Prep football: Nipomo dominates Mission Prep, takes control of Northern League

Nipomo scored 44 unanswered points Friday night on the way to a 44-7 win against Mission Prep to take control of the Northern League.

Defensive, Offensive Line Domination

The Titans won this game in the trenches.

Nipomo (4-4, 2-0 Northern) dominated both the offensive and defensive lines all night, holding the Mission Prep rushing attack to just 15 yards and gaining 403 yards on 54 carries. The big men were just more physical at the point of attack and helped Isaac Bausley lead Nipomo in rushing with 173 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries.

After leading 20-7 at halftime, Nipomo ran the ball nine straight times to eat up the clock, finishing off the drive with a Bausley touchdown run on fourth down.

“That was our game plan, run some no-huddle at them, throw some beef at them. Then we realized they couldn’t stop it,” Nipomo head coach Tony Dodge said.

Nipomo running back J.J. Ramirez added 94 yards and two touchdowns of his own on 10 carries, including a slick 38-yard run to put the Titans up 14-7 in the first half.

“It was the first time all year we put together a complete game,” Dodge said. “A whole game, not just one half. The results showed on the scoreboard.”

Stopping Fledderman

Mission Prep senior quarterback Bryce Fledderman, who was coming off the best game by any quarterback in the area this season, was completely shut down the the Nipomo secondary.

With no run game to speak of, Fledderman looked to get the ball to his receivers. But juniors Gage Wynn and Jedu Matautia-Reyes were ready. They both had interceptions at the goal line in the first half. Wynn, who had two interceptions in the game, picked off a ball that was tipped in the first quarter. Matautia-Reyes made a spectacular individual effort when he fought off Mission Prep’s Angel Sanchez to come down with the pick a foot from the goal line right at the end of the first half.

Fledderman also felt the pressure of the pass rush. Noah Gibbons sacked him twice.

“We made (Fledderman) look human again, which was awesome,” Dodge said.

Fledderman was 16-of-34 passing for 172 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions.

Driver’s Seat

With the win, Nipomo jumps into first place in the Northern League ahead of Mission Prep (4-4, 2-1 Northern) and Santa Maria (5-4, 2-1 Northern). The win also helps erase Nipomo’s bitter taste of last season when Mission Prep beat them behind a big game from Fledderman and went on to win the Northern League.

This story was originally published October 21, 2016 at 10:43 PM with the headline "Prep football: Nipomo dominates Mission Prep, takes control of Northern League."