ORANGE COUNTY PREP FOOTBALL : Garden Grove League : Pacifica Shows It Is Back : In Return to League, Mariners Run Over Los Amigos, 17-0

Pacifica High School’s football team certainly didn’t show anything a Garden Grove League opponent hadn’t seen before.

Pacifica, using its trademark bruising inside running game and stingy defense, made its return to the league a successful one, beating Los Amigos, 17-0, Thursday at Garden Grove High.

The Mariners played in the Empire League from 1981 until last season, but have returned to the league they once dominated. Pacifica won Garden Grove League titles from 1972 to 1979.

If Thursday’s victory is any indication, the Mariners (1-0 in league play, 2-1-1 overall) again will be a factor in the league race.

Pacifica simply wore down the Lobos, who did a good job of slowing the Mariner running backs in the first half.

“We didn’t do a good job on the line of scrimmage,” said Bill Craven, Pacifica coach. “That’s to their (Los Amigos’) credit. (But) maybe they couldn’t bend anymore and broke a little in the second half.”

Los Amigos couldn’t handle the tandem of Oscar Ravelo and Chris Shockley once the third quarter began. Ravelo had only 7 yards and Shockley 30 as Pacifica led, 7-0, by halftime.

But Ravelo rushed 12 times for 89 yards and a touchdown in the second half, and Shockley gained a game-high 98 yards in 12 carries.

“Our little sophomore ran well, I thought,” Craven said of Shockley.

Another running back, Greg White, got Pacifica started with a four-yard touchdown run with 7:53 left in the half.

Ravelo kicked a 40-yard field goal that cleared the crossbar by inches to extend the Mariner lead to 10-0 with 5:58 left in the third quarter. Ravelo scored his touchdown on a 13-yard burst up the middle, with less than four minutes to play.

Los Amigos (1-3) had only fleeting glimpses of the end zone. The Lobos’ best chance to score ended on a fourth and five at the Mariner six with 19 seconds left.

On the play, quarterback Andy Baturevich threw an incomplete pass at the goal line.

The Lobos had trouble getting a consistent offense going. Derek Hickman, Kevin Ashworth and Scott Parrish kept Los Amigos bottled up until that final drive.

The Mariners limited the Lobos to 70 yards rushing in recording their second straight shutout. Pacifica has given up two touchdowns all season.