with kickoff at 6 p.m.