Defense Gets Tough, Pacifica Beats Oilers

Pacifica High School’s defensive secondary, burned for 228 yards passing in a season-opening loss to Woodbridge, redeemed itself in a 17-0 nonleague victory over Huntington Beach Saturday night at Bolsa Grande High.

Pacifica allowed only three completions and intercepted two passes as it dominated Huntington Beach. The Oilers managed only 53 yards passing and were equally ineffective on the ground, rushing for only 19 yards.

Huntington Beach (0-2) failed to record two consecutive first downs on any possession in the lopsided loss. The Oilers also lost their best running back, Nola Stipan, who dislocated his shoulder on the second play of the game.

“Our whole game plan went up in smoke when Nola got hurt,” Huntington Beach Coach George Pascoe said. “He’s our best runner and our best blocker.”

Pacifica (1-1) scored the only touchdown it needed late in the first quarter when Dereck Nicholson fielded a line-drive punt on the Huntington Beach 44-yard line and raced untouched into the end zone. Nicholson also had 108 yards rushing in 21 carries.

Pacifica’s second score came when cornerback Eric Stevens intercepted Huntington Beach reserve quarterback Jack Friend’s first pass on the second play of the second half and returned it 35 yards for a touchdown.

Pacifica sacked the Oilers’ starting quarterback, Jon Wimbish, three times in the first half before Friend took over after halftime. Wimbish completed only two of 15 passes for 33 yards. Friend wasn’t much better, completing one pass for 20 yards.

“I was surprised we got that kind of pressure on their quarterback because we didn’t stunt on them,” said Bill Craven, Pacifica coach. “The game last week left a real bad taste in the kids’ mouths. I just hope we keep building next week.”

The lone bright spot for Huntington Beach was defensive back Steve Martinez. Martinez made a diving catch to intercept a pass in the first half and then added a second interception in the third quarter.