2021 Lompoc vs. Cabrillo: Blazing Blue & Glistening Gold.

Lompoc’s biggest football event of the year takes place tonight at 7pm, when our Braves face the Cabrillo Conquistadores at Huyck Stadium. Our team can enter the game with great confidence, as they are 2-0 after dominant wins both at home (against Paso Robles) and at Righetti. The Braves haven’t lost against Cabrillo in over 10 years and they have no plans to relent now.

This year’s Coaching Staff consists of TJ Jordan (Offensive Coordinator, QBs), Ricky Aguilar (Defensive Coordinator), Harrison Keller (WR), Matt Sims (Line), Paul Terrones (CB, S) and Terrell Dillon. They’ll coach alongside Head Coach Andrew Jones (more about his goals and expectations for this season in the interview with him).

A big strength of this year’s team are the 3 major stars, who are future Division 1 College players.

First, there is Senior Deville Dickerson, called “Joker”, playing Cornerback, Wide Receiver and Kick Returner. He’s already committed to Idaho State. With his outstanding 4-TD performance against Paso Robles (including a 83-yard Kickoff Return Touchdown on the first play of the season) he already set the playing standard very high in week 1.

Then there is Senior Running Back Sheldon Canley, a San Diego State commit. His stat line is just amazing to read: 349 yards on 28 carries. That’s an average of 12.5 yards per carry, and 5 TDs. And don’t forget: all this information comes from only 2 games.

Last but not least: Quarterback Cavin Ross, who played very solid in both first games and threw for a total of 4 TDs, 3 Interceptions, and 362 yards. Against Righetti, he even jumped in as Linebacker and helped the defense to a crucial stop in the 2nd half. Even though he’s just going into his junior season, he already has an offer from the Division 1 college “William and Mary”.

Unfortunately, though Cavin won’t play many snaps tonight as he suffered a minor hand injury in the last game against Righetti, he won’t be back on the field until next week.

As sad it is, tonight’s game can become a great opportunity for backup QB Tony Arango, a Sophomore, who already played a few snaps against Paso Robles, including one pass completion. Him along with the receiver corps and the dominant backfield (led by Sheldon) will definitely put a big number on the scoreboard tonight.

The defense is putting their own work in as well. Even though the team thinks they still have to improve to compete for the league championship (often not tackling effectively), you definitely could see the great potential they have. Where the defense had major problems with stopping the run against Paso Robles – gave up a total of 288 rushing yards and 3 rushing TDs – they played way more aggressively at the line against Righetti and were often able to stop the run early (showing massive improvement)

This year’s team definitely has a lot of potential and the mix of many young, developing talents and experienced, proven stars can make this season a very successful one for our Lompoc Braves.

The Conquistadores come with a 0-2 record and a 0-56 loss against Nipomo in the last game, which makes the Braves the spotlight team tonight.

Come and join us tonight in the stands when we cheer our Braves to the next win and make it clear which school plays the best football! Go Braves!