Carpinteria High football dropped a defensive battle on the road against Nordhoff, 14-7, in Ojai on Friday.
“It was a hard-fought game,” Carpinteria coach Van Latham said. “The Warriors had a couple of opportunities in the first half that we could not take advantage of. Norhoff found a couple of run plays in the second half that we had trouble stopping.”
After a scoreless first quarter, the Warriors found some momentum on a Chris Jaimes interception deep in Nordhoff territory, but the offense couldn’t capitalize.
The two teams traded stalled drives before the Rangers worked their way into field-goal range just before halftime. The Carpinteria special teams unit then came through by blocking the kick to keep the game scoreless.
Nordhoff opened up the scoring with a 55-yard drive that ended in a 1-yard rushing touchdown in the third quarter.
However, the Warriors struck back immediately as Sawyer Kelly connected with Drew Filippini on a 49-yard touchdown. After the Brandon Jimenez extra point, it was tied at 7-7 with one quarter to play.
The Rangers responded on the ensuing drive with a 10-yard touchdown pass to go ahead 14-7 early in the fourth.
The Carpinteria offense had two more chances but Nordhoff forced a pair of stops to clinch the win.
The Warriors will now fight for a co-league championship in a matchup against undefeated Grace next Friday at Carpinteria Valley Memorial Stadium.