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Simon Mata (#2) moves the ball against the Raiders in Friday's game.

Raiders dominate Cardinal varsity

October 15, 2003
Sports
The Santa Paula varsity football squad couldn’t hold back the Channel Islands offense Friday night, losing at home, 31-7. The Raiders came to play and win and they did both. Channel Islands wasted no time, scoring their first touchdown at just less than two minutes into the game.The Cardinals lost the ball on their first possession on a fumble. The Raiders got to within scoring position, but had to take a field goal on a fourth down, giving them a 10-0 edge.Channel Islands scored twice more in the first half, going into the break with a 24-0 lead.The Cards looked better in the second half, allowing the Raiders only one more TD. Santa Paula got on the scoreboard just before time ran out when Jon Duran carried the ball into the end zone. The PAT gave the Cards their seven points.Simon Mata and Tony Manzano led the Santa Paula offense. Mata caught the ball eight times for 76 yards. Manzano carried the ball 12 times for a total of 68 yards.
Coach Ed Gomez said the offense moved the ball better than they have in recent weeks. "The good news is we got inside the red zone five times," Gomez said. "The bad news is we came away with only one touchdown. We continue to shoot ourselves in the foot with either penalties or missed assignments. We must be more disciplined."Gomeznoted that the defense had the worst tackling game of the year. "We made a very good team look great," he said. "They simply played harder than we did. We must pick up the intensity if we expect to compete."The varsity hosts Carpinteria Friday at 7:30 p.m. in a Tri-Valley League game.